The Shanghai Pink Dragons celebrate after winning the 4th Annual Cebu Ladies 10s International Rugby Festival yesterday at the Cebu International School (CIS) football field in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City.
CDN PHOTO/JOHN CARLO A. VILLARUEL
The Shanghai Pink Dragons stood their ground in a hostile environment as they overcame a first-half deficit to dethrone the Cebu Lady Dragons, 12-10, in the 4th Annual Cebu Ladies 10s International Rugby Festival yesterday at the Cebu International School (CIS) football field in Barangay Talamban, Cebu City.
Early in the day, the two teams settled for a 10-10 draw but still ended up forcing a championship duel as they finished the elimination round with identical 2-1-0 (win-draw-loss) records.
Later in the afternoon, the Lady Dragons appeared to be the more determined in the early goings as they scored a try midway through the first half for 5-0 lead at halftime.
“We had a talk at the halftime. Do we really wanna come here, all the way here to lose this final? So I think that boosted the motivation of the players,” team captain Niina Karkas shared.
The Lady Dragons continued to control the tempo early in the second half and seemed well on their way of tallying another try but Shanghai’s Lee Pei Qi stole the ball from the Cebuanas and converted a magical try that tied the game at 5-all.
Shanghai followed it up with a conversion to take a 7-5 lead before Pei Qi iced the game with another try to take a commanding 12-5 advantage.
The Cebuanas tried to make a little run and moved within 10-12 but ultimately fell against their bulkier and taller opponents.
“We are reaching out something different because this will be the last tournaments for other players like myself, leaving Shanghai soon. So yeah I told them, let’s get together, have fun and we made it,” Karkas added.
After a low turnout of participants in their fourth year, former Cebu Dragons Rugby Football Club player Chenzo Flor is expecting at least 10 foreign squads to join in the fifth edition next year.
“There were 12 teams who were supposed to join this year but some of them backed out for safety reasons in our country. Next year we expect at least 10 international teams,” Flor said.