Kathmandu, Oct 6 (IANS): As the Indian women’s team finished runners-up at the Asia Rugby Sevens Trophy for the fourth time, the Rugby India president said that while the team is disappointed with the result, their silver medal will remain a commendable result for the national side.

In a valiant effort, Indian women lost to the Philippines by a whisker in the final. Led by Shikha Yadav, the Indian Rugby Women’s team played with great skill and lost the final by a small margin with the scoreboard reading 7-5.

"While the team is understandably disappointed after such a close encounter, at not winning gold in this edition of the AREST, it can hold its head high at the way in which it played scintillating, no holds barred 7s rugby. A silver medal remains a commendable result for our national women’s team. While Rugby India will constantly strive to turn silver into gold and earn our stripes amongst the top teams in Asia, a streak of four consecutive silver medals is testimony to the consistency and calibre of the ecosystem,” said Rahul Bose, president, Indian Rugby Football Union.

The team’s route to the finals was quite comfortable, as they saw Guam off in the semi-finals by a huge margin of 24-7 and qualified at the top of their table, stamping their authority, beating Sri Lanka 29-10 and Indonesia 17-10.

“Winning the silver again is special, but the team is eager to continue the work that each player has been putting in to convert the colour of a medal to gold. Personally, I am extremely proud of the way the team has played against formidable sides and has showcased great character at a stage as big as this.

"This is the most important event of the year for the team and we will come home knowing that we gave it our absolute best. We thank our head coach, Waisale Serevi and the entire supporting staff for this medal," said skipper Shikha.