Defending champions S. Thomas’ alongside usual suspects, Royal, Isipathana, Science & St. Joseph’s and surprise packages Vidyartha, St. Anthony’s and Prince of Wales remained unbeaten at the end of day one of the All Island Under-19 School Sevens, booking their cup quarter final spots for day two.
Following the end of an exhilarating XV’s season, the lads once again put on their school jerseys for the final time this year, lining up at the All Island Under-19 Schools Sevens tournament played at Royal Complex.
League winners Royal was present for the tournament after deciding to sit out the knockouts, however, President’s trophy winners, St. Peter’s decided against playing the shorter format along with Trinity and Wesley College.
22 teams participated, divided into 6 groups of three teams while two groups consisted of just two sides each.
S.Thomas’ began their title defence with a positive win over Mahanama College to begin the day’s proceeding while St. Anthony’s and Royal swept aside their opponents in their one off game of the day in group C & F respectively.
| S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia | 26 | Mahanama College | 5 |
| S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia | 33 | Maliyadeva College | 5 |
| Maliyadeva College | 46 | Mahanama College | 5 |
| St. Anthony’s College Kandy | 31 | Lumbini College | 5 |
| Royal College | 41 | Thurstan College | 0 |
Isipathana College won two-out-of-two without conceding a single point against St. Aloysius and DS Senanayake as they topped group H.
| Isipathana College | 45 | St. Aloysius College Galle | 0 |
| D. S. Senanayake College | 19 | St. Aloysius College Galle | 0 |
| Isipathana College | 36 | D. S. Senanayake College | 0 |
Double runner up – League and knockout – Joes and sevens sensations, Science ended unbeaten as the two schools gave away only seven points in their two games, taking top spot in group C & D respectively.
| Science College Mt. Lavinia | 47 | Moratu Maha Vidyalaya | 0 |
| C. W. W. Kannangara College | 21 | Moratu Maha Vidyalaya | 7 |
| Science College Mt. Lavinia | 17 | C. W. W. Kannangara College | 7 |
| St. Joseph’s College | 41 | Richmond College | 0 |
| Kingswood College | 47 | Richmond College | 5 |
| St. Joseph’s College | 29 | Kingswood College | 7 |
Meanwhile, Prince of Wales had it all their way in the group stage, defeating Nalanda and Eheliyagoda MMV with ease to book their quarter final berth.
Zahira was stunned by Vidyartha as the lads from Kandy defeated the A division school to surprise the viewers, ending at the helm of group E, setting up a cup quarter final game against favourites Royal.
The remaining cup quarter finals will see defending champs take on St. Anthony’s in the first game on day two, while Joes will go head on against sevens sensations Science and the Green Machine will face off against Prince of Wales in the final cup quarter final.
After disappointing losses at the hands of Vidyartha and St. Joseph’s, Zahira and Kingswood will have to settle for a place in the bowl quarter finals while Richmond, Aloysius, Moratuwa MMV and Eheliygoda MMV will battle in the shield segment.
Other Results:
| Zahira College Colombo | 22 | Piliyandala MMV | 19 |
| Prince of Wales Moratuwa | 31 | Eheliyagoda MMV | 17 |
| Vidyartha College | 17 | Piliyandala MMV | 5 |
| Ananda College | W/O | Thurstan College | – |
| Nalanda College | 12 | Eheliyagoda MMV | 5 |
| Zahira College Colombo | 7 | Vidyartha College | 19 |
| Royal College | – | Ananda College | W/O |
| Prince of Wales Moratuwa | 32 | Nalanda College | 0 |
Day two is set to begin tomorrow (8th July) at 8:30 am at the Royal Complex with the cup quarter finals and will be telecasted exclusively on ThePapare.com
Day 2 schedule:
| 8.30 am | Cup QF 1 | S. Thomas’ College Mt. Lavinia | V | St. Anthony’s College |
| 8.50 am | Cup QF 2 | Science College | V | St. Joseph’s College |
| 9.10 am | Cup QF 3 | Vidyartha College | V | Royal College |
| 9.30 am | Cup QF 4 | Prince of Wales Moratuwa | V | Isipathana College |
| 9.50 am | Bowl QF 1 | Maliyadeva College | V | Lumbini College |
| 10.10 am | Bowl QF 2 | C. W. W. Kannangara | V | Kingswood College |
| 10.30 am | Bowl QF 3 | Zahira College | V | Thurstan College |
| 10.50 am | Bowl QF 4 | Nalanda College | V | D. S. Senanayake College |
| – | Shield QF 1 | Mahanama College | V | Walkover |
| 11.10 am | Shield QF 2 | Moratu MMV | V | Richmond College |
| – | Shield QF 3 | Piliyandala MMV | V | Walkover |
| 11.30 am | Shield QF 4 | Eheliyagoda MV | V | St. Aloysius College Galle |
