Sri Lanka Sevens rugby team once again dragged them to their worst-ever performance, as they only managed to secure seventh place in the third leg of the Asia Sevens Series worked off here at the Al Amblers RFC grounds in Al Ain UAE.

Sri Lankns beat Malaysia (26-12) in the play-off to secure seventh place and this was the first time in Asian Rugby sevens history we finished at such a low ranking in Men’s rugby. Tuskers failed to continue their momentum from the Korea leg having produced a pathetic level of rugby in the middle, leaving Sri Lanka Rugby to do a lot of homework before the Asian Games to be held next year.

On the other hand, this result would have been expected as Tuskers arrived in UAE only a day prior to the tournament and did not have a single training session before the tournament. The output from seniors Srinath Sooriyabandara, Nigel Ratwatte, Tharinda Ratwatte and Kavindu Perera was also not up to the mark, and the players’ fitness levels were also questionable.

Tuskers had a chance of winning the plate semi-final against South Korea after leading the first half 12-7, but the usual handling errors and missed tackles let Korea score three more tries to seal a 26-17 victory in the second half. Tharinda Ratwatte scored two tries and Nigel Ratwatte converted a try in the first half to take the lead.  Sri Lanka continued their dominance in the second half through a try by Nigel Ratwatte, but subsequently, poor ball handling led Korea to easily win the game. In the playoff against Malaysia, Sri Lanka took the early advantage after one of the opponent’s players was shown a yellow card. They touched down twice through Tharinda Ratwatte and Akash Madusanka to take a comfortable 14-0 lead at half-time. Winger Kavindu Perera increased Sri Lanka’s lead with another try before Malaysia bounced back with two tries to make the score (21-12). It was followed by forward Chathura Seneviratne’s final try to make the score (26-12) at the long whistle.  

Opening day, Sri Lanka lost all three matches whereas they could have easily beaten China and Malaysia. Due to errors made, especially by the seniors, Tuskers lost both matches - China 14-31 and Malaysia 19-26. The third game was against mighty Hong Kong and players showed vast improvement by leading the first half 12-7, but during the second half the experienced Hong Kong team completely dominated the game and touched down four times more to bag victory (33-17).

Darshana Dabare and Chathura Seneviratne scored two tries against China, while Chathura Seneviratne, Mithun Hapugoda and Srinath Sooriyabandara touched down once each against Malaysia. Against Hong Kong Dabare scored twice and Hapugoda touched down once for the Tuskers.  

Meanwhile, Hong Kong defeated host UAE (21-05) to take away the third leg of the Asia Sevens Series and the overall championship. In the women’s tournament, China beat Japan (21-14) in the Cup final and won the overall championship.         

Sri Lankan referee Aaqil Jamaldeen brought honour to the motherland as he was entrusted the task of blowing the final of the Woman’s tournament.