Lanka edges closer to Asian Rugby Sevens title

Lanka edges closer to Asian Rugby Sevens title

Sri Lanka took a step closer towards winning the HSBC Asian Rugby Series second leg when they recorded two impressive victories on the opening day of the tournament which commenced in Bangsaen, Thailand yesterday.

The Sri Lankans powered their way to register back to back victories against Kazakhstan (26-5) and Chinese Taipei (15-12) while competing in group ‘B’ and went on to book a place in the Cup Championship quarterfinals.

Sri Lanka looked a more determined team after their excellent performances in the first leg of the series in Malaysia two week’s ago and made their intentions quite clear from the kick-off.

They first had the satisfaction of overcoming Kazakhstan by a comprehensive margin mainly due to a splendid hat-trick of tries from Srinath Sooriyabandara.

The speedy wing three quarter was in tremendous form as he planted two beautiful tries in the first half and added another in the second half to complete a memorable outing.

In fact Sri Lanka sealed the match even before half time as they built up a commanding 21-nil lead at the short whistle with centre three quarter Sandun Herath also making his presence felt with a classy try.

The Tuskers of course conceded a late try to their opponents but eventually they ran out victorious by a resounding margin while collecting their points from three goals and one unconverted try.

Sri Lanka however faced a stiff opposition in their second group match as they had to fight hard to win by 15 points to 12 over Chinese Taipei after having snatched a close 10-5 lead at half time.

In fact they were trailing 10-12 midway in the second half before a brilliant late try from third row forward Sajith Saranga sealed the game for Sri Lanka after skipper Fazil Marija had earlier put the side ahead with two splendid tries.

Sri Lanka will take on Thailand in one of the quarterfinals of the Cup Championship today. The rest of the quarterfinal line-up is Japan v Malaysia, Hong Kong v Kazakhstan and South Korea v Philippines. (C.D)