The Sri Lanka national men’s 7s team finished 5th in the Asia Rugby regional qualifier for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics defeating Malaysia in the 5/6th play-off worked off in Namdong Asiad Stadium in Korea.
Hosts Korea defeated Hong Kong to make history and be the second team to qualify for the Olympic games next year.
The Asia regional qualifier to choose 1 team for the Tokyo Olympics kicked off yesterday (23rd) in the Namdong Stadium in Korea with the participation of 9 teams.
The Tuskers had a good start on day 1 of the tournament defeating Afghanistan 26-5 but later succumbed to a landslide 44-7 defeat against Korea.
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With one win under their belt, the Tuskers qualified for the cup quarterfinals to face the Philippines. The game was closely contested with tries coming in from Kevin Dixon and Reeza Raffaideen but Philippines held their ground to win the game 24-17.
With the chances of making the Olympics lost, Sri Lanka were solely playing for pride in the Plate draw of the tournament.
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Meeting Afghanistan once again in the Plate semifinals, it was easy going for the Danush Dayan led side to make the finals with a comfortable 40-0 win.
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In a closely fought game in the Plate finals against Malaysia, the Tuskers were able to play it safe to secure a 14-7 narrow win thanks to tries from Chathura Seneviratne and Buddhima Piyarathane.
Sri Lanka finished 5th in the tournament and unlike in 2015, they will not gain qualification to the Olympic Repackage tournament next year to further their Olympic dream.
With this coming to a disappointing conclusion, the Sri Lankan Olympic dream is still to be a reality.
