The Arabian Gulf bounced back in style from a disappointing first day with two wins from two outings to clinch the Bowl at the IRB Singer Sri Lankan Airlines Sevens in Kandy on Sunday.

Defeats on the opening day against Kazakhstan and Korea consigned the Gulf to a Bowl semi-final against Guam who were dispatched 48-5.

And in the final Adrian Kerr's side cruised to a comfortable 40-12 win over Malaysia, adapting to already heavy conditions made worse by more overnight rain and a lunch time parade involving a procession of elephants as well as
the tournament's 12 teams.

Kerr was delighted with the way in which the Gulf rallied to cliam ninth place. He said: "We played better and better as the tournament went on.

"One bad performance first up against Kazakhstan really cost us, but today we played with great spirit and resolve and we showed passion for the shirt."

The Gulf could not have made a better start against Guam with James Tometzki (Dubai Hurricanes) marking his first start with a scorching 50-metre try.

Marcus Smith (Dubai Exiles) then collected the restart on the bounce and galloped over for a crucial score before Tometzki's pace and a further Smith score put the Gulf virtually out of sight.

Dushan Raveendrakumar (Dubai Dragons) jinked past several would-be tacklers for another quality score while two tries from clubmate Amir Mohamed, showing good pace out wide, wrapped up the win.

The Gulf also made a similar turbo-charged start against Malaysia with Iutoi Tauafiafi stepping his way over for two early scores.

Raveendrakumar claimed a crucial try before the break while further scores from Kerr (2) and Mohamed after the break rounded off a successful day.

Japan once again won the main competition, overcoming Korea while China defeated Chinese Taipei to claim third place.

The plate final was a triumph for hosts Sri Lanka who had too much pace for battling Kazakhstan who had two men sin-binned although they secured one of the surprise results of the day with a semi-final success over Hong Kong.

Results
Bowl semi-finals: Singapore 12 Malaysia 19, Arabian Gulf 48 Guam 5.
Final: Arabian Gulf 40 Malaysia 12.

International cup quarters: Japan 17 Hong Kong 5, Chinese Taipei 19
Kazakhstan 5, Korea 26 Sri Lanka 5, China 26 Thailand 14.
Cup semis: Japan 12 Chinese Taipei 0, Korea 36, China 0.
Cup final: Japan 28 Korea 10.

Plate semi-finals: Hong Kong 17 Kazakhstan 19, Sri Lanka 17 Thailand 10.
Plate final: Kazakhstan 0 Sri Lanka 17.

Third place play-off: Chinese Taipei 14 China 28.

11th/12th play-off: Singapore 29 Guam 0.