The seventh edition of the Lions Sri Lankan Schools 7’s Touch Rugby tournament was successfully concluded on the 24th of November 2017 at the Doha Rugby Football Club, Qatar with the participation of 12 (Twelve) Sri Lankan School OBA teams and 04 (Four) invitational teams.
The knockout stage games were enthralling as the best 08 (eight) teams from the respective groups contested for the Cup category. Isipathana, St. Sylvester’s, Trinity and Wesley qualified for the Cup semi-finals after beating D.S Senanayake, St. Peter’s, Royal and Zahira respectively in their quarter final games. After a tough competition, St. Sylvester’s and Wesley qualified for the grand finals.
An absolutely brilliant performance from the spirited Wesly-ites helped them clinch the championship as they beat St. Sylvester’s 3 – 1 in the finals while remaining unbeaten in the tournament. This is the fifth consecutive year that Wesley has won the title (Since 2014). Previously St. Peter’s and Trinity won the titles in 2012 and 2013 respectively.
Speaking to ThePapare.com Shiwan Madawa, the Captain of Wesley said that he is delighted with the performances of his team, specially being crowned champions for the 5th consecutive year.
Meanwhile, Isipthana beat Trinity 1 -0 in the Plate finals, St. Peter’s beat Royal 2 – 1 in Bowl finals and Dharmaraja beat Mahanama 2-1 in the Shield finals. The event was organized by Lions RFC Doha in collaboration with Qatar Touch and it was an eventful day for the whole family as a large contingent of Sri Lankan School rugby players & fans with their families gathered at DRFC grounds to reminisce their glorious school days.
Music, traditional Sri Lankan papare bands, Kiddies play area, smoke and aroma from the BBQ hut brought a real essence of a festival atmosphere. The event was sponsored by Sports corner, Oliexec, Sri Lankan Airlines, Total sports, Sampath bank, Al Rayyan Water, Well on restaurant, Bloomsbury resort, Deluxe travels and Puncha’s Rent a Car and www.thepapare.com (online media partner).
All matches from quarter final stage onwards were brought live through https://www.facebook.com/thepapare/. This was the first time a Sri Lankan community Rugby event in Qatar was telecast in Sri Lanka’s No.01 Sports Hub. Viewers across the globe applauded “Lions RFC” the organizers and team www.thepapare.com for their efforts.
Lions RFC wishes to thank the event sponsors, the management of Doha Rugby Football Club, team www.thepapare.com, volunteers and all those who contributed to make this community event a grand success.
