Head Coach Ibrahim says Lankans in good shape for Asian Sevens

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lanka Under-20 rugby outfit will take wing to Hong Kong in order to feature at the Asian Under-20 Rugby Sevens 2018 which will be worked off at the Kings Park Sports Ground on 10 and 11 August. 

Hong Kong are the defending champions, with Sri Lanka finishing as the runner-up at the 2017 event.

The Sri Lankan outfit is tipped to be led by former Thomian and Sri Lanka Under-18 skipper, senior sevens player and new CH&FC recruit Naveen Heenakankanmge. 

The pool of 26 players will feature in a practice match to select the touring squad of 12 players plus three standbys today at the Royal Sports Complex. Meanwhile, the Bronco test took place yesterday for the 26 players in the pool.

The Sri Lankan Under-20 team is coached by Nilfer Ibrahim with Fazil Marija assisting him. Former Trinity double international Duminda de Silva will be the High Performance Manager on tour with Dinesh Kumara functioning as the trainer of the outfit. A women’s event too will take place at this venue along with the men’s event but the teams are yet to be finalised.

Speaking to the Daily FT, Ibrahim said: “The boys are in good shape and we had some sessions. They are after the school Sevens and Mercantile Sevens. We will be having a few selection games today (25 July). Due to the Advanced Level examinations a few players from Kandy missed training. We are in a relatively easy group but in the second round we will have some tough outings against teams like Hong Kong and Korea.”

 Teams: 

Pool A - Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand

Pool B - Sri Lanka, Taipei, Singapore and China