Fazil Marija signed off as captain of the national 7s team in style as Sri Lanka finish third in the Colombo leg of the Asia Sevens Series defeating Malaysia 45-12 in the third-place play off at the Race course International Complex a short while ago.
After two days of exciting action in front of the home audience, the Tuskers came out on top to finish at three having lost only to the heavyweights Japan in the semifinals. The Tuskers topped the group on day one recording landslide victories against Philippines and Malaysia and defeated the mighty Koreans earlier this morning in their quarterfinal match. Sri Lanka faced Malaysia once again for the third place once again.
Sri Lanka dominated the game from the start scoring in the very first minute. A quick offload by Srinath Sooriyabandara allowed Sudarshana Muthuthanthri to draw first blood right under the posts. Sooriyabandara continued to amaze the audience as he scored a breathtaking try stepping inwards from through the defense to score the second. Tries came flooding in for Sri Lanka as Sudarshana Muthuthanthri and Kanchana Ramanayaka crossed for tries in the first half of play.
Skipper Marija had to see the dirty chair once again in the series in the second half and Malaysia capitalized on the one man advantage to score two back to back tries that were scored by Pepeli Naqasim and Vaqa Sakuru taking Malaysia up by 12 points. Sri Lanka however continued to amass their pile of points with Anuruddha Wilwara stepping and smashing his way through to the goal posts which was followed by Kanchana Ramanayake who scored off skipper Fazil Marija’s chip. It was the Sri Lankan speeding sensation Anrudhdha Wilwara who showed some amazing strength acting out the closing performance in this Sevens series scoring the penultimate try warding off three players as Tuskers finished 33-12.
The Japanese men’s team retained their supremacy as Asia’s best winning the 2015 Asia Sevens Series as did their Women’s who finished in the top spot defeating China. The two Japanese sides have thus booked their tickets for Rio Olympics 2015 where Sevens rugby is set to make its debut.
Despite the valiant efforts by Tuskers who played their hearts out, they missed out on the overall rankings ranking coming in fourth behind South Korea who took the third spot.
Japan vs Sri Lanka – Semifinal
Photo Album – Sri Lanka v Japan – S/F (Asia 7`s Series)
The Tuskers went down fighting in their semi final game against the Asian giants Japan as they had to face a 19-26 defeat to the Blossoms in the third leg of the Asia Sevens Series.
Japan couldn’t have asked for a better start as the big lad Teruya Goto cruised through the Lankan sweeper to score right under the posts for a converted try. Goto gave his contribution for Japan’s second, offloading it on to Katsuyuki Sakai who scored under the posts. Sakai converted the try he scored and Japan had a commanding lead of 14 points. Japan continued to piling as the Japanese wing-three Daulako Tuqiri raced towards the try without a contest.
Just before halftime surged Sri Lanka’s comeback as Nigel Ratwatte intercepted the ball at the 50 meter mark and passed it on to Dhanushka Ranjan who bludgeoned through the middle of the Japanese defense to score the first for the Tuskers. Sri Lanka came in close proximity to the Japanese tally in the first minutes of play of the second half when Dhanushka Ranjan repeated his earlier act; this time with some help from the skipper on the outside. (19-14)
Japan’s Henry William extended his team’s lead with score on the outside flag to take Japan to 26 points with Sakai’s conversion. With time ticking on the clock, it was Sri Lanka’s Anurudda Wilwara brought in some consolation with a well-worked try by the efforts of Sudarshana Muthuthanthri and Richard Dharmapala as referee blew for the end of the match.
Final score 26-19
Sri Lanka vs South Korea – Quarterfinal
Photo Album – Sri Lanka v South Korea – Q/F (Asia 7`s Series)
Sri Lanka got themselves to yet another historic win against the Korean nation in the quarterfinal game winning the game 19-12 to make their way to the semi final.
It was a bad start for the Tuskers with skipper Fazil Marija being sent off in the second minute of play for bad mouthing leaving his team a man short. Taking the advantage, the speedy Korean wing Yong Chang scored on the far left off the cross by Gyun Lee. Chang went over for his second, this time foxing his way through the middle to score right under taking 12-0 lead.
Sri Lanka bounced back right from the restart as the crowd of Race course were on their feet as Dhanuska Ranjan made one of his blistering runs through the Koreans covering almost 80 meters to score under the posts. With Sooriyabandara getting the ball over the posts, Sri Lanka were 7 points up at half time.
The second half saw an aggressive Sri Lankan outfit with iron man Anurudda Wilwara coming from the bench and scoring off a 22m scrum on the blind side. With Sooriyabandara adding the conversion, Sri Lanka moved to 14 points taking the lead for the first time. The marvel speedster from S. Thomas Anurudda Wilwara continued to amaze the crowds as he crossed over for the winning try off Marija’s intercept to score on the far left as Sri Lanka got themselves through yet another semifinal.
Final score 19-12
The Lady Tuskers however had a very disappointing day at the office losing all three of their games having made their way to the quarterfinals after their victory against Singapore on day one.
They lost out to Thailand in the quarterfinals 17-0 and later had to end up in the loosing side against Uzbekistan in the Plate semifinals. It was a disappointment for the Sri Lankans in their final match as they faced yet another loss against Singapore finishing last in the Colombo leg.
