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2nd Isipathana International Schools Rugby 7's
Isipathana lone among visitors
By M. Shamil Amit
The 2nd Isipathana International Schools Rugby 7's organized by the Isipathana Rugby Committee spearheaded by Dilroy Fernando which began yesterday at Longdon Place with ten overseas schools along with 14 local schools participating saw some interesting games being played in the preliminary round matches.

After the completion of the first round matches five foreign teams Indian Babarians, Thailand Golds, Thailand Blues, Hab's College England and Nawaka District School from Fiji and three local teams host Isipathana, St Anthony's and Thurstan qualified to play in the cup quarter finals.

In a one sided game of the first quarter final Thailand Golds scored a runaway 45 nil win over the hapless Indian Babarians, the second quarter final between Thailand Blues and Thurstan was almost a one sided affair with the Thailand boys defeating the Thurstanites 26 nil and Nawaka District School beating Hab's College, England 24-0.

Host Isipathana gave the local supporters something to cheer about as they were the only local team to qualify to the semi final when they defeated St Anthony's five nil in a close game. The semi final line in the cup category which will be kicked off at 3.20 p.m. will be Thailand Golds vs Blues and Isipathana vs Nawaka District School.

Today the days proceeding will begin at 9.00 a.m. with the quarter finals of the Bowl and Shield category. The quarter final matches in the Bowl category will be Victorians Australia vs Ananda, Keelung Taipei vs S. Thomas', St Sylvester's vs Wesley and Zahira vs St Peter's. The matches in the Shield quarters will be Sabaragamuwa vs Habedasher's England, Ruhunu vs St Joseph's, Doha RC vs Indian RFU and Kingswood vs Science. The teams that will play in the Plate semi finals are Indian Babarians vs Thurstan and St Anthony's vs Hab's College.

The finals will begin with the ladies final at 4.00 p.m. and the cup final is scheduled to be played at 5.35 p.m. The chief guest at the closing ceremony will be Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse with Jamie Scott, Secretary Asian RFU, Jarrad Gallagher, Manager Regional Development Asia and Hemaka Amarasuriya, Chairman, Singer Sri Lanka as guest of honours.

Hats off to the organizers of the tournament who should be commended for conducting an international schools tournament in a professional manner with all facilities to the players and the spectators coming to witness this wonderful event. The facilities provided to the media including internet, is something that the other organizers should take a cue. Even the matches were played on schedule time which helped in carrying on the tournament smoothly.

Results:
Group 'A' - Victorian Schools beat Sabaragamuwa Devp 24-0, Indian Babarians beat Sabaragamuwa Devp 28-5 and Indian Babarians beat Victorian Schools, Australia 31-5.

Group 'B' - Ananda beat Haberdasher's Aske's 20-0, Thailand Gold drew with Ananda 12-12 and Thailand Gold beat Haberdasher's Aske's 36-10. Group 'C' - Thurstan beat Keelung Nuan, Taipei 25-12, Thurstan beat Ruhunu Devp 15-5 and Keelung Nuan, Taipei beat Ruhunu Devp 15-12.

Group 'D' - Thailand Blues beat St Joseph's 31-0, S. Thomas' beat St Joseph's 24-7 and Thailand Blues beat S. Thomas' 33-10. Group 'E' - Isipathana beat Doha Rugby RC 28-0, Isipathana beat St Sylvester's 12-5 and St Sylvester's beat Doha Rugby RC 34-5.

Group 'F'- St Anthony's beat Wesley 29-5, St Anthony's beat India Rugby Devp 22-5 and Wesley beat Indian Rugby Devp 29-0. Group 'G' - Hab's College, England beat Zahira 24-10, Hab's College beat Kingswood 31-0 and Zahira beat Kingswood 22-5.

Group 'H' - Nawaka School, Fiji beat Science 38-10, St Peter's beat Science 31-0 and Nawaka School, Fiji beat St Peter's 31-7. Quarter Finals - Thailand Gold beat Indian Babarians 45-0. Thailand Blues beat Thurstan 26-5. Isipathana beat St Anthony's 5-0 and Nawaka District School, Fiji beat Hab's College 24-0.

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