Sri Lanka are eyeing two wins at Group Stage, Women’s Sevens coach Saliya Kumar says

Women Rugby Team

By Shanuka Aravinda  

Saliya Kumara, the coach of the Sri Lankan women’s sevens rugby team, told the Daily Mirror that the main goal of his team is to defeat Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in the second leg of the Asian Sevens rugby tournament to be held in Incheon, South Korea.  

Sri Lanka women’s rugby team is participating in the tournament in Group A and Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and China are the other countries included in that group.  
Malaysia, Japan, Thailand and Philippines will compete under Group B. 

 
“We practiced for about three weeks for the tournament. Our main goal is to beat Kazakhstan and Hong Kong in the preliminary round. We have a well-balanced team. But we cannot underestimate any team.” Kumara said.  

Kumara added that if the Sri Lankan women’s team is not able to qualify for the Cup Championship by being among the top 4 this year, the team’s next goal is to regain the Plate Championship that the Sri Lanka’s relinquished last year.  

“Recently, Sri Lanka became the first champions of this tournament. But unfortunately we lost it last year. The player who scored the most points for the Sri Lankan team in that tournament is the captain of the Sri Lankan team in this tournament. If we fail to be among the first four, our next hope is to win the first championship,” Kumara also said.  
Five players who represented the Sri Lankan team, and participated in the women’s rugby event at the Commonwealth Games held in England last July and August, will not be participating in this tournament. In their place, four other players have been called to the team.  

Anusha Attanayake, Anushika Thushari, Jeevanti Thusita, Sandika Hemakumari and Nipuni Rasanjali are the players who have lost their places in the team due to various reasons, while Dilani Polhevage, Chamodya Madhumali, Randika Kumudumali and Tanuja Weerakkodi are the new players who have joined the team.  

Among the players included in the team, Weerakkodi, who was temporarily out of the game due to an injury, is returning for this tournament. This will be the first time that Madhumali, who was the best player in the last Sri Lanka seven-a-side women’s rugby tournament, will participate in an international tournament.  

Due to the international ban against Sri Lanka Rugby, Sri Lanka could not participate in the first leg of this tournament held in Thailand on October 22nd and 23rd. China won the championship in that stage and Japan won the runner-up title.  

Last year (2021) the Sri Lanka women’s team had to exited the Cup Championship and competed for the Plate after losing to Malaysia, China and Hong Kong in the preliminary round of the Asian Sevens Rugby Tournament held in the United Arab Emirates.  

Although the Sri Lankan players were able to enter the Plate final by defeating the Philippines 19-15 in the semi-final, they lost to Thailand 45-00 in the final, forcing them to settle for the first runner-up (6th place in the tournament). happened  

First day (12th) match schedule  

Sri Lanka vs China at 8.35 am; Sri Lanka and Hong Kong at 11.55 am; Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan 3.15 pm  

• Sri Lanka women’s rugby team is participating in the tournament in Group A and Kazakhstan, Hong Kong and China are the other countries included in that group