Can Sri Lanka overcome Hong Kong?

By Shamseer Jaleel 

Sri Lanka men’s sevens outfit under Dhanushka Ranjan will be the talking point when they lock horns in the final leg of the Asian Sevens series 2016 in Colombo at the Racecourse rugby grounds today and tomorrow. Sri Lanka, who ended second best in both the legs in Hong Kong and South Korea, has the best chance to beat the expat-filled Hong Kong outfit in front of their appreciative home crowd in the Colombo heat.

Sri Lanka should have things their own way and will be able to get the better of Taipei, Singapore but China will be a tough outing. However, the home team always got the better of the inconsistent Chinese team in the recent past. This will leave Sri Lanka with a semifinal date with either Korea or Hong Kong. Sri Lanka beat South Korea at their home ground and almost beat Hong Kong in their own backyard in the first leg. So beating either of the teams and ending as winners in the third leg is not impossible but they will need to push Hong Kong to the number four position as well. If Hong Kong performs any better than number four, then they will take away the series for 2016.

Sri Lanka skipper Ranjan said: “We played well in the first leg in Hong Kong when we won the initial kick-off ball and had a good 10-point lead. We attacked but coming into the second leg they (Hong Kong) studied us and never gave us a chance with securing kick-off balls. In Korea, we were a little lethargic and tired in the finals after giving our best shot in the semifinal against the hosts Korea. We have put a lot of preparation and are in good shape for the third leg. How well we click as a team on day two will take us through. I firmly believe in my team to win this leg in front of our home crowd in Colombo.

We want to win it for the people of Sri Lanka who followed us in numbers. Also, the Colombo heat will be an advantage for us.”

Sri Lanka Head Coach Matt Turner said: “We were beaten twice by Hong Kong in the final and the second one was disappointing. Good for the lads to play in front of their families and hopefully we can win the third leg. Our players’ fitness improved and a lot of hard work and commitment is being put into the training sessions in the last 5-7 days. We will have to stick to our game plan.”