There were positives from tournament: Marikar

Tuesday, 3 October 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel

The Sri Lankan women’s and men’s Sevens outfits clinched the plate trophy (fifth position out of eight teams) at the Asian Sevens 2017 second leg, which was worked off at the Namdong Asiad Stadium in South Korea last weekend.

The final standing of fifth position after both legs puts Sri Lanka out of the running for both the Hong Kong Sevens 2018 and an Asian berth in the Rugby World Cup 2018. Now the competition for the two positions will be fought out between Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Speaking to Daily FT, Sri Lanka Rugby High Performance Director Inthi Marikar said: “There were certainly improvements in a few areas in the South Korean leg. Securing the kick-off ball was a major worry but we overcame it and lost only one in the whole tournament which was remarkable. Against China once again we improved compared to the Hong leg. We almost beat them. Only downfall was the pathetic display against Taipei which let us down and ruined our chances of making the top 4. Had we beaten them convincingly, our cup quarterfinal opponent would have been the Philippines and we certainly would have ended in the semifinal. Once you get in to the top four you are just one game away from the cup and the players will be at a different level,” Inthi said.

“I am happy about the women’s performance. They improved a lot with limited exposure at the Asian level. We beat Singapore and Thailand but our play against Hong Kong disappointed me since they scored through three to four of our own mistakes and won the game. We dominated possession in this game but our own basic errors cost us the game. We will name the squad in one week’s time for the third leg in Colombo.” The third and the final leg of the Asian Sevens 2017 series will take place at the racecourse rugby grounds on 14 and 15 October. A top three finish will earn the Sri Lankan men a respectable fourth position.