Sports
Concerns for Sri Lanka ahead of Asian Rugby Division 1 series
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Sri Lanka looks to end an ambitious wait in Division 1 rugby of the Asian Men’s 15-a-side rugby tournament when they scrum down with Pakistan and Qatar at home (Colombo) in a tri-nation tournament scheduled to be held from April 28 to May 5.
Sri Lanka are in Division 1 of the tournament and will need to come out winners if they are to move up a notch and earn promotion to the Men’s Asian Rugby Tournament (also known as the Asia Top Four Tournament) which now features South Korea, Malaysia, UAE and last year’s winners Hong Kong China.
There is also a Men’s Division II tournament which features Asia’s lower rung teams. In the year 2022, Pakistan won the Division II tournament and qualified for the Division I tournament where they received a mauling the following year (2023); Pakistan suffering two thumping defeats at the hands of UAE who recorded a 95-0 and a 93-3 victory in a two-match series. UAE then moved up to the Men’s Asia Rugby Tournament and will be playing against Asian giants like Malaysia, Hong Kong China and South Korea in this year’s (2024) blockbuster Asian tournament.
Hong Kong China, loaded with expatriates, are hot favourites to win this segment once again. This team showed its class and prowess in 15-a-side rugby when they demolished South Korea 30-10 and Malaysia 88-9 last year. For the record Japan doesn’t play in this Asian tournament and earns direct entry to the Rugby World Cup.
The irony for Sri Lanka is that they once played in the Men’s Asia Rugby Tournament in past years and gave teams like South Korea and Hong Kong China (Then Hong Kong) a run for their money. And this was not very long ago. The Covid pandemic and then the subsequent bans on Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) by World Rugby, Asian Rugby and its very own ‘Ministry of Sports’ in Sri Lanka spelt doom for rugby in the island. The lowest patch in the country’s rugby history was recorded when the islanders had to seek entry to make the line-up of teams at the Asian Games ‘Rugby Sevens’ event last year under the Olympic Council Association Flag. Sri Lanka had no national rugby identity at this tournament and finished in 10th place; just ahead of Philippines which finished 11th. Sri Lanka also missed out on at least one top Asian Sevens rugby tournament due to the ban.
Now the national men’s rugby team of Sri Lanka has a massive task of working its way up the ladder in the Asian Rugby segment. Still the national rugby pool has not been named. There is only speculation doing the rounds with the names of coaches in the likes of Sanath Martis, Nilfer Ibrahim and Dushanth Lewke being floating in the air as possible choices for the position of head coach. It is also interesting to see whether SLR will appoint a full time ‘national coach’ (For a selected period of time) or pick a ‘Sri Lanka coach’; as a stop gap measure and only for this series.
According to informed sources the players for this Asian series would be handpicked by a national technical committee and their names will be sent to the national selection committee who in turn will send in their recommendations to the SLR executive committee for approval. This list will have to be ratified by the Minister of Sports. There are concerns in the air too because the tournament dates (According to the Asian Rugby official website) has been fixed from April 28 to May 5. The only factor standing in favour of Sri Lanka is that the cream of the island’s players has been actively playing rugby during the past couple of months. This is largely thanks to the hyperactive domestic inter-club league rugby tournament, which spanned from December 2023 to March this year.
Given the form that the Sri Lankan players are in, the challenge that the islanders must overcome doesn’t seem overwhelming at all. The only challenge that they might encounter comes from Qatar. Pakistan is a side carrying a bundle of hopes in the Asian rugby circuit, but their participation on the Colombo tournament is quite uncertain given the volatile political condition in Pakistan. Unconfirmed reports state that in the event Pakistan makes itself unavailable, Sri Lanka would play a two match series against Qatar before a winner is found and promoted to the Asian Rugby Tournament; for the 2025 edition of the tournament.
Morocco’s plans for their World Cup quarterfinal against France have been shaken up after it was confirmed that star forward Ismael Saibari will miss the match.
Saibari sustained a hamstring injury in the last-16 match against Canada and has not recovered in time for the crucial knockout match, coach Mohamed Ouahbi said on Wednesday.
