Asian Rugby Under-20 in HK: Confident Sri Lanka rugby team wins both matches

Dinuk Amarasinghe on attack against China

The Sri Lanka Under-20 rugby outfit kicked off the Asian Sevens 2018 in grand style when they comfortably beat both China and Taipei in their group encounters which commenced at the Kings Park Stadium in Hong Kong yesterday.

Sri Lanka beat China 26/14 and Taipei 38/15. With the deciding match against Singapore today, if they end up top on group B, they will play Korea in the Cup semi-final encounter later today.

Meanwhile, defending champions Hong Kong made a strong claim for the trophy with two sensational wins over Thailand and Korea in their two games.

Sri Lanka 26 points

China 14 points

Sri Lanka had a nervous first half before handing off a physical Chinese outfit 26/14.

Sri Lanka scored first through skipper Naveen Henakankanamge, who handed off a few defenders before touching down. Chathura Seneviratne missed the conversion. This lead was short-lived as China scored two back-to-back tries to take the lead 14/5 at the short breather.

After the turnaround, Sri Lanka settled well. Their defense was rock solid and kept the ball deep in Chinese half. Burly Dinuk Amarasinghe scored two back-to-back tries to take the lead 19/14, plus he changed the game in Sri Lanka’s favour.

Sri Lanka, who kept on attacking, scored their last try through Thulaib Hassen. Harith Bandara converted the last two to take the much-needed win of 26/14. This encounter was played under unusually wet conditions in Hong Kong where the ball handling was difficult.

Sri Lanka 38 points

Taipei 15 points

Sri Lanka kicked off their second game of the day with confidence when Gemunu Cheethiya broke free to score the first try in the second minute of the game. Harith Bandara put the conversion through to take an early lead. Dinuk Amarasinghe, who had a grand tournament, handed off few defenders before touching down a sensational try. Janidu Dilshan added the extras. Janidu had time for one more try for Sri Lanka. Chathura Seneviratne added the extras. Taipei scored on the half-time stroke, and cut the deficit to 26/5.

After the turnaround, Sri Lanka were lethargic in their approach, conceding two tries for the visitors. But, Taipei re-entering the game was stopped by Thulaib Hassen and Randy Silva tries. Harith Bandara put over the final try conversion to seal the game 38/15, favouring Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka head coach Nilfer Ibrahim, speaking to Daily FT, said: “We are happy with the progress in our two games. We improved and reduced mistakes. We want to do some positional changes against Singapore in our last game before landing in the sudden death semi-final encounter.”

He concluded saying: “Very happy with the day with Dilshan, Dinuk and Harith, all three having a grand day on field.

Sri Lanka Youth skipper, Naveen Henakankanamge said: “I’m happy with the way the day went. We played to a pattern and want to take it game by game. Our last game will be against Singapore, and then we’ll move forward for the semi-final.”    

Thulaib Hassen on his way to score  a try against Taipei

Day 1

Men’s:

Sri Lanka beat China 26/14, Singapore beat Taipei 19/5, Korea beat Malaysia 22/19, Hong Kong beat Thailand 33/0, Singapore beat China 24/14, Sri Lanka beat Taipei 38/15, Thailand beat Malaysia 21/5, and Hong Kong beat Korea 19/5

Women’s:

China beat Malaysia 40/0, Thailand beat Singapore 5/0, Hong Kong beat Singapore 29/7, and China beat Thailand 14/0