Sri Lanka Super Sevens - Wesley shock Thomians on day 1

Model Adriana Lima carries the Olympic torch in Maua Square in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 4 August – Reuters

By Shamzeer Jaleel

The Inaugural Sri Lanka Super Rugby Sevens 2016 kicked off at the Racecourse Rugby Grounds in Colombo yesterday. The opening day of the tournament saw some campaign rugby dished out not only by the franchise outfits but also the school lads.

Wesley who looked promising on day one shocked the defending school sevens champions St. Thomas’ 19/14 in a close encounter. Isipathana won all their group encounters and booked their berth in the Cup quarter finals. Both the Wesleyites and Thomians won two games each. In the other group, the Petrites showed their dominance by winning both their group encounters at the time of going to press.

In the franchise game, the Cargills Gladiators looked in good form winning their two games. They beat Etisalat Panthers 41/7 which was the highest score of day one. In their second game they edged out EYZ Wolves 19/14 in a close game. Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel Eagles too won their two encounters. 

Spectators witnessed some top class players such as Matt Turner (England), Pio Tuwai, William Ryder, Stefano Cakaunivalu, Nemani Nagusa and Emioni Nisalsua (all from Fiji) in action displaying some high quality sevens rugby skills. Second and final days play will take place today at the same venue on the first leg of this tournament. School quarter finals will kick off at 1.00 pm today while the franchise encounters will be worked off from 2.20 pm.

Schools

Isipathana beat Wesley 14/12, St. Thomas’ beat D. S. 31/0, St. Peter’s beat Prince of Wales 33/0, St. Joseph’s beat Zahira 19/5, Wesely beat D. S. 34/12, Isipathana beat St. Thomas’ 19/10, St. Joseph’s beat Prince of Wales 21/12, St. Peter’s beat Zahira 29/15, Wesley beat St. Thomas’ 19/14, Isipathana beat D. S. 28/0

 Franchise Teams

SLT Mobitel beat Access Kings 32/12, Softlogic Warriors beat KBSL Dragons 17/12, EYZ Wolves beat Walkers CML Vipers 28/12, Cargills Gladiators beat Etisalat Panthers 41/7, SLT Mobitel beat Softlogic Warriors 24/7, KBSL Dragons beat Access Kings 21/17, Cargills Gladiators beat EYZ Wolves 19/14, Etisalat Panthers beat Walkers CML Vipers 17/12.

Junior Golf at Digana 

The Regional Junior Open Golf Championship will be worked off for the third consecutive year at the Victoria Golf and Country Resort today and tomorrow. The main sponsor for this eagerly awaited annual event on the country’s golfing calendar will be Prima Sunrise Bread for the second year running. 

Already more than 50 entries have been received so far with the top positions being vied for in four age group categories: Gold (15-17 years), Silver (12-14 years), Bronze (10 -11 years) and Copper (9 years and under). The top ranked players in 2015 and winners of the Sri Lanka Open 2015 are expected to keenly compete to maintain their current ranking as well. It is a tournament that is open to both boys and girls under the age of 18 years and is a very important tournament in the golfing calendar as it will be considered for national ranking points in 2016.  (SJ)