Happy with the progress: Naveen Heenakankanmge

Asian Under 20 Sevens 2018 in HK 

China was strong enough to defend the Women's event for yet another year

HK defended their title in the Men's segment

Sri Lanka Youth rugby skipper Naveen Heenakanknamge who ended his second year as the captain of the outfit speaking to Daily FT said: “I am happy with the progress of the players, as a group we did our level best. We had training for nearly three weeks and got the best out of it. There were a few things which went against us things that we cannot control. Some decisions were harsh but that’s the way it goes in a professional game, you need to move on. Sri Lanka’s Junior rugby looks good and a lot of preparation is required. If the team can be together for at least over a month it will be good to click and perform. Individually all are good but we need to click as a team and need more time together.”

Sri Lanka Youth Head Coach Nilfer Ibrahim said: “We started off well and gained confidence on the opening day. Moving into the semi-final stage we made some basic blunders plus ball handling errors. We had one yellow card. The game could have gone our way had we converted a sitter under the posts it would have been 19/17 without going in to extra time.   

“We want to take the learning and move forward. The boys were a talented lot but a few more days together will make a world of difference in clicking as a team. We are not far away from beating Hong Kong. Let’s hope for the best in the next tournaments at junior level. I would like to thank the National Selectors and Sri Lanka Rugby for their support.”

Sri Lanka Under 20 rugby team became number 2 at Asia Rugby sevens tournament in HK. From left: Basnayake – physio, Kapila Knowlton – National Selector on tour, Dinesh Kumara – Trainer, Duminda De Silva – Manager, Nilfer Ibrahim – Head Coach and Fazil Marija – Assistant Coach – Photo credit Thepapare.com