Lankan rugby camp still saddled with injury problems
So far Danushka Ranjan and his men have done well to reach two Cup finals of the ongoing Asian 7s Series - File pic
Sri Lanka must be desperately hoping for a disastrous collapse by the high-riding Hong Kong side who are guaranteed with an overall title when the decisive third and final Leg of the Asian Sevens Series comes alive in Colombo next weekend. This comes in the midst where the hosts are facing a setback with a series of injuries to its key players. Among the doubtful names are former skipper Sudarshana Muthuthanthri, Jason Dissanayake and Kevin Dixon, who missed out the Second Leg held in South Korea.
They are tipped to make a comeback in the home series but nothing is yet finalised as Selection Committee of Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) delayed picking the final 12 names for the Colombo Leg, mainly due to injury and fitness problems. According to a top SLRFU official, Sri Lanka as hosts will have the privilege of waiting for few more days to name the final squad for the third and final Leg of the Asian Sevens Series. However the SLRFU will name its final squad of 12 by tomorrow.
After the two Legs held in Hong Kong and South Korea, Hong Kong are leading overall tally with 24 points from the two tournaments. They won both competitions and earned 12 points each while on both occasions Sri Lanka emerged runners-up to earn 10 points each and accumulate 20 points. South Korea finished third overall on both occasions to collect 16 points, after gaining eight points each while China earned seven points each to collect 14 points and remain at fourth.
The big picture of the present state of affairs has many possibilities and probabilities when it is staged at the Racecourse ground in Colombo next Saturday and Sunday. The most possible outcome is Hong Kong continuing with their form and comprehensively winning the Asian Sevens Series with a third straight Cup win and with a tally of 36 points, an addition of 12 more to their tally. Even if they do not win the Colombo Leg, they are guaranteed with a Series win.
The only possibility of Hong Kong being thwarted off from a Series win is Sri Lanka winning the home Leg, beating South Korea, China or any other side rather than the possible winners. Hong Kong will at least have to finish fourth in Colombo and Sri Lanka should win with a straight record, for the impossible to occur. Japan (7), Chinese Taipei (6), Malaysia (6) and Singapore (5) are positioned from fifth to eighth respectively and are out of contention to challenge at any cost according to the present situation.
For the Colombo Leg Hong Kong, South Korea, Malaysia and Japan will compete from Pool ‘A’ while hosts Sri Lanka, China, Chinese Taipei and Singapore are coming out from Pool ‘B’. The opening game next Saturday will be between Hong Kong and Japan at 12.28 afternoon, followed by the games between South Korea and Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Chinese Taipei and China and Singapore after every 25 minutes. Sri Lanka will meet Singapore in their second Pool game at 4.08pm and their real test will be against China at 7.04pm, the penultimate game of the first day.
Hosts Hong Kong won the First Leg of the Series beating Sri Lanka by 22-17 after a thrilling battle but were a powerful unit in the Second Leg held in South Korea as they overcame Sri Lanka by 36-0. The Sri Lanka Women’s, who missed out the second Leg in South Korea, are slotted in Pool ‘C’ alongside China, Hong Kong and Singapore while Japan, Thailand, South Korea and India are in Pool ‘D’. They will meet Hong Kong at 12.06pm in their first game followed by the games against China at 2.40pm and Singapore at 5.58pm.