Gallant Sri Lanka take Plate honours
Alionhearted display by the young Sri Lankan side saw them script an inspiring 32 points (1 goal and 5 tries) to 19 (2 goals and a try) win over Philippines. The result gave Sri Lanka Plate honours (5th position) in the Asian Sevens Series 2017 – round 1 tournament concluded here at the Kings Park Sports Ground in Hong Kong last evening.
It was Philippines who opened scoring with a breakaway unconverted try. Sri Lanka replied almost immediately in the fast paced game with Tharinda Ratwatte going over for an unconverted try. The Lankans were down to six men for a couple of minutes following an infringement, which allowed Philippines to surge ahead 12 - 7. Opting to take on the opponents (comprising three foreigners) head on Sri Lanka reduced the lead to a mere two points at half time. An unconverted try by Kevin Dixon followed a yellow card against the Philippines.
After the turnaround an aggressive Sri Lanka planted four tries. Skipper Muthuthanthri returning from the bin broke through to score and was followed by a Naveen Henakankanamage special off a fantastic re-start. The third try in this half belonged to Buddhima Piyaratne, whose kick and chase effort was converted by Kevin Dixon. New kid Samith Dananjaya took to the blind side and slung out a pass for Kevin Dixon to do the scoring. Thereafter, Philippines scored a converted try at the death which only had an academic bearing on the final result. Plate semi-final clash against Malaysia turned out to be a one-sided affair with Sri Lanka romping to a 45 points (5 goals and 2 tries) to nil victory, having led 26-nil at the breather. Tries by Kevin Dixon, Hirantha Perera (2), Dhanush Dayan, Naveen Henakankanamage, Tharinda Ratwatte and Jason Dissanayake rattled the Malaysians. Successful conversions came through the boots of Tharinda Ratwatte (2), Hirantha Perera and Kevin Dixon (2). Sri Lanka disintegrated against China – a far superior physical outfit, in the Cup quarter-final clash early afternoon yesterday. The Chinese starved Sri Lanka of possession and sent the ball wide at all times. Three tries apiece in each half speaks for itself of the Chinese dominance in the game as they marched into the Cup semis with a resounding 36 points (3 goals and 3 tries) to 12 ( 1 goal and a try) win. For Sri Lanka Buddhima Piyaratne took a quick tap and touched down himself. With that unconverted try the scores read 21 -5 in favour of China at half time. A semblance of hope arose when Omalka Gunaratne powered his way for a try upon resumption of play. Tharinda Ratwatte made no mistake with the conversion. However, it was one-way-traffic thereafter.
The Cup final was won by Japan who overcame hosts Hong Kong 19 - 12 with a last minute try.