A 16-man Sri Lanka sevens squad has been named by the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union National Selection Committee for the Rio De Janeiro Olympic qualifiers that will kick off in Monaco on the 18th and 19th of June 2016.
The Tuskers will have one last go at a possible qualification for the Olympics as Sudarshana Muthuthanthri is set to take his sevens outfit to compete against the heavyweights in the international circuit in a bid to fight for the ticket to Rio. Initially, a 19-man squad was named by the SLRFU for the tournament and it was later cut down to 15 personnel.
Tuskers’ Olympic hopes still alive
The 19 man squad consisted of the Junior Tuskers Omalka Gunaratne, Reeza Raffaideen, Nishon Perera and Kevin Dixon. Interestingly only Nishon Perera and Kevin Dixon made it to the 15-man squad while the other two have been shown the door. The Police Sports Club three-quarter Reeza Raffaideen who performed quite well in the club circuit will have to sit this tour out along with the former Under 20 Junior Tuskers skipper Omalka Gunaratne. The former Isipathana skipper, Omalka had a successful club season donning the Navy colours but could not play the final few games for the side. Havelock SC’s full back Rehan Thangarajah is the other player who has received the cut despite his second round performance in the club rugby league.
The SLRFU Selecttion Committee has clearly opted to go with experience for the Monaco qualifier understanding its importance and the tough competition they would counter. This is evident by the fact that Kandy powerhouses Srinath Sooriyabandara, Vishvamithra Jayasinghe and Richard Dharmapala, who did not play for the Tuskers at the Asia 5 Nations in Malaysia, are enlisted in the squad. Injured Fazil Marija returns to the side and will be strength for the Lankan side.
Sri Lanka will go up against 15 other teams for a one single spot at the Rio Olympics and will compete initially with Canada, Germany and Uruguay in the group stage. The other countries participating in the qualifier are Chile, Mexico, Spain, Russia, Ireland, Hong Kong, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Tonga, Samoa, Zimbabwe, Morocco and Tunisia.
The squad will be further skimmed to 12 personnel and the final touring list will be announced within the next few days. The team is coached by Matt Turner.
16 Member Squad
- Sudarshana Muthuthanthri (Havelock SC)
- Danushka Ranjan (Havelock SC)
- Sandun Herath (Havelock SC)
- Nishon Perera (Havelock SC)
- Kevin Dixon (Havelock SC)
- Fazil Marija (Kandy SC)
- Srinath Sooriyabandara (Kandy SC)
- Richard Dharmapala (Kandy SC)
- Vishvamithra Jayasinghe (Kandy SC)
- Suhiru Anthony (Kandy SC)
- Roshan Weeraratne (Kandy SC)
- Jason Dissanayake (CR & FC)
- Rochana Hettiarachchi (CR & FC)
- Kavindu Perera (CR & FC)
- Kanchana Ramanayake (CR & FC)
- Danushka Dayan (Kandy SC)
