Sri Lanka beat tournament favourites Chinese Taipei in Final
Sri Lanka emerged Asian Schools Under-18 Sevens Rugby Championship winners after the young Tuskers beat tournament favourites Chinese Taipei 10-5 in the Cup final. The winning Sri Lankans played superb rugby in the two-day event held at the Luodong Sports Park Rugby Field in Yilan County, Chinese Taipei on August 27 and 28.
The winners scored from two unconverted tries while conceding points through an unconverted try. Sri Lanka trailed the halftime by 0-5 and staged a superb comeback to record a thrilling win.
This was the first time in Sri Lanka Rugby history that an Under-18s side won a Series Championship and this follows the Sri Lanka Under-20s Sevens Series win earlier this month. The Under18s finished overall third in the first leg held in Hong Kong and with last week's overwhelming performance which gave them the overall win, the young Tuskers ended up overall winners.
Sri Lanka won all their Pool matches beating UAE 49-0, China 42-0, Singapore 38-5, Philippines 19-14 and Chinese Taipei 19-14. In the final they met Chinese Taipei for the second time in the competi- tion and defeated them.
The Philippines won the Plate Championship as they overcame Singapore 14-10 in a thrilling game while China thrashed UAE by a massive 47-nil to win the Bowl title.
The Sri Lanka Under-18s was led by Naveen Henakankanamage of S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia. Others in the squad were: Theekshana Dassanayaka (St. Peter’s College), Chamod Fernando (Isipathana College), Harith Bandara (Isipathana College), Avishka Shiek (Trinity College), Diluksha Dange (Trinity College), Anuka Boyagoda (Trinity College), Dinuk Amerasinghe (St. Anthony’s College Kandy), Vinul Fernando (St. Joseph’s College), Chathura Seneviratne (St. Joseph’s College), Gemunu Chethiya (St. Joseph’s College) and Janindhu Dishan (Royal College).