Sri Lanka win Asia Rugby Under-19 Division 1 title and claim promotion

• Beat Philippines 40-0

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lanka Youth rugby outfit under Thulaib Hassen outclassed Philippines by 40/0 in the Asia Rugby Under-19 Men’s Rugby Championship which took place at the Yongchuan Sports Centre in China. With this win, the Sri Lankan Under-19 outfit will be playing alongside Hong Kong, South Korea, and Taipei in the 2020 Asia top four and earn an opportunity for the Youth Rugby World Cup 2021 if they win the tournament.

Meanwhile there was a shocker for the hosts when they were beaten by Thailand and demoted to Division 2 in 2020. Singapore, too, will be demoted to Division 1 after they were placed fourth in the top four this year. Hong Kong, who claimed the championship will book their berth for the Youth Rugby World Cup 2020 as the Asian team.

Sri Lanka scored their tries through Thulaib Hassen (2), Janidu Ratnayake, Zubair Doray, Adnan Adhan, Asiri Seneviratne and Samuel Ogbebor scored the tries as Doray converted two of them, while Manilka Ruberu, who had a grand outing against China – scoring 16 points – added two penalties for Sri Lanka.

The Sri Lankan outfit was under the watchful eyes of Viper (jnr) Gunaratne, well-supported by Rajiv Perera, Rohitha Rajapaksa, and Ananda Kasturiarachchi. The team was sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka Ltd.