Lankans finish fourth in Asian Sevens final leg

From left: Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya, Group Chief Executive, Dialog Axiata PLC, Dayasiri Jayarsekara M.P., Minister of Sports, Malik Samarawickrama M.P., Minister of Development Strategies and International Trade, Harin Fernando M.P., Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, Trevor Gregory, Asia Rugby Representative at World Rugby, Asanga Seneviratne, President -  SLRFU and Case Everart, Board Member of the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union.

Asian Heavy weights Hong Kong beat spirited South Korea, 24 to 19 in grueling final of the Asia Rugby Sevens Series

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lanka rugby outfit produced a poor display on the second day of the third and final leg of the 2016 Asian Sevens, played at the Race Course rugby grounds, as they lost both their games yesterday. 

They crumbled 19-7 to Hong Kong in the semifinals before being edged out 22-21 by China in the third place play-off.

Hong Kong stamped their class when they edged out South Korea courtesy of a last-minute try, to not only win the third leg but also claim the Asians Sevens Series by obtaining the maximum 36 points. Sri Lanka (27 points), South Korea (26 points) and China (22 points) ended the series on top in the Men’s segment. Sri Lanka and Hong Kong both qualified for next year’s Hong Kong Sevens qualification round in April 2017. Japan dominated the women’s segment to walk away with the 2016 Asian Sevens Series crown, continuing their dominance in Asian rugby.

Sri Lanka played well against Hong Kong in the opening minutes of the game as Dhanushka Dyan powered his way over the try line. Kevin Dixon added the extra two points to hand his team a 7-0 lead. But Hong Kong hit back through the experienced Max Woodward. The scores were level at halftime. Both teams saw one of their players awarded a yellow card in the first half.

After the turnaround it was one-way traffic as Hong Kong scored through Saloom Yoo and Woodward secured his second try.

Against China, Sri Lanka dominated for a large stretch of the game but lost their bearings in its last two minutes. Richard Dharmapala opened scoring for Sri Lanka but the Chinese outfit equalised to have the score tied at seven at the halfway stage.

In the second half Sri Lanka scored through Srinath Sooriyabandara and Dhanushka Ranjan. Although China hit back, the home team led 21-12. But in the last two minutes of the game, indiscipline crept into the Sri Lankan outfit’s play, resulting in gaping holes forming in their defence, which allowed the Chinese to score two tries in the last minute of play and pip the Lankans 22-21.

Sri Lanka, who did well in the first and the second leg by finishing in the runner-up position, had to satisfy themselves with a fourth place finish in the third leg. Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s women lost out 12-7 to Singapore in the Plate final in extra time thus being relegated to a disappointing seventh overall in a tournament which featured 10 teams.  

Men’s

Cup Final

Hong Kong beat South Korea 24-19

Semifinals

South Korea beat China 19-14 and Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 19-7

Women’s

Cup Final

Japan beat China 17-5

Rest of the matches

Men’s

Japan beat Taipei 26-5, Malaysia beat Singapore 24-12, Taipei beat Singapore 22-17 and Malaysia beat Japan 19-14

Women’s

Sri Lanka beat India 32-0, Singapore beat South Korea 12-7, Japan beat Hong Kong 14-0, South Korea beat India 31-5, Singapore beat Sri Lanka 12-7 andThailand beat Hong Kong 19-5