Akihito Yamada

Who else could be deemed the star player of an often one-sided rugby sevens competition at the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 than Japanese back Akihito Yamada?

After all without his last-gasp try it would have been Korea celebrating a third successive title – the second at Japan’s expense – and maintaining their perfect record with a 14th victory in a row since the sport’s introduction in 1998.

Instead it was Japan who proudly stood on top of the podium at the Al-Arabi Sports Club on Monday 11 December to receive their gold medals after a dramatic conclusion to a final full of twists and turns.

For the record, the final score was 27-26 – the smallest ever winning margin in Asian Games history, not to mention the lowest score to win gold and the highest by a losing team – but that doesn’t tell the story of an end-to-end encounter.

Korea seemed odds on to complete their hat-trick of titles after racing into a 14-0 lead in the opening five minutes with tries by Kim Jong Su and Kwak Chul Woong, prompting fears of a one-sided romp to the gold medal.

The early lead evoked memories of the first ever final in Bangkok when Japan led Korea 14-0 only to concede 29 unanswered points to slump to defeat. Would history repeat itself with another comeback victory?

Japan must have had this in the back of their minds as tries by captain Eiji Yamamoto and Hiroki Yoshida brought them back to 14-10 at half time, the latter all the more remarkable given Yamamoto was in the sin-bin at the time.

Kim Jong Su and Yamada traded tries in the early minutes of the second half to leave the match finely poised at 19-17; two missed conversions seemingly set to cost Japan a first Asian Games gold medal in rugby. That was until replacement Lee Myung Geun scored Korea’s fourth to stretch the advantage to 26-17 and leave captain Kim Hyung Ki poised to receive a fifth gold medal – having also played in their 15-a-side winning teams of 1998 and 2002.

However no one appeared to have given Japan the script as Yoshida touched down to cut the deficit to 26-22 and a buzz went around the stadium as the crowd wondered whether there was time for a comeback.

Akihito Yamada proved a difficult player to stop with seven tries at Doha 2006A five star performance There barely was, the buzzer having sounded by the time the ball worked its way out to Yamada for one last attack and he didn’t disappoint, stretching every sinew of his body to touch down in the corner and spark wild Japanese celebrations.

The conversion was missed but it didn’t matter, referee Tobi Lothian blew the final whistle and Japan celebrated – soaking coach Jun Sano with water bottles and throwing him in the air, although perhaps it should have been Yamada given his contribution – while the Korean players sat crestfallen on the pitch.

“I was hoping somehow to score. That was the aim ‘til the last minute and that turned the match in our favour. I'm grateful to all my teammates for giving me the chance [to score]. We're ecstatic to win the gold,” Yamada said afterwards.

Few would argue that Japan deserved the win, they had scored the most points with 131 in their four matches and the most tries with 23, seven more than Korea, bronze medallists China and fourth placed Chinese Taipei managed.

Yamada undoubtedly grabbed the headlines for his gold medal-winning try, but the 21 year-old student from Keio University in Tokyo, who only started playing the game five years ago, certainly wasn’t a one-game wonder.

He only scored in one other game at Doha 2006, failing to cross the line in both the pool C encounter and semifinal with Chinese Taipei, but it was another performance to savour by Yamada.

It came against host nation Qatar, who had already been thrashed 82-0 on their international sevens debut by Chinese Taipei in pool C, with Yamada scoring five of Japan’s 10 tries in a 58-0 rout – the second biggest winning margin ever.

Sporting the No 10 jersey, Yamada scored Japan’s opening try of the competition with an elusive break in the first minute and completed his hat-trick before half time. He went on to claim Japan’s eighth and ninth tries in the emphatic victory.

His gold medal-winning try was number seven for the tournament, ensuring Yamada of his place in the Asian Games history books and leaving Japanese players and fans alike in seventh heaven.

Akihito Yamada

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