Sri Lanka win Plate Championship

Hong Kong was so close yet so far for the qualifications for 2020 Tokyo Olympics

China was too strong in the Asian Region Women's tournament

Sri Lanka showed a marked improvement under Head Coach Saliya Kumara

• Women’s Rugby Sevens Asian Olympic Qualifiers in China

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka performed remarkably well at the Asian Qualification tournament for Women’s Rugby Sevens at the Olympic qualifiers by securing the Plate championship in China yesterday. Sri Lanka defeated Singapore 33-12 in the Plate final, coming fifth in the eight-team event. 

China outclassed Hong Kong 33-0 to secure their Olympic berth in the 2020 event in Tokyo as the Asian Representative. Japan automatically qualified as the host of the event.

Sri Lankan Women, after ending day one with a win and a loss, did well to finish third in the group. On day two, they lost out to China 50-0. After being relegated into the Plate segment, they edged out Philippines 12-10 in a tight contest. This was a good outing though the girls did not qualify any further after a disastrous Asian Sevens series in 2019. The outfit was led by Anusha Attanayake and coached by Saliya Kumara, who turned things around after taking over the outfit in the third leg in Colombo.   

Pool stages

Thailand beat Singapore 33-0, Kazakhstan beat Philippines 40-0, Hong Kong beat South Korea 47-0, China beat Sri Lanka 50-0

Plate semi-finals

Singapore beat South Korea 19-7, Sri Lanka beat Philippine 12-10

Cup semi-finals

Hong Kong beat Kazakhstan 19-7, China beat Thailand 24-0

7th place

Philippines beat South Korea 31-5

5th place

Sri Lanka beat Singapore 33-12

3rd place

Kazakhstan beat Thailand 17-14

Final

China beat Hong Kong 33-0