Lankan teens through to the Cup semis
The Sri Lanka Under-18 team qualified to play in the Cup semi-final after topping Pool B in the Asian Schools Rugby 7s Championship with a fine display at the Kings ground in Hong Kong yesterday. Debutants Sri Lanka beat Thailand by 19-12 and beat Malaysia 29-21 before thrashing Mongolia by 52-0 in their group games to play in the Cup semi-final at 2.10pm local time today. Prior to that they will have their final group stage game against Cambodia. With a strong side Hong Kong dispatched their three opening pool opponents beating China 33-5, Guam 50-0 and India 56-0.
The promising results saw Hong Kong atop Pool A heading into Sunday’s competition with a final group match against pool second-seeds Singapore at 1.30pm. Singapore had a strong outing on day one with an upset 28-7 win over China positioning them for a run at the Cup.
Following the completion of pool play, the top four teams overall (first and second placed finishers in the two pools) will crossover for the Cup semi-finals. On the inaugural playing of the competition in 2013, Hong Kong were crowned Cup champions in an 8 team competition beating Chinese Taipei 24-12 in the Cup final.
The Sri Lanka Under-18s, led by S. Thomas’ College winger Naveen Henakankanamge are in top form and are gearing up to reach a possible passage to the Cup final. The Sri Lanka U-18 7s squad: Naveen Henakankanamage (Captain), Christian De Lile (both S. Thomas’), Sumudu Rankotge, Harith Bandara, Chamod Fernando (all Isipathana), Diluksha Dange, Anuka Boyagoda, Avishka Shiek (all Trinity), Chathura Seneviratne, Vinul Fernando (both St. Joseph’s), Diyath Fernando (St. Peter’s), Dinuk Amerasinghe (St. Anthony’s).