Confident Sri Lanka await Rio Olympics Asian qualifier kick-off this weekend

By Shamseer Jaleel reporting from Causeway Bay in Hong Kong

Everything is on the line for the Asian Rugby Sevens teams at the Olympic qualifying tournament for Rio 2016 which will kick-off tomorrow at the Hong Kong Stadium and continue on 8 November.

It is now or never for Sri Lanka with the winner of the Asia Rugby Sevens qualifier securing a spot at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The women will be looking to put in a strong showing in the first of two qualifying tournaments, with the second leg in Tokyo, Japan later this month. Playing the biggest games of their lives, the players cannot wait to take to the turf in front of a packed stadium. This is the biggest event in the shorter version of the game which is assured a packed house at the famous Hong Kong Stadium.

The Sri Lanka Sevens rugby team led by, Muthuthanthri arrived in Hong Kong in two units; one arriving from Singapore (after the Singapore Sevens) and the other from Colombo, who three days back attended three training sessions to get used to the local climate. This Olympic qualifier will host ten men’s and six women’s teams in the two-day event. One spot will be booked by one of the ten teams with Asian Sevens series winners Japan, runner-up Hong Kong, third place South Korea and fourth placed Sri Lanka vying for their semi-final berths. The second placed team will enter a playoff series in June, 2016.

Speaking to the Daily FT in Hong Kong, the former Sri Lankan Sevens skipper, Fazil Marija said: “Losing out on Shehan Pathirana and Dulaj Perera for the Hong Kong tour was a big blow but we have some very good replacements on tour. We need to overcome the hosts Hong Kong. This will be one of the toughest encounters in the group stages where we will play the last game on day one. We need to hand off Iran, Malaysia and Philippines. If we end on top, which I am confident of, we could avoid a date with Japan till the Final”.

He ended by saying: “We came so close to beat Japan in the Colombo leg of the Asian Sevens Series last month when we went down by one try. This shows we are a capable outfit. Our aim is to end in the cup Final. Also we took the maximum out of the three days of preparation before the tournament”.

In a last minute appointment, the Sri Lanka women’s outfit appointed England World Cup (2014) winning Kat Merchant as their Head Coach for the Hong Kong tour. She represented the England outfit in 58 matches, scoring 44 tries for them. The men’s team will be coached by another English player – Matt Turner.