Japan dominate third leg in Colombo

Monday, 30 September 2019 01:08 -     - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Asia Rugby Sevens Third Leg Womens Champions - Japan Team

Asia Rugby Sevens Third Leg  Highest try scorer Chihito MATSUI  Japan

 Asia Rugby Sevens Third Leg  Mens Champions - Japan Team

  • Asia Rugby Sevens 2019: Third Leg in Colombo

 

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka Men’s ended the third leg of the Asia Rugby Sevens 2019 at number four at the Racecourse rugby ground in Colombo yesterday. Meanwhile, the Women’s outfit ended the third leg on number seven position getting the better of Singapore in the play-off.

Meanwhile Japan Men’s and Women’s stamped their class with wins at the third leg in Colombo while securing the overall series as well in both the segments. Japan Men’s got the better of their closest rival in Asia, Hong Kong by 17/12 in the Cup final Meanwhile their Women’s too did well by beating the surprise finalist, Thailand in an one sided affair beating them 26/5.

Sri Lankan Men’s outfit beat South Korea and UAE but lost out to Hong Kong in their group encounters. In the semi-finals it was one-way traffic as the Asian Giants, Japan handed off Sri Lanka with a thumping of 45 points to nothing. 

Playing in the third place play-off China was too good for Sri Lanka as they beat the hosts 27/12 to secure the number three position in the Colombo leg. Sri Lanka ended the series on number four. South Korean Men’s had a disastrous third leg in Colombo when they ended as the number eight team event. They lost out to Taipei in the seventh place play-off 12/19. Philippine Men’s accounted for the Plate championship (fifth place) when they beat UAE 19/14.

In the Women’s segment the Sri Lankan outfit under the watchful eyes of Saliya Kumara ended on the number seventh position a yard faster after ending in number eight in China in the second leg. With this ending they narrowly escaped relegation to division one by securing number six position overall in the series. Singapore was the unluckiest team who will be demoted to division one in 2020 Asian Sevens series.

Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) President Aga Hussain, Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) President Lasitha Gunaratne and the sponsors gave away the awards.

Results day two

Men’s

  • Pool matches: Japan beat Philippines 35/5, China beat Taipei 40/0, Sri Lanka beat UAE 35/10, Hong Kong beat South Korea 45/0
  • Plate semi-finals: Philippines beat South Korea 22/12, UAE beat Taipei 38/0
  • Cup semi-finals: Hong Kong beat China 24/19, Japan beat Sri Lanka 45/0
  • Seventh place: Taipei beat South Korea 19/12
  • Fifth place (Plate final): Philippines beat UAE 19/14
  • Third place: China beat Sri Lanka 27/12
  • Cup final: Japan beat Hong Kong 17/12

Women’s

  • Pool matches: Kazakhstan beat Singapore, China beat Malaysia 43/0, Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 22/10, Japan beat Thailand 31/0 
  • Plate semi-finals: Singapore beat Sri Lanka 29/0, Hong Kong beat Malaysia 22/10
  • Cup semi-finals: Japan beat China 22/14, Thailand beat Kazakhstan 12/7
  • Seventh place: Sri Lanka beat Malaysia 19/7
  • Fifth place (Plate final): Hong Kong beat Singapore 22/5
  • Third place: China beat Kazakhstan 31/0
  • Cup final: Japan beat Thailand 26/5

Pix by Chamila Karunarathna

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