Photo: Fiji Rugby Facebook
The Fiji sevens teams both made the semifinals at the Dubai Sevens, but fell at that hurdle, finishing third and fourth.
The men's team were beaten 24-21 by New Zealand in the semifinal, but won the third-place playoff against France, 24-7.
That meat they were not able to retain the title they had won last year.
Fijiana finished fourth, losing their semifinal to Australia, 31-10, and then the third place playoff to Japan, 22-12.
The results were enough to get Fiji top four placings, heading into the second round of the HSBC Sevens Series, the Cape Town tournament, this coming weekend.
New Zealand claimed both Dubai tournament titles in the end, winning over Australia in both finals.
The women's team defeated Australia 29-14 while the men's team held on to beat their Tasman rivals 26-22.
Australia were the defending women's champions.
In the women's final, try-scorers for New Zealand were Stacey Waaka, Kelsey Teneti, Jorja Miller, who managed a double, and Risi Pouri-Lane.
Australia recorded two tries in the clash through Tia Hinds.
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The men's final clash was a tit-for-tat, with Australia putting the pressure on New Zealand after Harry Wilson, son of former Wallaby David Wilson, scored two late tries.
Tries to Dylan Collier, Akuila Rokolisoa, Sione Molia and replacement Jayden Keelan were enough to see New Zealand claiming their first title since 2024.
Semifinal results
The Fijiana sevens team lost 31-10 to defending champions Australia in the women's semifinal.
While Australia dominated the encounter in the second half, the Fijians were in the game in the first spell and early in the second when they had two good scoring opportunities.
Adi Vani Buleki broke through the Australian defense late in the first half and the Fijians looked like were going to get one back as Australia led 12-5, but lack of support saw the opportunity go begging.
From the second half re-start, Buleki was on hand again, taking the ball high and running towards the Australian line but the chance to score was lost again.
That gave Australia the cue to get back into gear and they ran away to win in the end and march into the final.
Australian winger Maddison Levi claimed two tries, with Bienne Terita, Tia Hinds and Kaitlin Shave getting one each.
Teagan Levi added two points through a conversion while Hinds succeeded with two conversions.
Fiji's points came through Silika Qalo and Buleki.
New Zealand defeated Japan 31-5 in the first semifinal to book their final spot.
Try-scorers for New Zealand were Mahina Paul, who scored a double, Jorja Miller, Kelsey Teneti and Katelyn Vahaakolo.
Japan's lone try-scorer was Honoka Tsutsumi.
In the men's first semifinal, Australia and France fought to nil-all at half-time, before the Australians won 14-0.
It was a tough battle all the way through, with both teams fighting hard to find spaces out wide.
But Willaim Carteright, off the bench for Australia and playing his debut tournament, broke the deadlock with a try that gave the green and golds the lead they needed.
He claimed his second a few seconds away from fulltime to give Australia a 14-0 win, sending them into the final.
In the second match Fiji and New Zealand played a thriller in their 46th semifinal clash of the series, before the Tomasi Cama-coached Kiwis won 24-21.
Fiji scored the first try of the game through Viwa Naduvalo but New Zealand levelled terms with their Fijian heritage player Akuila Rarokolisoa, and then Bradey Rush scoring their second try that gave them a 14-7 lead at halftime.
Veteran Dylan Collier claimed New Zealand's third try in the corner as the Kiwis led 19-7.
Naduvalo then got in the act to claim his second try and close the gap on the scoreboard, with playmaker Waisea Nacuqu converting the try.
The speedster gave his side the chance to finish the game off when he claimed this third try, Nacuqu converting as Fiji extended their lead to 21-19 with a minute to go.
But Rob Rush, son of former New Zealand sevens star Eric Rush, sent Fiji out of final contention with Rush scoring in the corner as New Zealand won 24-21.
Earlier in the second half, Rob Rush was taken off injured.
Fijian player Ilikimi Vunaki was sent off with a red card, ending his Dubai tournament performance and reducing Fiji's firepower.
