Lanka team targets ending in top four

2013 HSBC Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Women’s Sevens

Lanka team targets ending in top four

Chris Dhambarage

The Sri Lanka women’s rugby team will be looking to produce an improved performance when they compete in the 2013 HSBC Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) Sevens first leg which will be worked off on September 21 and 22 in Bangkok, Thailand.

The national women’s rugby team has made steady progress within a short period of time through some outstanding performances having made their presence felt in Asian tournaments held in Hong Kong, Singapore, Qatar and India.

In fact Sri Lanka’s best achievement in sevens rugby came in 2005 where they clinched the Bowl Championship and last year they had the satisfaction of emerging runners up in the Bowl tournament in India.       

  

However this time the Sri Lanka women’s rugby team seems to be even more determined to make an impact with a number of talented young players from the three forces joining the squad to form a great combination.   

“We have a completely new look side with as many as eight newcomers but they are all highly talented rugby players and most of them are very good runners who could penetrate any kind of defence,” said a confident Sri Lankan captain Thanuja Weerakkody.

The dynamic fly half of Sri Lanka Navy Sports Club believes that the team is well prepared to meet the challenges and that they are really determined to produce an improved performance in this year’s tournament.

“Last year of course we had to be content with the Bowl runner-up position but this time I am confident that this side is capable of putting up even a better performance and should be a major threat to the rest of the teams.

“I think our biggest rivals will be China, Japan and Hong Kong who have been dominating this tournament for the past few years but this time we are going into this tournament well prepared to meet any kind of challenge from the opposition.”     

  

The Sri Lankan captain also expressed her confidence that the side has the talent and the potential to create a couple of upsets and that their main goal will be to finish among the top four in the tournament.

“We are currently ranked number eight in the region and our target will be to improve on that and to finish among the top four in the tournament with a good all round performance.”     

Thanuja Weerakkody also stressed the importance of building team spirit among the players and commended the efforts of their Head Coach Chandrishan Perera and Assistant Coach K. P. Narantota who have worked tirelessly to convert this team into a match-winning combination.     

“We started training well ahead of the tournament and our intention was to build up a good combination and excellent team spirit which I believe will be an added advantage going into this competition.

“We have also concentrated on the fitness level of the players and the latest techniques in sevens rugby with our coach Chandrishan Perera who has worked hard during the last couple of weeks to mould this team into a formidable combination.”

The Sri Lankan coach further noted that the team is studded with a number of powerful runners and most of them who have mastered the art of sevens rugby having displayed their skills at domestic tournaments.     

“I think the strength in the team is our back division because we have a couple of excellent wing three quarters who should be able to cause some major problems to the opposition,” added Thanuja Weerakkody.

The Sri Lanka women’s rugby team will battle it out for the Cup Championship along with the elite in the Asian region including Japan, China, South Korea, Hong Kong, Philippines, Guam, Thailand and Malaysia.

The Sri Lanka Women’s Rugby Team:

Name                                                  Club                      Position                 Height                         Weight

Thanuja Weerakkody (Cap)    Navy SC           Fly half/centre             5ft 6                 54 kg   

Randika Kumudumali              Navy SC            Prop forward              6ft 5                 64 kg

Kumari Dassanayake              Army SC                       Prop forward               5ft 2                 60 kg

Sandeepa Sandamali               Navy SC            Prop forward              5ft 3                 54 kg

Dineshika Munasinghe           Army SC           Scrum half                   5ft 2                 46 kg

Rukshani Ariyasena                Army SC                       Fly half                                    5ft 2                 50 kg

Ayesha Perera                         Army SC           Winger                                    5ft 4                 53 kg

Heshala Karunaratne              Air Force SC     Prop forward               5ft 3                 58 kg

Sanjeewani Wijetilleke           Navy SC                       Centre/hooker             5ft 3                 51 kg

Niranjala Priyadarshani          Army SC           Centre/hooker             5ft 3                 56 kg

Ayesha Kaluarachchi               Air Force SC     Scrum half                   5ft 1                 41 kg

Anusha Attanayake                 Air Force SC                 Winger                        5ft 4                 48 kg