A 17-man preliminary squad has been announced ahead of the Asia Rugby U-20 Sevens Series which is set to take place on the 10th and 11th of August at Kings Park, Hong Kong later this year.
The selectors have stated that a final squad of 12 players will be announced by the end of this week, giving them ample preparation time to train as one unit.
A set of experienced players, who stood out in their first club rugby season and the stars of this year’s school season, will compose this year’s team with the hopes of clinching the Cup for a second time.
This will be Henakankanamage’s second stint as Captain of the Junior Tuskers at the tournament as he led the team last year as well.
Henakankanamage is the only Junior Tusker in the team to have donned the National Jersey, touring with the Sri Lanka National team on three occasions. His contribution to CH in the Club Sevens and Access in the Mercantile Sevens, showed why he deserves to lead the team this time around.
There’s a lot of hope in this year’s team as many players who toured last year are included in the team this year as well. Heshan Jansen and Diluksha Dange, who were named the Best Young Player and the Emerging Young Player of the Tournament are a part of this 17-man squad.
The team is well balanced with runners, strong ball carriers and experienced players which bodes well. The midfield duo from the league winning Royal College outfit, Janidu Dilshan and Thulaib Hassen, along with the pacey three-quarter duo from Sevens Champions St. Joseph’s College, Gamunu Chethiya and Keshan Kavinda, are favorites to make it to the final squad.
The 17-man Squad:
Naveen Henakankanamage (S. Thomas’ College/CH & FC), Dinuk Amarasinghe (St. Anthony’s/Havies), Harith Bandara (Isipathana/CR), Avishka Lee (Wesley/CH & FC), Randy Silva (Isipathana/Havies), Theekshana Dasanayake (St. Peter’s), Chathura Senavirathna (St. Joseph’s/ Navy), Gihan Madhusanka (St. Joseph’s/Navy), Diluksha Dange (Trinity/Kandy), Heshan Jansen (Kingswood/Kandy), Thulaib Hassen (Royal), Janidu Dilshan (Royal), Gamunu Chethiya (St. Joseph’s), Keshan Kavinda (St. Joseph’s), Manula Rathnayake (Isipathana), Murshid Zubair (Wesley) Chamod Fernando (Isipathana/CR)
The team will coached by Nilfer Ibrahim with Fazil Marija functioning as the assistant coach. The final team is set to be announced this weekend.
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