The U18 Sri Lanka rugby sevens team took wing to Hong Kong last evening to compete in the 2nd Asian Schools’ Rugby sevens tournament. The tournament will be held in Kings Park, Kowloon – Hong Kong, on the 23rd & 24th of July.
Ten overseas teams will participate in two groups; Sri Lanka is drawn in group B alongside Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Mongolia, whilst the hosts Hong Kong are drawn in group A with Singapore, Guam, India and China.
Photo Album – Sri Lanka U18 Rugby 7s Team departure to Hong Kong
The Junior Tuskers will play their first game against Thailand at 10.30 am SL time, followed by Malaysia at 12.10 pm and Mongolia at 1.30 pm on day one. On Sunday Sri Lanka will battle Cambodia at 11.40am. The top two teams from each group at the end of the 1st round will move on to the semi-final stage. The winners of the semi-final games will clash in the big final while the losing teams will face each other in the 3rd place playoff.
Before the team’s departure, Sri Lanka Coach M.J.M Mushtaq mentioned that the team had only had a week to prepare for the tournament but “the boys have shaped up well and I think we can do well in this tournament”. He also said, “the boys were coached by good coaches in their respective schools and they have gelled well as a team”.
Sri Lanka Under 18 Sevens – 12 member squad finalized
Captain Naveen Henakankanamage is also confident of doing well with the team he has been entrusted to lead. “I am deeply satisfied and very honoured to captain this side, I hope to bring glory to the country. Everybody has been talking and the chemistry is very high and there is a big bond between each and everybody” said the dynamic skipper Henakankanamge.
Inthi Marikar, high performance director of the SLRFU, believes that this is a great platform for the future of sevens rugby, conveying that with the right guidance, this crop of players could go on to reach great heights.
