Another fine display by Sri Lanka Sevens team

Ranjeeva SENEVIRATNE

Sri Lanka came up with another stupendous performance to clinch the Plate Championship of the Mumbai Rugby Sevens at the Bombay Gymkahana Club Grounds on Sunday by beating Malaysia by 24 points (two goals , two tries) to 17 ( one goal, two tries) in the final in extra time after the scores read 17 all at the breather.

The Sri Lankans opened scoring through a fine try by Srinath Sooriyabandara which was converted by Fazil Marija which gave them a 7-0 lead and went ahead further through an unconverted try by Nigel Ratwatte which made it 12-nil in favour of Sri Lanka. But the Malaysians , who were strengthened by the inclusion of Fijians scored two successive tries to make it 12 all at lemons.

Soon after resumption, the Malaysians went ahead through an unconverted try to make it 17 - 12 just before the final whistle , Sri Lanka's Sayuru Anthony scored a try and the scores read 17-all at full time and the game went into extra time.

Then Sri Lanka's Dinusha Chathuranga made a fine break and then slung out a pass to nippy Srinath Sooriyabandara , who scored under the post to give Fazil Marija an easy kick at goal to the joy of their team-mates which gave the Sri Lankans their second successive Plate Championship having won the title in the Shanghai Sevens three weeks ago.

In the semi finals, Sri Lanka scored a superb 31-19 win over Philipines helped by tries from Vishwamithra Jayasinghe (two) , Srinath Sooriyabandara(two) and Dinusha Chathuranga(one) with Fazil Marija adding the extra points to three tries.

Earlier in the morning, Sri Lanka went down fighting to the formidable Hong Kong by 12-17 which saw them being relegated to the Plate Championship. Hong Kong took an early 14-0 lead through two converted tries but the Sri Lankans hit back through a fine try by Sajith Saranga which was converted by Fazil Marija.Hong Kong went ahead further through another try which gave them a 17-7 lead. During the dying stages of the game, Dinusha Chathuranga fell over for an unconverted try which gave Asian Heavyweights Hong Kong a hard fought 17 - 12 win.Hong Kong went on to win the Cup Championship with a smashing 28 points (four goals) to 7 (one goal) win over mighty Japan in the final.

The Sri Lankans with this victory, finished in fifth position overall in this tournament. Skipper Fazil Marija once again led the side admirably, while Srinath Sooriyabandara gave another magnificent display along with Vishwamithra Jayasinghe, Dinusha Chathuranga, Nigel Ratwatte and Sajith Saranga.

The Sri Lankans owe their success to their dedicated coach Ben Gollings, who has been able to harness their skills and mould them into a formidable outfit and the Sri Lankans are well on their way to emerge as a major force in Asian Sevens Rugby where they would not only be able to match up but also beat Asian Heavyweights Hong Kong, Japan and Korea in the future.This performance augurs well for the future of Sri Lanka Sevens rugby as both President of SLRFU Asanga Seneviratne and Secretary Rizly Illyas believe that Sri Lanka's fututre lies in Sevens Rugby with their skills and speed