Asia Rugby Under-20 Sevens 2018 Naveen leads strong Sri Lankan outfit to HK

By Shamseer Jaleel

Former Thomian skipper, CH and FC and Sri Lanka Sevens player Naveen Henakankanamage will lead a strong Sri Lanka Under-20 rugby outfit for Asia Rugby Sevens 2018, which will take place on 10 and 11 August at the Kings Park Sports Cub ground in Hong Kong.

From the final selected 17, Chamod Fernando and Mursheed Zubair were dropped out, leaving Gihan Perera, Diluksha Dange and Manula Ratnayake in the non-touring standbys in case of an injury to any of the players. The outfit is coached by veteran Nilfer Ibrahim with Fazil Marija as his assistant.

Speaking to Daily FT, Sri Lanka Junior Head Coach Nilfer said: “The boys are in good shape. We had ample time for the preparation. We got good support from Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) and Lasitha Gunaratne for this tour. We will need to end on top in our group to avoid Hong Kong in the semi-final encounter. Hong Kong has always been a threat to us, but I am confident with this outfit that we will overcome them.” 

He ended saying Naveen is a good leader, having enough experience in playing at junior and senior level for the country.

Touring Squad of 12 players

Naveen Henakankanamage (St. Thomas /CH and FC), Dinuk Amarasinghe (St. Anthony’s/Havelocks SC), Harith Bandara (Isipathana/CR and FC), Avishka Lee (Wesley/CH and FC), Randy Silva (Isipathana/Havelocks SC), Theekshana Dasanayake (St. Peter’s), Chathura Senavirathna (St. Joseph’s/ Navy SC), Heshan Jansen (Kingswood/Kandy SC), Thulaib Hassen (Royal), Janidu Dilshan (Royal), Gemunu Chethiya (St. Joseph’s), Keshan Kavinda (St. Joseph’s)

Stand by: Gihan Perera (St. Joseph’s/Navy SC), Diluksha Dange (Trinity/Kandy SC) and Manula Ratnayake (Isipathana/CR)

Head Coach    Nilfer Ibrahim

Assistant Coach   Fazil Marija

High Performance Manager Duminda de Silva

Trainer    Dinesh Kumara

Men’s

Pool A       Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand, Malaysia

Pool B       Sri Lanka, Taipei, Singapore, China