Tough task for Sri Lankan rugby sevens team at Asian Games

Saturday, 27 September 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By Shamseer Jaleel The Sri Lanka rugby sevens team departed to Incheon in South Korea yesterday in order to grab a medal at the 17th Asian Games. The rugby sevens tournament will take place from 30 September to 2 October. Sri Lanka will be playing along South Korea, Taipei and India in group C. Sri Lanka sevens outfit, after back-to-back number four positions in Hong Kong and Malaysia at the Asian sevens series, improved as a unit. South Korea, Hong Kong and Japan will be blocking Sri Lanka’s way from going for a medal.

This will be the first time if Sri Lanka obtains a Medal at the Asian Games. The preparation was not so good as the team trained without a Head Coach when the present coach and Fijian national Player Stefano pulled out due to his commitment with the Fijian Rugby Union where he was shortlisted for the IRB (International Rugby Board) World Series Fiji National Team, which will kick off shortly in Gold Coast, Australia. Asanga Seneviratne, President of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU), took over the coaching with his past experience in international sevens as a player and administrator, with Roshan Chinthaka handling the management job.

Speaking to the Daily FT before departure to South Korea, Sri Lanka Sevens skipper Fazil Marija said: “Though Stefano was not in, we are matured enough to understand what is expected from us. We as a unit played in so many international sevens and all the guys possess wealth of experience. Asanga chipping in was a great help and support for us. We know it will be very tough to beat the top three in Asia. But on earlier sevens series we came so close to beating the gutty Hong Kong outfit, which speaks volume of the present sevens team. At the minimum, we will aim for at a Bronze from this Asian Games.”