SL a strong side, says Coach Ibrahim

Wednesday, 8 August 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel reporting from Hong Kong

The Sri Lanka youth rugby outfit under Naveen Heenakankanmge left the island early this morning to Hong Kong in order to participate in the Asian Rugby Under-20 Sevens 2018 which will take place at the Kings Park Sports Club ground in Kowloon, Hong Kong on 10 and 11 August.

Sri Lanka finished as the runner-up under Heenakankanmge at the last event which took place in Hong Kong.

Speaking to the Daily FT, Sri Lanka Junior Head Coach Nilfer Ibrahim said: “We have a well-balanced side and had good preparation leading up to the tournament. This will also be an Asian qualification event for the Junior Rugby World Tournament 2019. We got good support from Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) and the national selectors giving me a good, well-balanced side for this important tournament.”

“We do not have any forwards, all of our players are three-quarters. This is the first time we are going on a tour without a single full-time forward in the squad. We want to concentrate on speed. Naveen had played in Hong Kong at the same event for the last two years plus in the senior Asian Sevens which is a bonus for the team. My team had worked hard along with my Assistant Coach Fazil Marija, Duminda on high performance and Dinesh as a trainer. We look forward to ending the tour with success,” he concluded.

Sri Lanka Under-20 Rugby Sevens squad

Naveen Henakankanamage (S. Thomas’and CH&FC), Dinuk Amarasinghe (St. Anthony’s College and Havelocks SC), Harith Bandara (Isipathana and CR&FC), Avishka Lee (Wesley College and CH&FC), Randy Silva (Isipathana College and Havelocks SC), Theekshana Dasanayake (St. Peter’s College), Chathura Senevirathna (St. Joseph’s College and Navy SC), Jansen (Kingswood College and Kandy SC), Thulaib Hassen (Royal College), Janidu Dilshan (Royal College), Gemunu Chethiya (St. Joseph’s College) and Keshan Kavinda (St. Joseph’s College).

Head Coach: Nilfer Ibrahim

Assistant Coach: Fazil Marija

High Performance Manager: Duminda De Silva

Trainer: Dinesh Kumara

Men’s

Pool A - Hong Kong, Korea, Thailand and Malaysia

Pool B - Sri Lanka, Taipei, Singapore and China

Women’s

Hong Kong, China, Thailand and Singapore

Day 1 (August 10) Sri Lanka vs. China (10.34 a.m. Sri Lanka time)

Sri Lanka vs. Taipei (1.44 p.m.

Sri Lanka time)

Day 2 (August 11) Sri Lanka vs. Singapore (7.30 a.m. Sri Lanka time)