Former captain and the most experienced player in the team, Ayesha Perera scored the first try to give the Lankans some early momentum. Ayesha, who missed out last year due to a knee injury, played a big role in this game although Sri Lanka lost earlier in the day to Thailand (14 – 07) and China (37 – 00).
Air Force winger Anusha Attanayake scraped through the defense to score the second try. Sri Lanka then took full control of the game, playing some fast paced rugby. Ayesha Kaluarachchi also went under the post with a lovely dummy while Dulani Pallikondage scored the next try for Sri Lanka.
HT: Sri Lanka 24 – 00 Uzbekistan
Attanayake scored immediately after the restart with a 70m burst of speed to out run the defense. Uzbekistan did not have much of a clue with ball in hand as the Sri Lanka Women showed some good defense as well. Pallikondage scored her second with a show and go, breaking the opposition defense. Navy player Sanju Wijethilake scored the last try from a lineout move and that was a brilliant finish by the team to get their confidence high for day two.
FT: Sri Lanka 39 – 00 Uzbekistan
Sri Lanka will play the Plate semi-finals against Guam tomorrow at 8.52am SL time.
A hat- trick of tries by Ying Zaho led to Chinese women dominated the Lankan lases in their second game.
China won the game 37-00. Sri Lanka with a size disadvantage found it difficult to match up to their heavier/bigger Chinese counterparts. Possession was overturned by China at the break downs and restarts. Sri Lanka looked good in attack but were not able to find the finishing touches and they were starved of possession by the strong Chinese team.
Full time score China 37-00 Sri Lanka
At Half time China led – 22-00
Valiant effort by women’s fall short to Thailand
The Sri Lanka Women’s 7s team put in a strong effort against Thailand in their 1st game of the Asia 7s Championship but unfortunately fell short by 7 points.
Sri Lanka had a perfect start to the game with a stunning 70m try by Sandika Hemakumari, the fast running prop. Ayesha Kaluarachchi made the conversion to put Sri Lanka ahead by 7 – 0. Thailand then hit back with a try by Chichanok Yusri and the successful conversion leveled the scores.
Sri Lanka could not convert ball possession to points as a result of some good defense by the Thais. Thailand went ahead with their second try scored by Uthumporn Liamrat and Tidarat Sawatnam made her 2nd successful conversion as the scores read 7 – 14.
The Sri Lankan women played much better in comparison to their performance last year, showing a marked improvement in all aspects of the game. The communication in defense and attack could have been a bit better, with many opportunities coming but going a begging because of poor decision making on the field.
FT Score: Sri Lanka 07 – 14 Thailand
