“We need to get mentally strong as players:” Fazil Marija

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) will go into the record books when they host their very first Asian Sevens tournament organised by Asian Rugby under the watchful eyes of the World Rugby which will take place at the Race Course rugby grounds from 10 to 11 October.

Sri Lanka ending on number four in both China (first leg) and Thailand (second leg) will need to come out with some black magic in order to secure a final berth in the third leg in front of their rugby-crazy fans in Colombo. They will need to topple one of the three top teams (South Korea, Japan or Hong Kong).

At present, Japan are leading the points table with 24 points followed by South Korea (21), China (20) and both Sri Lanka and Hong Kong with 18 points apiece.

Sri Lanka skipper Fazil Marija said: “we need to come out with a consistent performance which we lacked in the last two tournaments. As individual players we have a very talented bunch but need to work as a team both in attack as well in defence.

“One more thing which is important in a physical game is mentally we need to be strong characters to overrun the opponents. With lots of hard work put in the last two weeks with the players and well supported by Coach Matt Turner, we will come out with a good performance in Colombo. We urge all rugby loving fans to come to Colombo and support us to achieve this.”

There will be 12 men’s and eight women’s team locking horns in this third and the final leg. The Sri Lanka Women’s outfit will kick off the tournament with the game against Kazakhstan at 10 a.m. while the men’s team will face Philippines and Malaysia in their group encounters.

Men’s

Group A – Japan, UAE, Taipei

Group B – Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Philippines

Group C – Hong Kong, China, Kazakhstan

Group D – South Korea, Singapore, Thailand

Women’s

Hong Kong, Japan, Thailand, Uzbekistan

China, Kazakhstan, Singapore, Sri Lanka