In their first event as hosts, Malaysia were defeated 36–5 by Canada in the Bowl quarterfinals whilst Australia won back to back Sevens titles for the first time by defeating New Zealand 19–17 in the Cup final.
Format
The teams were drawn into four pools of four teams each. Each team played the other teams in their pool once, with 3 points awarded for a win, 2 points for a draw, and 1 point for a loss (no points awarded for a forfeit). The pool stage was played on the first day of the tournament. The top two teams from each pool advanced to the Cup/Plate brackets. he bottom two teams from each pool went on to the Bowl bracket.[2] No Shield trophy was on offer in the 2000–01 season.
The pool stage was played on the first day of the tournament. The 16 teams were separated into four pools of four teams and teams in the same pool played each other once. The top two teams in each pool advanced to the Cup quarterfinals to compete for the 2001 Kuala Lumpur Sevens title.