Armenians win inaugural U-19 Rugby tournament

Mumbai, June 17 (UNI) Making a return to competitive Rugby after close to a decade, Armenians SC made a triumphant return to the India Rugby scene by winning the inaugural All India Under-19, 7-a-side Rugby tournament 2007 by beating the host Bombay Gymkhana 19-0 in the final here today.

In the Plate Final, another local team in the Magicians ensured at least one title for Mumbai after they beat the Delhi Hurricans 10-5 in a close game. The Magicians took the lead with a pacy try from Rehmudin Sheikh. Arin Dagar's try called out their lead in the second half. However the Magicians dug deep and Rehmudin Sheikh scored a match and title winning try.

The Delhi Lions romped home to a 40-0 victory in Bowl Cup against Young Rugby Club on the back of a terrific performance from Jeremy Eri.

Earlier in a day, in the Cup semifinals Bombay Gymkhana continued to dominate their games. Superior tackling helped them overcome Calcutta Cricket and Football Club (CC&FC). Their superior pace also helped as they got the better of CC&FC 26-0. In the second semifinal Armenians tamed Jungle Crow (Kolkata) with a mix of some flashy moves and raw power. Armenians won the game to set up a title clash with the host.

The final saw the two unbeaten teams, Bombay Gymkhana and Armenians in the tournament go head to head. The first three minutes saw the ball deadlocked in the centre of the field with neither team making any headway. A mistake by the host allowed the Armenians in and their pace allowed Ejmin Shahijani to score the first try of the game. Shahijani converted the try to send the Armenians into halftime with the score at 7-0.

The Armenians continued to apply pressure on the host and a few long kicks exposed a few chinks in the Bombay Gymkhana armour. Armen Markarian and Armen Apelian made full use of the mistakes of their opponents to score a try each. Apelian also converted to give Armenians a 19-0 win.

The Armenian coach, David Purdy was ecstatic after his team won saying, ''The team played really well and made me proud. They did all that I had asked them to do and that was the reason we won.'' Results: CUP Final: Armenians SC 19 (Ejmin Shahijani 1 Try and 1 conversion, Armen Markarian 1 Try, Armen Apelian 1 Try and 1 conversion) bt Bombay Gymkhana 0.

S/F: Bombay Gymkhana 26 bt Calcutta Cricket&Football Club (CC &FC) 0; Armenians SC 21 bt Jungle Crow 5.

Plate Final: Magicians (Mumbai) 10 (Rehmudin Sheikh 2 Tries) bt Delhi Hurricans 5 (Arun Dagar 1 Try).

S/F: Delhi Hurricans 10 bt Bangalore RFC 5; Magicians (Mumbai) 12 bt Chennai Cheetas 0.

Bowl Final: Delhi Lions 40 (Jeremy Eri 3 tries and 5 coversions, Pranay Kumar 2 Try, Kaushal V 1 Try) bt Young Rugby Club (Kolkatta).

S/F: Delhi Lions 29 bt Bangalore Tigers 0; Young Rugby Club (Kolkatta) 12 bt Jammu&Kashmir 0.

UNI