How has Sri Lanka performed in at the Asia U20 7’s?

2011

As the Sri Lanka Under 20 Rugby 7’s squad prepares for the forthcoming tournament to be held in Hong Kong on the 10th & 11th of August, ThePapare takes an in-depth look at how the Junior Tuskers have performed at this tournament in the past.

2015
The first time Sri Lanka participated and the team finished overall third after finishing runners-up in the 1st leg

Read more: Henakankanamage to lead Junior Tuskers

Sri Lanka first participated in this tournament in 2015 when it was played over two legs. In the first tournament played in Malaysia, the Lankans, captained by Kevin Dixon & coached by Colin Dinesh did well to enter the final before going down to Hong Kong. The results were as follows :

Group Stage   Knock Out Stage
Beat Thailand: 31 – 05 Cup Quarter Finals    beat UAE: 33 – 07
Lost to Hong Kong: 19 – 24 Cup Semi Finals beat Malaysia: 17 – 12
Drew with Taiwan: 19 – 19 Cup Finals   lost to Hong Kong: 15 – 29

The 2nd leg was held in Hong Kong. However, the Junior Tuskers had a disappointing outing as they had to be satisfied with the Plate trophy. This came as a result of a shock losses to UAE as well as China in the group stage. They were relegated to the Plate segment after going down to Taiwan in the Cup quarters. Below are the results:

Group Stage   Knock Out Stage
Lost to UAE: 12 – 17 Cup Quarter Finals lost to Taiwan: 19 – 24
Lost to China: 14 – 33 Plate Semi Finals beat Kazakhstan: 35 – 05
Beat Malaysia: 31 – 14 Plate Finals beat Thailand: 21 – 15

Read more: Asia Rugby U- 20 Sevens- Groups

At the end of the 2 leg series Sri Lanka was placed joint 3rd overall alongside Taiwan. Hong Kong were crowned Champions, winning both legs with Malaysia taking the runners up spot.

Final Points Table & Standings of the
Under 20 Asian Boys 7s Championship 2015
Team 1st Leg 2nd Leg Total Rank
Hong Kong 14 14 28 1
Malaysia 9 12 21 2
Sri Lanka 12 7 19 3
Taiwan 10 9 19 3
Thailand 7 6 13 5
China DNP* 10 10 6
UAE 5 4 9 7
Kazakhstan 4 5 9 7
Singapore 6 DNP* 6 9
*DNP – Did not participate
The team under Kevin Dixon created history when they won the 1st leg in the 2016 series defeating South Korea
2016

The Junior Tuskers created history by winning the first leg of the 2016 edition of the Asian Under 20 sevens tournament in Malaysia. The team was once again led by Kevin Dixon with Sudath Sampath assuming coaching duties.   Although they lost a close encounter to Japan in the group stage, the Lankans progressed through the knockout stages and beat Korea in the finals comfortably.

Group Stage   Knock Out Stage
Beat Philippines: 22 – 05
Beat Thailand: 31 – 05 Cup Semi Finals beat Malaysia: 29 – 14
Lost to Japan: 14 – 19 Cup Finals beat Korea: 38 – 00
Beat UAE: 45 – 05

In the 2nd Leg held in Hong Kong, the Sri Lankan juniors had to settle for the runners up position. Despite progressing through to the finals with an unbeaten record, they lost out to the hosts in the finals.

It was a new chapter in the history books when the Tuskers were crowned champions in the under 20 Asia Sevens despite their loss to Hong Kong in the final
Group Stage Knock Out Stage
Beat Taiwan: 36 – 12
Cup Semi Finals Beat South Korea: 19 – 12
Beat Thailand: 40 – 05
Cup Finals Lost to Hong Kong: 10 – 36
Beat Malaysia: 40 – 05

As a result of winning the 1st Leg & being runners up in the 2nd leg, the Tuskers emerged as overall winners of the 2016 series. South Korea took the runners up position while defending champions Hong Kong had to settle for the third spot.

Final Points Table & Standings of the
Under 20 Asian Boys 7s Championship 2016
Team 1st Leg 2nd Leg Total Rank
Sri Lanka 14 12 26 1
South Korea 12 10 22 2
Hong Kong 7 14 21 3
Malaysia 9 9 18 4
UAE 5 7 12 5
Taiwan 6 6 12 5
Japan 10 DNP* 10 7
Thailand 4 4 8 8
Singapore 1 5 6 9
Philippines 2 DNP* 2 10
       *DNP – Did not participate
2017
In 2017, the Junior Tuskers fielded in a young side and went down to Hong Kong in the finals

There was just the single tournament in 2017 with Hong Kong playing hosts. Led by Naveen Heenakakanamge & once again under the guidance of Sudath Sampath, the Lankans cruised through to the finals comfortably. However in the finals, Hong Kong put in an outstanding performance & annexed the championship, resulting in the Junior Tuskers taking the 2nd spot with Taiwan finishing in 3rd .

Group Stage Knock Out Stage
Beat Philippines: 24 – 00
Beat China: 43 – 07 Cup Semi Finals beat South Korea: 31 – 05
Beat Malaysia: 26 – 05 Cup Finals lost to Hong Kong: 36 – 00
Beat Taiwan: 28 – 14

Final Standings of the
Under 20 Asian Boys 7s Championship 2017

Team Rank
Hong Kong 1
Sri Lanka 2
Taiwan 3
South Korea 4
Singapore 5
Malaysia 6
China 7
Thailand 8
Philippines 9
Uzbekistan 10
2018

For this year’s tournament Sri Lanka find themselves grouped with Taiwan, China and Singapore. The team will be coached by Nilfer Ibrahim and will be able to call on the services of experienced players of the caliber of last years’ skipper Naveen Heenakankanamge, Dinuk Amarasinghe, Avishka Lee, Chamod Fernando & Theekshana Dissanayaka who are available from last years’ outfit. With outstanding talents from this year’s schools season such as Gamunu Chethiya & Janindu Dilshan, who will be pushing for selection, the Junior Tuskers will be looking to win the tournament this time around.

With the biggest challenge likely to come from Hong Kong, the young islanders will no doubt want to go all out and get that elusive win against the hosts, a task they have not been able to achieve thus far at neither senior nor junior level.