Tears for Sri Lanka, World Cup berths for HK and Korea

by a Special Sports Correspondent

A new look Sri Lanka national side returned home empty handed after the first Leg of Asian Rugby Sevens series in Dubai where Hong Kong (the winners) and South Korea (runner-up) booked their berths at the upcoming Rugby World Cup Sevens through their performances on the two days of rugby which ended last Saturday (November 19).

The Asian Rugby Sevens was well contested and Hong Kong, with the strength of expatriates who qualify to represent the country, produced a sizzling display of seven-a-side rugby in the ‘Cup’ final to down a much-improved South Korean side 33-7. Asian powerhouse Japan ran out winners in the 3rd place play-off downing China 26-19 while Sri Lanka had to be contented with an appearance in the ‘Plate’ Final where it went down to United Arab Emirates 29-10.

This is a team building phase for the Sri Lankans and in the absence of their regulars (Who didn’t contest a tournament which served as a trial for selection) a young side did seemingly well despite losing all its matches on the opening day of the tournament (Last Friday). On the first day of the tournament Sri Lanka lost to Japan 31-14, UAE 29-7 and China 32-0.

The Sri Lanka team led by Adeesha Weeratunga had the services of Kanchana Ramanayake, Nishon Perera, Sachith Silva, Iroshan Silva, Sudaraka Dikkubura, Janidu Dilshan, Samuel Ogbebor, Kushan Indunil, Anjula Hettiarahchi, Ishara Madshan and Nuwan Perera and were coached by Nilfer Ibrahim; the entire squad coming under the watchful eyes of Rugby Sevens Director Ben Gollings.

Sri Lanka never looked like the strong contender it had proved to be in the past editions of this tournament with only a few players shining in Dubai. Nishon Perera was the pick among the Sri Lankan players and had an outstanding tournament. Both the Sri Lanka men’s and women’s teams at the Dubai Sevens finished sixth in the points table at the completion of the first leg of the Asian Sevens Series. The second leg of the tournament is scheduled for November 25 and 26, also in Dubai. Earlier, according to original plans, Sri Lanka was to host one leg (Colombo) while South Korea (Incheon) and China (Huizhan) were also slated to play the role of hosts of this prestigious 3-leg tournament before Covid concerns made the Asian Rugby Football Union scrap all pre-plans and confine all the matches to a venue in Dubai.