Marija leads Sri Lanka Rugby Sevens team

Ranjeeva SENEVIRATNE

Kandy Sports Club’s Fazil Marija has been picked to lead the Sri Lanka Sevens Rugby Team which will take part in the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens which will be worked off from March 27 to 29, 2009.

Along with Marija seven players from the champion Kandy Sports Club have been selected for the squad: Mohamed Sheriff, Gayan Weeraratne, Saliya Kumara, Pradeep Liyanage, Sanjeeva Jayasinghe, Radhika Hettiarachchi, and Sajith Saranga.

Air Force’s Chanaka Chandimal is the only newcomer in the Sri Lanka Sevens team which will be coached by former Sri Lanka skipper Hisham Abdeen under whose leadership Sri Lanka won the Bowl Trophy at the Hong Kong Sevens in 1984.

The Sri Lanka team which will leave for Hong Kong on March 25 will confront the mighty All Blacks on March 27 in their first match.

Sri Lanka fared disastrously at last year’s Hong Kong Sevens losing to Samoa (7-35), England (7-47) and Canada (0-53) before being knocked out in the Bowl quarter finals by Russia (10-35) but are expected to give a much better display at this year’s Sevens.

Only five members of last year’s Sevens squad have retained their places in the team - skipper Marija, Sanjeeva Jayasinghe, Radhika Hettiarachchi, Saliya Kumara, and Pradeep Liyanage.

The Sri Lanka Sevens squad:

Fazil Marija (Captain), Sanjeeva Jayasinghe, Mohamed Sheriff, Gayan Weeraratne, Saliya Kumara, Pradeep Liyanage, Radhika Hettiarachchi, Sajith Saranga (all from Kandy SC), Suranga Arunashantha and Chanaka Chandimal (both from Air Force), Dinusha Chathuranga (CR and FC) and Dilanka Wijesekera (CH and FC). Coach Hisham Abdeen, Manager Imthisham Marikar.