Sri Lanka settles for fourth-place

By Sandun Kodithuwakku

Sri Lanka finished in fourth place after the completion of the Asian Sevens Rugby Series third-leg which concluded at the Racecourse Grounds in Colombo yesterday (29).

Sri Lanka’s hopes were shattered once again as they suffered an embarrassing 12-27 defeat at the hands of China in the third-place playoff.

Sri Lanka managed to score only two tries in the third-place playoff through Danush Dayan and Buddhima Piyarathna with Kevin Dixon converting one try.

In contrast, China who led 17-5 at half time ran down as many as five tries and converted one try to complete a rousing victory.

Sri Lanka of course, suffered four injuries during the third-place playoff and found it difficult to recover.

Meanwhile, Japan underlined their supremacy in Asian Sevens Rugby as they defeated Hong Kong 17-12 in the Men’s Cup Championship final.

Chihito Matsui of Japan was named as the Top Points Score (47) as well as the Top Try Scorer (9) in the tournament.

In the Women’s segment, Japan stamped their class for the third time in the Asian Sevens Series while the Sri Lanka Women’s Team finished seventh in the tournament.

Results:

• (Women’s Plate Semi-finals):

Japan beat China 22-14, Thailand beat Kazakhstan 12-7.

• (Men’s Plate Semi-finals):

Japan beat Sri Lanka 45-0, Hong Kong beat China 24-19.

• (Women’s Third-Place):

China beat Kazakhstan 31-0.

• (Men’s Third-Place):

China beat Sri Lanka 27-12.

• (Women’s Cup Final):

Japan beat Thailand 26-5.

• (Men’s Cup Final):

Japan beat Hong Kong 17-12.