PETALING JAYA, May 17 — Malaysia demolished Thailand 53-7 in the Asian Rugby Championship Division 2 final to emerge as champion yesterday.
Team captain Mohd Syahir Asraf Rosli said the Tigers’ supporters played a big role in their win.
“We played without our star, K. Dinesvaran. His suspension didn’t demoralised the team but fired us up instead,” Syahir said. “It was great to see the crowd and they helped us in this win. They cheered us on loudly. This is for them.”
With the win Malaysia, will play in Division 1 next year.
Coach Lee Nyuk Fah said his boys were outstanding.
“They played according to the game plan. Thailand is fast so we needed to play tight. I’m satisfied with the win, we deserved it,” he said. “Our target is to have a better world ranking. We just moved from No. 61 into 57 after beating Taiwan in the first game last Sunday.”
Malaysia lost in the Division 2 final to Thailand in 2012 and Singapore a year later.
It won last year, when it was known as the Asian Five Nations, but was not promoted due to this year’s change in format. The team was relegated from Division 1 in 2011.
The next assignment for the national 15s is the Crescent Cup in Malacca next month.
