Lankans optimistic inspite of a win and a loss
Sri Lanka remains third in Pool ‘B’ with a win and a defeat behind Hong Kong and South Korea at the end of first day’s play of the Asian Sevens Rugby Series second leg in South Korea yesterday. The Tuskers have a match remaining against the hosts, South Korea, which will be played as the fourth and final pool round games today at 9.00am Sri Lanka time, before the knockout stage begins.Sri Lanka kicked off their campaign with an inspiring 33-12 win against Chinese Taipei. The win against was fashioned totally by a collective effort in which Kevin Dixon stood out.
Sri Lanka recorded their win with a tally of five tries and four conversions after leading 14-7 at halftime. Emerging star Dinuk Amarasinghe, Nishon Perera, Kevin Dixon, Riza Raffaideen and Buddhima Piyaratne scored a try each for the winners while Dixon put over two of them. For the losers Liu Cheng and Ming Kuang scored a try each with the latter converting one of them.
This gave the Tuskers the much needed motivation against Hong Kong, where Sri Lanka took the upperhand in the first half to lead 14-12. But Hong Kong, a much organised side, retaliated neatly to outsmart the Tuskers and claim a 33-14 win.
This put Hong Kong on top of Pool ‘B’ as they completed the win with a tally of five tries and four conversions. Tries were scored by Jack Neville, Toby Fenn, James Hood, Max Denmark and Mike Coverdale for Hong Kong as Hood made all the conversions. For Sri Lanka Dinuk Amarasinghe and Srinath Sooriyabandara scored two contrasting breakthrough tries while Riza Raffaideen made the conversions.
Hong Kong leads the Pool ‘B’ with two wins from two games followed by South Korea and Sri Lanka at second and third respectively. Both sides are with a win and a loss each — both against the top side. Chinese Taipei failed to win both their games and are at the bottom of the table.
Japan leads Pool ‘A’ with two back-to-back wins followed by China, who has also two wins under their belt. Philippines is at third followed by Malaysia but both teams lost both the games they played against the top two sides.
In the first leg played in Hong Kong a fortnight ago Japan beat Hong Kong 12-0 to win the championship as Sri Lanka thrashed Philippines 40-12 to secure the third position overall. China beat Chinese Taipei 15-7 to win the Plate title as South Korea settle in at seventh place overall after beating Malaysia 28-14.
In the Women’s Tournament, which is being played concurrently, Sri Lanka won one and lost one to finish third in Pool ‘C’, where Japan tops ahead of Hong Kong. The hosts South Korea are seeded bottom without a win.
Sri Lanka was comprehensively thrashed by Hong Kong, who recorded a runaway 41-0 win in their first game. At halftime Hong Kong led 15-0 and finished off with a tally of seven tries and three conversions. Melody Li touched down twice while Nat Olson-Thorne, Colleen Tjosvold, Poon Pak Van, Kwong Sau Yan and Jessica Ho scored a try each. The conversions were made by Pak Yan.
Despite their bitter start, the Sri Lanka women made a gallant comeback to outsmart South Korea in their second Pool ‘C’ game. The halftime was locked at 5-5 but Sri Lanka made a superb effort to end victorious 22-5. Dulani Pallikkondage and Sanjeewani de Silva posted two tries each while Ayesha Kaluarachchi put over a try in Sri Lanka’s tally of four tries and a conversion. For the losers Lim Jaewon scored the solitary try. Sri Lanka will meet Japan in their final pool game before the competition reaches the knockout stage. In Pool ‘D’ Kazakhstan leads the table with two out-of two wins followed by China, Thailand and Singapore.
Yesterday’s results
Men’s
China beat Phillipines 12-7, Japan beat Malaysia 36-5, Sri Lanka beat Chinese Taipei 33-12, Hong Kong beat South Korea 15-12, China beat Malaysia 31-12, Japan beat Philippines 43-0, Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 31-14, South Korea beat Chinese Taipei 43-12.
Women’s
Kazakhstan beat Thailand 17-0, China beat Singapore 43-0, Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 41-0, Japan beat South Korea 48-0, Thailand beat Singapore 36-7, Kazakhstan beat China 27-5, Sri Lanka beat South Korea 22-5, Japan beat Hong Kong 24-12.
Today’s matches
Men’s
Japan vs China, Philippines vs Malaysia, Hong Kong vs Chinese Taipei, Sri Lanka vs South Korea
Women’s
China vs Thailand, Kazakhstan vs Singapore, Japan vs Sri Lanka, Hong Kong vs South Korea