KUALA KANGSAR: Tunku Mahkota Ismail Sports School (SSTMI) successfully defended their Malay College Kuala Kangsar (MCKK) Premier 7s title on Sunday after defeating Hong Kong Sports School (HKSS) 38-10 for the second year in a row.
The title is also SSTMI's fourth N.J. Ryan trophy after winning the inaugural crown in 2011 and 2012 previously.
SSTMI, who qualified for the knockout stage on Friday without conceding a single point, first defeated English College (EC) 38-7 in the quarter-finals before seeing off host MCKK 29-0 in the last four stage.
Witnessed by Perak's Raja Muda, Raja Jaafar Raja Muda Musa, SSTMI, under the guidance of Syed Shazril Syed Mahadi, were clearly the stronger side in the final with six tries and four conversions
"From the start, we all knew that HKSS were no pushovers, and my concern was that the SSTMI boys would play into their game.
"However, after 10 minutes, we saw our boys sticking to the plan and play really well. Fitness-wise we were prepared," said Syed Shazril, who is also the national 7s Under-20 coach.
"Another advantage is our weather. We could see the boys from HKSS struggling to cope with the heat. Apart from that, I am really happy that we won our fourth title, and God willing, we will come back next year for the fifth," he added.
Meanwhile, in the third-fourth playoff, newcomers SMK Sri Mersing (SMSM) edged MCKK 22-5.