Sri Lanka wins both preliminaries on day one
Sri Lanka will take on Malaysia in the Cup quarter-final of the first leg of ARFU Rugby Sevens Series after winning both their pool games in Beijing, China yesterday. If Sri Lanka wins the game against Malaysia they are set to take on the winner of the second Cup quarter-final between Hong Kong and China. The other two knockout games are between South Korea and Kazakhstan and Japan and the Philippines.
Yesterday turning out from Pool ‘B’ Sri Lanka beat Kazakhstan 24-12 and then went on to hammer Singapore by 43-0 to top the group. Kazakhstan took the second slot beating Singapore 22-7. Hong Kong topped the Pool ‘A’ with wins against Philippines (45-0) and the UAE (24-0). The Philippines took the second place beating UAE by 20-0.
Japan dominated the Pool ‘C’ beating China 21-7 and thrashing Chinese Taipei 50-0, the biggest winning margin of the day. China beat arch rivals Chinese Taipei 37-5 to follow Japan. South Korea took the top grid in Pool ‘D’ with wins against Malaysia 27-7 and Thailand 40-0. Malaysia beat Thailand 26-12 to take the second slot.
With the absence of regular skipper Fazil Marija, Sri Lanka is led by Sudarshana Muthuthanthri. The side includes seasoned Sevens players Danushka Ranjan, Sandun Herath, Dulaj Perera, Hirantha Perera, Gayan Weeraratne, Shehan Pathirana, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Lavanga Perera, Anuruddha Wilwara, Richard Dharmapala and Kanchana Ramanayake.