Lankans finish third at Asian Under-20 competition in HK

The Sri Lanka youth rugby outfit finished third in Hong Kong 

The Sri Lanka Youth rugby outfit finished third at the Asian Sevens Under-20 tournament at the Kings Park Stadium in Kowloon, Hong Kong over the weekend. Hong Kong and China defended their title in the men’s and women’s segment respectively. Hong Kong beat South Korea in the men’s category and China beat Hong Kong in the women’s event.

Sri Lanka lost out 22-17 to South Korea in the semi-final after the game went to extra time. This was the second consecutive time Sri Lanka missed out on the Cup. Sri Lanka beat Singapore 26-12 in the third place playoff. In 2016 under Kevin Dixon Sri Lanka won the Cup. Later in 2017 they finished as a runner-up to Hong Kong. Both the 2017 and 2018 sides were led by Naveen Heenakankanmge.

Overall, the Sri Lankan youth team displayed good skills on Day 1 and 2, but still looked a yard slower than teams like Hong Kong. Better preparation is required if Sri Lanka is to win silverware at this level.  

Group match

Sri Lanka kicked off Day 2 in style when they finished the group stages unbeaten with a 22-12 win over a strong Singaporean outfit.

Sri Lanka scored first when Lee brushed past a few defenders before touching down following Janidu Dilshan’s breakthrough. Harith Bandara added the extra points. Soon afterwards Singapore equalised. Lee was replaced by Heshan Jansen due to a shoulder injury. As soon as Jansen came in, he dummied his way for a handy try for Sri Lanka on the stroke of halftime to give his team a 12-7 lead.

After the turnaround skipper Naveen Heenaknakanmge scored for Sri Lanka. Janidu scored the last Sri Lankan try to take the scores to 22-7. There was one consolation try for Singapore with the scores ending 22-12. Janidu Dilshan once again had an excellent game.

Semi-final

Sri Lanka crashed out of the tournament when their game against South Korea went into extra time after being deadlocked at 17 after full time. South Korea scored first in extra time to secure a 22-17 win and a finals berth.

Sri Lanka once again controlled action well with Heenakankanmge scoring first. Lee scored Sri Lanka’s second try with Harith Bandara converting to take a 12-0 lead. South Korea hit back through a try but Gemunu Cheethiya was unstoppable and went on to score on the stroke of halftime to give his team a 17-7 lead.

After the turnaround South Korea scored back-to-back tries to tie things at 17 points apiece at full time. Sri Lanka lost Thulaib Hassen to a yellow card in the last minute of the game due to him not dropping 10 metres back when South Korea took the penalty. This proved costly for Sri Lanka as they entered extra time minus one player. Eventually the South Koreans broke Sri Lankan hearts when they broke through the tired Sri Lankan defence to score in the second minute of extra time, earning themselves a place in the Cup finals.

Naveen on his way to scoring Sri Lanka's first try aginst South Korea 

Third place

Singapore scored first and a Harith Bandara try was answered soon after with Chathura converting to tie things at seven points apiece. Singapore scored their second try to enter halftime up 12-7.

After the turnaround Sri Lanka settled well to score consecutive tries through Janidu Dilshan, Avishka Lee and Dinuk Amarasinghe to clinch a 26-12 victory and finish in third position. Janidu’s try saw him cover nearly 80 metres.

Men’s

Sri Lanka beat Singapore 22-12, Taipei beat China 14-7, South Korea beat Thailand 40-14 and Hong Kong beat Malaysia 36-0

Plate semi-finals: Thailand beat China 15-7, Taipei beat Malaysia 28-12

Cup semi-finals: South Korea beat Sri Lanka 22-17, Hong Kong beat Singapore 19-0

Seventh place playoff: China beat Malaysia 24-14

Plate final: Taipei beat Thailand 33-17

Third place playoff: Sri Lanka beat Singapore 26-12

Cup final: Hong Kong beat South Korea 5-0

Women’s

China beat Hong Kong 28-0, Thailand beat Malaysia 10-5

Semi-finals: Hong Kong vs. Malaysia 15-0, China beat Singapore 35-0

3rd place: Thailand beat Singapore 19-0

Final: China beat Hong Kong 33-0