Sri Lanka and Kandy skipper Fazil Marija is likely to miss out on the Shanghai Sevens starting next month due to his injury in the recent tour in Singapore for the Asian Division 1 championship game.
Speaking to Sunday times the star studded player said that he will decide early next week and will not attend practice till today. “I will be doing a bit of light weight and running from today and will decide if I am fit to take part in it. If I am not 100 % fit I will not take part and will give the chance for a fitter player than me”. Further Kandy SC winger Sanjeewa Jayasinghe is also nursing an injury.
Fazill Marija |
Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union selectors headed by Michael Jayasekera picked a 22 member initial pool to go or the Shanghai Sevens in September 2010. This tournament and the next one in Malaysia will be the yard stick to select the sides from Asia for the Hong Kong Sevens which will take place in March 2011. Other than Asian Champions Japan another three more sides will book their places for the famous Hong Kong Sevens which will take place for the 35th year after its inception in 1976. Sri Lanka is one of the eight sides which took part in the inaugural event.
The sevens tournament which took place was called the selection tournament and notably three players being left out who really performed well at it. Air force play maker Milinda Jayasinghe, Navy link man Suranga Pushpakumara and Yoshitha Rajapaksa being left out. Pradeep Liyanage who neither took part in the Clifford Cup or Sevens was included in the initial squad of 22 players. According to reliable information the three Navy SC players Nuwan Hettiarachchi, Chula Susantha and Niranjan Wickremaratne also likely to pull out from the pool. Though several attempts were made Navy coach Ronny Ibrahim was not contactable.
After the Shanghai sevens there will be a tournament in Malaysia. The Asian Sevens will be in China with both forms (sevens and fifteens) of the game taking place. In October the focus will shift to India at the Commonwealth Games. -SJ |
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