Hong Kong spoils a Tusker party
Sri Lanka skipper Danushka Ranjan canters evading a Hong Kong defender to draw first blood
Hong Kong spoilt a possible Sri Lankan party after the hosts survived to record a 22-17 victory in the Cup final of the First Leg of the Asian Sevens Rugby Series ended at the Hong Kong Football Stadium yesterday.
The cynosure was on Sri Lanka in the Cup championship final after the Tuskers overcame a tough China unit 19-17 in the semi-final stage. Despite losing to Hong Kong in the Pool encounter 0-22, Sri Lanka dished out their true potential but unforced errors at crucial points conceded a possible victory in the final.
Sri Lanka trailed 7-12 at halftime after skipper Danushka Ranjan drew first blood of the game. But in their own territory under familiar conditions, Hong Kong looked more complete than the Tuskers. They scored in the first half through two tries and a conversions.
After the turnaround the Tuskers, fittingly, fought back gallantly to post two unconverted tries in no time. They led 17-12 up until the last minute, just before Hong Kong came out of nowhere to post a try which sparked a hullabaloo. Doubts prevailed whether the try was neatly placed or was the ball knocked on before it was placed. With that converted try and a penalty Hong Kong won the tournament with an unbeaten record. In the semi-final they beat South Korea 28-14.
South Korea recorded a smashing 33-14 win against China to secure the Third Place Playoff. Japan won the Plate title, beating Singapore 7-0 after both teams overcame Chinese Taipei 10-5 and Malaysia 14-12 respectively in the semi-finals. Chinese Taipei beat Malaysia 22-7 to win the 7/8 Place Playoff.
On the first day Sri Lanka contested from Pool ‘B’ and finished second behind eventual winners Hong Kong to whom the Tuskers lost 0-22. Sri Lanka beat Malaysia 40-21 and Chinese Taipei 43-12. From Pool ‘A’ China remained unbeaten with straight wins against South Korea 19-17, Japan 12-10 and Singapore 29-0. South Korea finished second in the group.
Meanwhile the Sri Lanka Women’s side lost to Singapore in the Plate championship final 7-10 after finishing third in Pool ‘D’. Sri Lanka was drafted into the Plate semi-final after their Pooled performance and they went on to thrash Guam by 26-0 to meet Singapore, who beat Uzbekistan in the in similar manner 27-0. In the Pool games Sri Lanka lost to China 0-37, Thailand 7-14 before recording a smashing 39-0 win against Uzbekistan.
Japan went on to win the Cup title beating arch rivals China 14-7. Japan thrashed Thailand 43-0 while China defeated Hong Kong 19-7 in the semi-final stage. Hong Kong beat Thailand 36-7 to secure the Third Place Playoff. The second Leg of the Asian Sevens Series will be held in Korea on September 16 and 17.