Last minute try denied as Sri Lanka U18’s finish 3rd in Hong Kong

3694
Sri Lanka U18’s finish third in Hong Kong

The 2nd Asia Schools’ Under 18 sevens tournament concluded today at the King’s Park Stadium in Hong Kong with the hosts claiming the title by winning the final against Thailand 14 – 07.

Sri Lanka, who were outdone in the semi-finals, ended up winning the Plate title defeating Singapore 33-7.

It was an interesting tournament in Hong Kong over the weekend and an exciting display of sevens rugby by the Asian juniors. Sri Lanka finished unbeaten on day one after thrashing Mongolia 52 – 00 and coming out on top in closer tussles against Malaysia (29 – 21) and Thailand (19 – 12).

The second day started with the remainder of the group games and Sri Lanka began with a bang, surging past Cambodia 53-00; as a result Sri Lanka topped group B.

There was a surprising twist in Group A when Singapore outshined Hong Kong getting themselves to the top of the group with a 21-05 win.

With Singapore topping Group A, they set up to play Thailand, runners-up in Group B in the semi-finals while Sri Lanka faced Hong Kong.

Hong Kong has been very much a thorn in the flesh of the junior and senior Tuskers in the recent past and that trend continued here too. Sri Lanka were unlucky in the semi-finals when the hosts registered a 19-12 win after Naveen Henakankanamage’s final minute try was denied as the referee spotted a knock on. Sumudu Rankothge and Naveen Henakankanamage scored for the Tuskers in the semi-finals.

Thailand beat Singapore in the other semifinal 19 – 14 but they went down to the hosts 14 – 07 in the final.

Meanwhile, Malaysia beat China 54 – 00 in the Bowl finals and Guam beat Mongolia 27 – 00 to win the Shield.

Overall it was a brilliant performance by the Junior Tuskers as they won 5 out of their 6 games.

Considering the team only prepped for a week, the effort of the coaching staff headed by Mohamed Mushtaq and Inthi Marikar is appreciable. Marikar, of course, is the high-performance director and will look to develop the prospective talents to the main stage.