The inaugural Asia Rugby U18 Girls’ Championship that took place in Dubai in 2016 is now closing in on its 3rd edition this year as readies to kick off in India this October.
Sri Lanka, who took wing to Dubai in 2016 under the guidance of Coach Thanuja Weerakkody and captaincy of Nimesha Wijewardana, ended in 4th place after beating Uzbekistan and UAE in the 4th and 5th place playoffs. Hong Kong went onto win the Championship beating Kazakhstan in a close final.
The following year hopes were high as the Girls were looking forward to earning their ticket to the Youth Olympic Games. Unfortunately, after an impressive start beating the Philippines, Sri Lanka went onto have a disastrous finish in the tournament. Losing out all of their games just before winning against Iran in the 7th and 8th playoffs, the team led by Umayanga Thathsarani and groomed by Thanuja Weerakkody, dropped down in their rankings by 3 positions. Tournament favorites Japan emerged Champions after beating the defending Champions Hong Kong.
This year, the tournament will be held in Bhuwaneswar, India, from the 26th to 28th of October at the Kalinga Stadium. Sri Lanka will partake for the third time and will surely look forward to bettering their performance from last year.
This tournament is a major factor in the development of the sport and is surely organized to act as a foundation for the long term growth and improvement of Women’s Rugby around the world starting from the junior levels.
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