PH Volcanoes lose steam, bow out of gold medal hunt

FILE – Philippines Men’s Rugby 7s players during the 29th SEA Games in Kuala Lumpur at MBPJ Stadium on 19 Aug 2017. Photo by Faiz Azizan/MASOC

KUALA LUMPUR — The Philippines lost one of its expected gold medals after its rugby7 men’s team dropped three successive games in the round robin match at Majlis Perbandara in Kelana Jaya.

The country, which handily won the gold medal when the sports debuted two years ago, got a strong start Saturday, scoring wins over Indonesia, Cambodia and Malaysia.

But Sunday was cruel for the Volcanoes, who suffered a 21-7 shocker at the hands of Singapore, before finishing the round robin with a 31-14 defeat at the hands of Thailand.

The Philippines were holding a 14-7 lead over Thailand in a match that the Thais needed to win to make the finals.

But the Volcanoes soon lost grip of the match, allowing Thailand to run away with the win which wasn’t enough for it make the gold medal match.

Malaysia and Singapore were fighting for the gold at press time.