Sri Lanka 7s rugby team topped the pool B in the Asian 7s Series, Beijing leg and progressed to the cup quarter-finals with 2 wins in 2 games on day 1 in the capital city of China.
Sri Lanka beat Kazakhstan and Malaysia convincingly and they will face Philippines in the 1st cup quarter-final encounter scheduled to start sharp at 7.44am (SL time) on 19th October.
Sri Lanka vs Kazakhstan
Sri Lanka 7s skipper for the Beijing 7s series, Mithun Hapugoda kicked started their 1st pool B encounter against Kazakhstan. Kazakhs drew first blood in the opening minute when they broke through the Lankan defense in the center of the pitch with Ivan Olkhovskiy scoring the try. The conversion went astray.
(SL 00 – KAZ 05)
As the Lankans finally found their rhythm, few minutes into the 1st half, Speedster Danushka Ranjan sprinted for 75 meters and touched down under the post. Skipper Mithun converted with ease handing the lead to the Tuskers. (SL 07 – KAZ 05)
In the final move of the 1st half, Sri Lanka counter-attacked through a Kazakh infringement in their own territory and the Lankans quickly utilized the opportunity with good passes to help Fijian-born Joseph Dunn breeze past to score under the post. Mithun added the extra points to stretch the lead. (SL 14- KAZ 05)
Kazakhstan commenced the 2nd half with a strong run by their left winger Ildar Abdrazakov as he scored an individually brilliant try. Kazkh fly-half converted the try as they reduced the deficit. (SL 14- KAZ 12)
Sri Lanka responded soon after the 2nd Kazakh try from the restart with Fijian-born try-scoring machine Emori Waqavulangi showcasing a superb display of 7s rugby as he ran 80 meters to score a fabulous try. Nigel Ratwatte converted the try. (SL 21- KAZ 12)
In the 4th minute of the 2nd half, Sri Lanka stamped their authority in the game through their dashing center Danushka Ranjan, who intercepted a Kazakh pass and scored his second try of the match. Mithun Hapugoda failed to add the points. (SL 26- KAZ 12)
Sri Lanka injected fresh legs in the final minutes of the match and Emori Waqavulangi was once again in the thick of things as he off-loaded through to Hirantha Perera and he gave the oval-shaped ball to Nigel Ratwatte to complete the 5th try for the Lankan Tuskers though he missed the conversion as the final whistle was blown by the referee.
Final Score: Sri Lanka 31 – Kazakhstan 12
Sri Lanka vs Malaysia
Sri Lanka commenced the game from right to left with Nigel Ratwatte making the kick-off. The dangerous Emori Waqavulangi touched down from the first move of the game as the Malaysians were poor in defense. Ratwatte missed the conversion. (SL 05- MAL 00)
The Lankan skipper Mithun Hapugoda sliced through the Malaysian defense like a knife through butter in the 3rd minute of the match to go under the post. Ratwatte converted with ease to extend the lead. (SL 12- MAL 00)
The elusive Mithun Hapugoda repeated his skills again to score his 2nd try in the same fashion as the first to put Sri Lanka in control. Nigel Ratwatte bisected the posts to add the extra points. (SL 19 – MAL 00)
Malaysians opened scoring through their 1st attacking move as their winger Hafiz Ahmed touched down in the far corner. The conversion went astray. (SL 19 – MAL 05)
Just before the half-time whistle, Danushka Ranjan ran through a superb angle from his own territory to graze past few defenders and score under the post. Nigel Ratwatte converted. (SL 26- MAL 05)
After the 1 minute break, both teams played according to their strengths but none of the players were successful in crossing the try line except the Malaysian Aswad Ahmad as he touched down in the final minute meanwhile Sri Lanka gave crucial game time to all their players with the tough games coming up tomorrow.
Final Score: Sri Lanka 26 – Malaysia 10
Lady Tuskers put up brave performances on Day 1
The Lankan lasses advanced to the plate semi-finals after 2 losses and 1 win on day 1 at the ARFU Asian 7s – Beijing leg. In the opening game of the day, Sri Lanka women lost to Kazakhstan women by 22 points to nil with the winners scoring 4 tries.
In the 2nd game for the Lady Tuskers in the pool X, Sri Lanka suffered yet another 24-07 loss against the Hong Kong women, though they played bravely as they were much smaller in size compared to the Hong Kong team.
In the final game for the Lankan lasses, they faced Singapore women to decide the 3rd place of pool X. Singapore struck early to gain the lead with 2 tries in the first 7 minutes of the game as the half-time scores read 14-05 with the try for the islanders came through Sandeepa Sandamali. After the turn around, Sri Lanka used their speed effectively instead of going for the contact. Shanika Madumali got Sri Lanka back into the contention with her first try but the real star for Sri Lanka was their former Captain, Thanuja Weerakkody as she made a scintillating 60 meter run to touch down and won the game for Sri Lanka in the final move of the match. Final scores were 15-14 in favour Sri Lanka.
The 5th ranked Asian women’s rugby team, the Lady Tuskers will play in the 2nd plate semi-final against Philippines tomorrow at 9.34am (SL time).
