Srinarth returns to Sri Lanka Sevens team for Malaysian Sevens

Wednesday, 3 September 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel The Sri Lankan Rugby Sevens team under Fazil Marija will leave for Malaysia tomorrow early morning, hoping to improve in their current ranking of number four position obtained in Hong Kong two weeks ago. The Second leg of the Asian Sevens series will kick off in Malaysia on 6 September and will continue till 7 September.

At the opening Asian Sevens series in Hong Kong, Sri Lanka performed well by beating Taipei and China in the opening round. In the second round they beat the Malaysian outfit filled up with Fijians; the semi-final encounter was a tough task as they faced the home lads Hong Kong and were beaten by three converted tries to nothing. Later on in the play off for the third place Sri Lanka was beaten by Japan to secure fourth place. Sri Lanka will be at full strength for the second leg in Malaysia with the return of star scrum half Srinarth Sooriyabandara, who missed the Hong Kong stopover due to an injury. Waqavulgi Emori who made his 15-a-side debut for Sri Lanka at the Asian Five nations will make his debut at the shorter version of the game when he makes it into the team. 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 Srinarth Sooriyabandara Coach: Stefano Cacaloa (Fiji) Manager: Rohan Chinthaka The following are the groupings for the Malaysian Sevens: Pool A – Hong Kong, Philippines, Thailand Pool B – Sri Lanka, China, Kazakhstan Pool C – Japan, Singapore, Taipei Pool D – South Korea, Malaysia, UAE