SINGAPORE - Host Singapore could emerge a double winner at this year’s South East Asia 7s after both the men’s and women’s national teams advanced to their respective finals following a day of hard-hitting action and spectacular tries on a rain-sodden Yio Chu Kang stadium pitch.

In the men’s competition, Malaysia kicked off their campaign by crushing Singapore ‘B’ team 40-5 and shocked defending champions Thailand 24-0 to top Group A. The Malaysians will now meet host Singapore who beat the Philippines 17-5, overcame Brunei 17-5 and conquered Indonesia 48-0 to finish as winners of Group B.

The Causeway rivals will contest the final in front of an expected 29,500 fans at the National Stadium during Saturday’s (April 15) HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s.

“As a team, our first game with the Philippines started very well and we did our basics right, that’s why it paid off and we managed to get a good win.” said Singapore captain, Marah Ishraf.

“However, for our second game, performances dipped even though we had a win. We told ourselves we need to improve for the final group match. Against Indonesia, we set some technical targets and we managed to achieved them.”

Marah is now hoping that home support will make the difference in Saturday’s final.

He said: “It is important to bring the form we showed in our last game to the finals. We have a lot of young players playing at the National Stadium for the first time.

“Still, it is going to be an advantage playing on our home ground with a lot of people supporting us. It is important to remain composed and not succumb to pressure. Our team plays best when we don’t rush and panic.”

Malaysian coach Mohd Saizul Hafifi meanwhile was pleased with his charges and expects a cracker of a final.

“We did very well today because our players executed according to our play book and because of that, we achieved a favourable outcome,” said Hafifi.

“Tomorrow, I hope the players can maintain their performance and learn from today’s mistakes today.

“Our strategy for the final will be hitting our opponents hard and playing wide as our strength lies in our speed on the break.”

In the women’s competition, defending SEA Games champion Thailand emerged top of Group A after beating Malaysia 26-5 and crushing Laos 42-0.

In Group B, host Singapore eased past Laos 27-0 and crushed Indonesia 32-0.

Thailand then advanced into the final after crushing Philippines 34-0 in the first semi-final, while Singapore beat Group A runner-up Malaysia 29-5 in the other semi-final.

The women’s final will be played at 4.56pm and the men’s final will take place 5.16pm on Day One of the HSBC Singapore Rugby 7s.

SEA 7s Results - Preliminaries

Women’s Group A : Thailand 26 Malaysia 5, Thailand 42 Laos 0, Malaysia 15 Laos 1

Women’s Group B : Singapore 27 Philippines 0, Singapore 32 Indonesia 0, Philippines 30 Indonesia 0

Semi-final 1: Thailand 34 Philippines 0

Semi-final 2: Singapore 29 Malaysia 5

Singapore will meet Thailand in the women’s final.

Men’s Group A :

Thailand 20 Laos 0, Malaysia 40 Singapore B 5, Thailand 0 Malaysia 0, Laos 0 Singapore B 0, Thailand 19 Singapore B 5, Laos 5 Malaysia 25

Men’s Group B :

Singapore A 17 Philippines 5, Brunei 10 Indonesia 12, Singapore A 17 Brunei 5, Philippines 31 Indonesia 0, Singapore A 48 Indonesia 0, Philippines 42 Brunei 5

Malaysia and Singapore qualify as Group A and B winners respectively.