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Johannesburg - The South African sevens rugby will compete for the bronze medal in the rugby sevens tournament at the World Student Games after going down in a narrow 17-14 defeat to hosts Russia in the semi-finals, in Kazan, on Tuesday.
Clearance Khumalo dotted down to give the South Africans the early lead, but Russia hit back to take a 12-7 advantage into the interval.
And while Khumalo scored again in the second half -- both his tries were converted by Stefan de Villiers -- the host nation managed to bag a surprise win.
Earlier, in the quarter-finals, the SA men, who had gone unbeaten in the group stages, charged into a 21-7 half-time lead and held off some resistance from Belgium for a 26-12 victory.
South Africa will face Great Britain, who were defeated 33-12 by France in their semi-final, in the bronze medal match on Wednesday, the final day of the Games.
Meanwhile, Alistair Davis finished fifth with a score of 25 from 10 shots in the men's double trap shooting semi-finals, narrowly missing out on a place in the bronze medal contest.
Earlier on Tuesday, the 20-year-old Olympian had been fourth best of the first-round qualifiers, progressing to the penultimate round.
In the pool, the SA 4x100m medley relay quartet -- Richard Ellis, Nico Meyer, Leith Shankland and Giulio Zorzi -- finished seventh in the final in 3:42:22. Russia secured the gold medal in 3:34.27. Sapa
