Friday, 5 September 2014 01:41
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By Shamseer Jaleel
The Sri Lankan Rugby Sevens team, led by Fazil Marija, left for Malaysia last morning to participate in the second leg of the Asian Sevens Series 2014, being contested on 6 and 7 September.
Currently, the Sri Lanka Sevens team occupies the fourth slot in Asia after the initial tournament in Hong Kong.
Sri Lanka will be at full strength for the second leg in Malaysia with the return of star Scrum Half Srinath Sooriyabandara, who missed the Hong Kong Asian Sevens due to an injury. Sri Lankan-based Fijian Waqavulagi Emori, who made his fifteen-a-side debut for Sri Lanka at the Asian Five Nations, will make his first appearance at the shorter version of the game in Malaysia.
Also missing on the tour will be Sandun Herath and Hirantha Perera, both of whom were dropped and Richard Dharmapala, who is suffering from high fever. Also coming into the side is former Navy SC skipper Yoshitha Rajapaksa.
Speaking to Daily FT, Sri Lanka skipper Fazil Marija said: “We played well in Hong Kong on the first day but made some basic errors later on, and it was costly. Back-to-back games against Hong Kong and Japan were too much of an asking within two hours. We have a full side with Sooriyabandara returning and Emori making his Sevens debut for the country,” he said.
Fazil ended by saying that the team’s main aim was to, at the very least, get to number three on this tour.
Hong Kong is leading the points table after the first leg with 12 points followed by South Korea (11), Japan (10) and Sri Lanka (9).
Sri Lanka - Fazil Marija (Capt.), Anurudha Wilvara, Nigel Ratwatte, Gayan Weeraratne, Lavanga Perera (All from Kandy SC), Shehan Pathirana, Dhanushka Ranjan, Sudharshan Muthuthanthri (All from Havelocks SC), Dinusha Chathuranga, Yoshitha Rajapaksa (Navy SC), Emori Waqavulagi and Srinath Sooriyabandara
Pool A - Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand
Pool B - Sri Lanka, China, Kazakhstan
Pool C - Japan, Singapore, Taipei
Pool D - South Korea, Malaysia, UAE
