Sri Lanka secure number four in China Sevens

Results

Cup Final – Japan beat China 28-12

Cup Semi-final – China beat Sri Lanka 22-12, Japan beat South Korea 21-5

Cup Quarterfinal – Sri Lanka beat Malaysia 31-10, China beat Hong Kong 21-17, South Korea beat Kazakhstan 19-17, Japan beat Philippines 26-5

Plate Final – Hong Kong beat Kazakhstan 27-0

Bowl Final – UAE beat Singapore 15-7

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lanka Rugby Sevens outfit ended the first round of the Asian Sevens series in fourth place at the Tsingtao Stadium in Qingdao, China yesterday. Sri Lanka was outclassed by South Korea in the playoff for the third place 24-7. Japan secured the first leg overcoming the hosts China 28-12 in the Cup Final.

Earlier in the day Sri Lanka overcame a spirited Malaysian outfit 31-10 in the cup quarterfinal encounter. For Sri Lanka, Gayan Weraratne, Dhanushka Ranjan, debutant Kanchana Ramanayake (2) and Dulaj Perera scored the tries.

Moving into the semi-final, Sri Lanka played well in patches. At one point just before the short whistle, the game was evenly poised with each team scoring once as Sandun Herath touched down for Sri Lanka. But China took the game under their control with three more tries to end the game 22-12. For Sri Lanka, their second try was scored by Anurudha Wilwara.

In the third place playoff, the Koreans gave no chances to the Sri Lankan outfit, playing the game at a rapid pace. For Sri Lanka, it was Dhanushka Ranjan who stood out on both days, scoring some good tries.

The Sri Lankans won both their group encounters beating Singapore 43 to nothing and Kazakhstan 24-12 on the initial day. The only shock of the tournament was China beating the defending Asian Sevens Champions – Hong Kong. Hong Kong ended the tournament ranked fifth securing the Plate but dropping four places from the number one rank they achieved last year.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Women’s outfit led by Thanuja Weerakody ended the tournament on a disappointing note, ending up in the eighth and last position in the tournament, failing to win even a single game. They were beaten by China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Uzbekistan.

The second leg of the tournament will move to Thailand at the end of this month with only the men’s segment. The last leg will take place at the Racecourse Rugby Grounds in October where both the men’s and women’s segments will be held.