Sri Lanka meet host South Korea in Men’s Cup semi-final
Sri Lanka will take on firm favourites South Korea in the second Cup semi-final today at 9.15a.m., after winning two out of three appearances at the Korean leg of the Asian 7s Rugby Series in Incheon yesterday. Joining in for the first time in this year’s Asian 7s Series, after skipping the Thailand leg due to technical reasons, Sri Lanka stamped their authority despite a shaky start against Pool ‘A’ rivals Hong Kong, who comprehensively won the game 40-0.
But the Tuskers managed to bounce back rather convincingly to overcome UAE by 26-14 and China by 21-19 to finish second in the Pool ‘A’, next to Hong Kong.
Hong Kong tops the pool with two wins and a draw, against UAE, and they will take on the Philippines in the first Cup semi-final, prior to Sri Lanka’s clash against the hosting nation. For Sri Lanka skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara and Tarinda Ratwatte were in the forefront with their contributions of two tries – one in each game they won. Ratwatte converted both his tries while Sooriyabandara converted his try against China.
Against UAE Chathura Seneviratne and Anjula Hettiarachchi scored a try each while Mithun Hapugoda and Hettiarachchi put over a try each. Against China Adeesha Weeratunga scored a try, which Hapugoda made the conversion. The only yellow card Sri Lanka was handed with was of Anjula Hettiarachchi, who had to sit out two minutes against China.
The four bottom seed teams will play in the Plate segment, beginning with the first semi-final between UAE and Malaysia, followed by the second qualifier between China and Japan. If Sri Lanka manages to make a breakthrough against South Korea, they will reach the Cup final, and a loss will push them down to the third place playoff.
Meanwhile Sri Lanka women’s team had a disastrous outing yesterday, losing all three games by bigger margins and will play in the Plate segment. They will take on Malaysia in the second semi-final, soon after the first qualifier between Hong Kong and Philippines. China will take on Thailand in the first Cup semi-final, which will be followed by the second game between Kazakhstan and Japan.
Sri Lankan lasses were comprehensively thrashed by China (0-55), Hong Kong (0-47) and Kazakhstan (0-46), and finished at the bottom of Pool ‘A’ with a minus 148 point difference.
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Men’s 7s
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