“Everyone is 100 percent fit except Saibari. This game comes too soon for him, but I hope he is not out for the rest of the competition,” Ouahbi told reporters ahead of Thursday’s last-eight showdown in Boston.
Saibari, who has just joined Bayern Munich from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on a five-year deal for a reported fee of 50 million euros ($57m), has been one of the standout players at this year’s World Cup.
He scored in each of his team’s three group games and converted the winning penalty in the shootout as Morocco beat the Netherlands in the last 32.
However, the attacking midfielder came off early with a hamstring problem in the 3-0 win against Canada in the last 16 last Saturday.
Should Morocco progress, Saibari might make a comeback in the semifinals.
“He’s not ready, but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Ouahbi said.
Saibari went off the pitch to receive medical attention after sustaining an injury against Canada [Aljazeera]
Soufiane Rahimi, who is an out-and-out striker, came on for Saibari in that game and scored Morocco’s third goal.
The Atlas Lions are seeking to avenge their 2-0 defeat against France in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup.
That was the first time any African or Arab team had reached the last four of the tournament, and their incentive this time is to match that run.
Ouahbi dismissed suggestions that his team can say they have already had a successful tournament by getting to the quarterfinals.
“We absolutely want to win the game tomorrow, so we will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now,” said the coach, who took over from Walid Regragui in March.
“Tomorrow, we will try to get to the semifinals. I don’t like this sentiment that we have already done well and anything else is a bonus,” added Ouahbi, who said he had watched the 2022 meeting of the sides as a fan, on television.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz insisted his side can compete with the much-fancied France as he prepares to come up against Kylian Mbappe, his colleague at club level.
“Tomorrow, we are playing one of the favourites, but we have shown we can compete, and that is why we are here. I have full faith and full confidence in the team.”
[Aljazeera]
West Indies have been fined ten percent of their match fee and penalised two World Test Championship (WTC) points for maintaining a slow over-rate in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Antigua.
Match referee Javagal Srinath imposed the sanction after the hosts were found to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
As per to the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined five percent of their match fee for each over their team fails to bowl within the allotted time, with the maximum penalty capped at 50 percent of the match fee. Additionally, a side is penalised one point in the WTC points table for each over short as per the ICC WTC playing conditions.
Captain Roston Chase pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
West Indies bowled 188.3 overs across both innings and secured a draw after conceding a 50-run deficit in the first innings. Having won the first Test at the same venue, by an innings and 217 runs, the result was enough to complete a 1-0 series win. They stand ninth on the WTC table with 18 points, after the deduction, with one win, two draws and seven losses in ten games.
[Cricinfo]
Cabinet Subcommittee on the Development of 25 Technical and Vocational Colleges meets under the Chairmanship of the Prime Minister
Representatives of the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA) of Sri Lanka meet the Prime Minister
District Secretaries’ Conference Chaired by the President
ICC contacts ECB over Stokes retirement video
Greater focus must be placed on strengthening primary healthcare
Morocco dealt huge blow as injured Saibari out of World Cup quarterfinal
‘Dates have the highest sugar content to fight Coronavirus’
Sunday Island 27 December – Headlines
#SundayIsland 17th December – Headlines
Sunday Island – 28th March
Sunday Island Headlines – 21 March
Sunday Island – 21st February – Headlines
-
News5 days agoSingapore-based Buddhist monk marks nearly four decades of humanitarian service
-
News7 days agoCIABOC to question Harak Kata on Rs. 200 mn bribery allegation
-
News6 days agoFreedom 250: US Embassy celebrates America’s 250th Independence Day through magic of American cinema
-
Business7 days ago‘Dialog Air Fibre powers a new era of Ultra Fast Home WiFi’
-
News7 days agoSLAF conducts successful rescue mission under UN command in Central African Republic
-
News4 days agoAI concerned over proposed SL military deployment in Haiti
-
News7 days agoUNEP support pledged to strengthen Sri Lanka’s Environmental Priorities
-
Midweek Review2 days agoUnexpected focus on ‘pieces of tin’ worn by military men