DESCRIPTION:
*   Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams.
*   It has been held regularly since 2009.
*   The 2026 Series will feature 12 national teams in both the men and women divisions, up from 8 in past editions.
*   The Series will consist of two legs.
*   The Round-1 competition at Changshu Sports Centre, Suzhou City will be followed by Round-2 in Colombo, Sri Lanka on 17 and 18 October 2026.
*   The two-round ARES Series will serve as preparatory tournaments for the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games in October.
*   Indian Rugby Football Union (Rugby India) has announced Indian men and women teams, featuring 13 players each for Round-1 competition.
*   A total of six players from Odisha have been selected in the Indian teams.
*   The six include two men (Asis Sabar, Ganesh Mahi) and four women (Dumuni Marndi, Mama Naik, Nirmalya Rout, Sandhyarani Tudu).

PARTICIPATING TEAMS:
Men: Hong Kong China, Japan, Sri Lanka, China, United Arab Emirates, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Kazakhstan, India, Uzbekistan.
Women: Japan, China, Thailand, Hong Kong China, Kazakhstan, India, Singapore, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Iran.

INDIAN WOMEN TEAM (13): Amandeep Kaur, Arti Kumari, Bhumika Shukla, Chanel Crizzle, Dumuni Marndi, Guriya Kumari, Kalyani Patil, Mama Naik, Nirmalya Rout, Sandhya Rai, Sandhyarani Tudu, Shikha Yadav, Ujjwala Ghuge. Head Coach: Paul Delport.

INDIAN MEN TEAM (13): Ajay, Aryan Dixit, Aryan Dixit, Asis Sabar, Deepak Punia, Deshraj Singh, Ganesh Majhi, Hitesh Dagar, Javed Hussein, Karan Rajbhar, Mohit Khatri, Shivam Shukla, Shridhar Nigade, Sumit Roy. Head Coach: Paul Albaladejo.