In 2015 when Sri Lanka Rugby restructured its foundation, the end goal was qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Fast forward to 2019, the plan for Sri Lanka’s sevens team is yet to be determined for the all-important season that will be the decisive year in deciding Sri Lanka Rugby’s fate on the road to the Olympics.
Rugby sevens was re-introduced to the Olympic Games at the 2016 edition in Rio where Fiji won their first ever gold in the men’s segment while Australia took home the women’s gold.
How does the qualification work?
A total of 12 teams including the host team will gain qualification for the tournament at the Olympic in both the Men’s and Women’s segments, with the qualification process being the same as 2016.
The top 4 finishers in the World Rugby Sevens series in 2019 will gain automatic qualification to the games. The hosts of the games, Japan will also automatically qualify for the tournament.
Out of the 7 remaining slots, 6 of them will be filled via regional tournaments held across the country.
- Africa – 1 team
- Asia – 1 team
- Europe – 1 team
- North America – 1 team
- Oceania – 1 team
- South America – 1 team
Teams that have already qualified by topping the World Rugby Sevens Series or based in the host country will not participate in those tournaments.
Teams that don’t make the cut in the regional tournaments will get one last lifeline to make the cut in the Olympic Repechage tournament.
The Repechage tournament will consist of the 2nd and 3rd placed teams of the regional tournaments who compete for 1 final spot in the 2020 Olympic games.
Sri Lanka’s road to the Olympics
In 2015, it was Japan who got the qualification spot in the Asian competition but with them automatically qualifying this time as hosts, the Asia qualifying spot is now open.
The Olympic Qualifier event for Asia will follow after the Asia Sevens Series and will take place in the month of November.
The Women’s Asia Olympic qualifier will be on the 9th and 10th of November in Guangzhou, China while the Men’s qualifier will be on the 23rd and 24th of November in Incheon, South Korea.
The Olympic Repechage will be held soon after the regional qualifiers are completed and before the 2019 season is completed.
Read more: Olympic spot on offer for the Tuskers
Last time Sri Lanka took this route, things did not end on a happy note. The Asia Olympic qualifier in 2015 saw Sri Lanka failing to make the Cup final and later losing out to Korea in the 3rd and 4th place play-off.
Read more: Tuskers’ Olympic hopes still alive
Also Read : Sri Lanka beat Mexico whilst Spain qualify for Olympics
Later the Tuskers took flight to Monaco along with Korea & Hong Kong for the Repechage and lost all their group stage games against Germany, Canada and Uruguay.
Sri Lanka finished as Shield runners-up losing 24-31 to South Korea yet again.
Sri Lanka will have plenty to do after back-to-back losses to the Philippines left them outside the top 3 in Asia. The sevens season will kick off in Korea on the 31st of August 2019.
