Sports
Injuries a concern as Sri Lanka prepare for Asian Rugby Sevens
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Sri Lanka’s rugby players got the opportunity to come out of the woods and be back in the game with their participation at the Warrior Cup rugby sevens held recently in Colombo.
New players impressed during the two days of rugby and the sport found a new winner in Sri Lanka Air Force Sports Club who won the Cup Championship; probably for the first time in the domestic seven-a-side rugby history of the game.
The tournament featured mostly players from the security forces establishments and the Police and also two clubs, which are struggling to stay on their feet. CH & FC did well to win the ‘Plate Championship’ and saw five of its players named in an initial national squad of 20. The squad is preparing to contest the upcoming Asian Sevens Series scheduled to be hosted in Dubai on November 19 and 20.
Havelocks SC looked quite ordinary on day one, but played better on the second day to finish as winners of the ‘Shield’ competition. One of the local favourites Havelocks SC had many ‘youth’ in its line-up, but none of them were named in the initial national squad announced soon after the tournament. According to reliable sources many players named in the squad are carrying injuries-sustained at the domestic sevens tournament- which would mean that there will be new names added to the squad as training progresses with coach Nilfer Ibrahim and the watchful eyes of Ben Gollings, who serves as the Consultant Director of Rugby Sevens.
Probably the injuries were expected because the players were in ‘cold storage’ for a good part of the past one and a half years due to restrictions on sport due to Covid regulations.
Despite the rustiness shown by players at the domestic rugby sevens, expectations are high that they’ll bounce back to their usual strengths as they go through the training sessions conducted by experts hired for the task.
Sri Lankans have the knack for the abbreviated form of rugby union and have kept their heads high in the Asian Sevens Series with some telling performances in the past. There have been many occasions when Sri Lanka showed the potential and had good preparation for the Asian Sevens, but teams like Hong Kong and Japan have often taken the game away from the islanders.
This season is going to be a challenge for the players. This is because the national pool has been formed with players being drafted from as many as five different clubs; in the past the best sevens players came from Kandy SC, CR & FC, and Havelocks SC. But this time around Havies didn’t have their players in the initial pool and the players from Kandy and the Longden Place club were not considered for selection because they didn’t take part in the domestic sevens championships.
Rugby critics however point out that some of the national players who could not be involved in the recent selection tournament should be considered for selection taking into account past performances and their services to national rugby. It would be unthinkable for Sri Lanka to compile a winning line-up at an international rugby sevens tournament without players in the calibre of Danush Dayan, Kavindu Perera, Srinath Sooriyabandara, Jason Dissanayake and Tarinda Ratwatte; who are all members of the Nittawela Club.
Sri Lanka has been pooled along with teams like UAE and Asian giants China in ‘Pool B’. The teams forming ‘Pool A’ are South Korea, Philippines, Hong Kong and Malaysia.
The initial Sri Lanka squad for the Asian Sevens Series was picked by a selection committee headed by former Sri Lanka skipper Asoka Jayasena. This squad is likely to include new faces, according to informed rugby sources.
Training concurrently with the men’s national team is a women’s rugby pool which will also contest the tournament in Dubai.
The following is the initial national squad picked to go into training for the Asian Sevens: Nuwan Perera, Ishara Madushan, Ramith De Silva, Anjula Hettiarachchi (Air Force), Sachith Silva, Iroshan Silva, Vageesha Weerasinghe, Suranga Kasun (Police), Sudharaka Dikkubura, Nalaka Maduranga, Lasantha Kumara, (Army), Adeesha Weeratunga, Kanchana Ramanayake, Chathura Senevirathne, Nishon Perera (Navy), Samual Ogbebor, Hirantha Perera, Kushan Indunil, Reeza Raffaideen, Janidu Dilshan (CH&FC).
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
Noor Ahmad, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) left-arm wristspinner, continues to head the Purple Cap table with ten wickets from four games. His spell of 4 for 18 in CSK’s first game against MI, remains his best so far.
DC’s Mitchell Starc who picked up his maiden five-for in T20s, against SRH remains second on the list with nine wickets in three games.
GT’s Mohammed Siraj equalled Starc’s tally on Sunday night with his own IPL best, albeit he has played four games to Starc’s three. Siraj picked up 4 for 17 against SRH to hand them their four successive loss, and was named the Player of the Match.
Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) suffered another batting malfunction, this time on a slow, black-soil surface at home, crashing to their fourth successive defeat in IPL 2025. Having lost Travishek in the powerplay, SRH waited until the 13th over to see the first six of the innings, and managed only one more after that Mohammad Siraj caused irreparable damage right from the start, ending with his career-best IPL figures of 4 for 17.
Pat Cummins’ cameo (22* off nine balls) and then his dismissal of Jos Buttler for a duck in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) chase of 153 gave SRH some hope, but that faded away once Washington Sundar clattered 23 off nine balls in the powerplay. Earlier in the day, GT didn’t need Washington with the ball, but his attacking enterprise at No. 4 settled their chase on a slow pitch. Washington fell agonisingly short of a maiden IPL half-century, but his captain Shubman Gill ushered GT home, with an unbeaten 61 off 43 balls, along with Sherfane Rutherford.
Siraj had sparked the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to life when he gave Travis Head a send-off in Adelaide last December. Four months on, Siraj was bowling to Head for the first time in T20s, and the battle lasted just five balls. After Head scored two fours off Siraj, the fast bowler struck with his trademark wobble-seam delivery, having him chip a catch to midwicket for 8.
Abhishek Sharma hit four fours before Siraj had him miscuing a catch to mid-on in his third over of the powerplay. It was Siraj’s 100th wicket in the IPL and sixth in the powerplay, the most by a bowler in that phase so far this season, with an economy rate of 6.27.
Siraj then returned in the death to york both Aniket Verma, the last recognised batter for SRH, and Simarjeet Singh, their Impact Player.
With both Head and Abhishek gone early,Rashid Khan, who was coming into this game on the back of figures of 4-0-54-0, could afford to ease himself in. He started fairly well by giving away just 10 runs in his first two overs, but when he erred in length, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Heinrich Klassen dispatched him to the fence. Rashid finished with 4-0-31-0, going wicketless for a third successive game, and with tournament figures of 1 for 143 in 14 overs at an economy rate of 10.21
Left-arm fingerspinner Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, on the other hand, showed remarkable control over his length and variations. He claimed the big wicket of Klaasen by knocking him over with a quick dart, which skidded off the pitch, for 27 off 19 balls. Sai Kishore also had Reddy holing out for 31 off 34 balls and finished with 4-0-24-2.
That SRH passed 150 was down to Cummins’ late blows. He was the only SRH batter in the top eight to have a strike rate of over 160.
It appeared like GT had handed a franchise debut to Washington to primarily match his offspin up with SRH’s left-hander heavy top order. But with Siraj dominating the powerplay and Sai Kishore taking care of the middle overs, GT ended up not using his offspin.
Washington then walked out to bat at No. 4 after his childhood friend B Sai Sudarshan and Buttler fell cheaply in successive overs. Washington took advantage of the last over of the powerplay, smoking Simarjeet for two sixes and two fours. It provided a throwback to Washington of 2016, when he opened the batting, alongside Abhinav Mukund, in the TNPL and showed the intent to hit over the top. Just like that, Washington dumped SRH’s Impact Player out of the attack.
Washington continued to attack even after that. When the ambidextrous Kamindu Mendis darted one on the stumps with his right hand, Washington manufactured swinging room and laced him over extra-cover for four. Washington seemed set for a fifty until he holed out one shy of the landmark in the 14th over.
Gill, who had already crossed 50 by that point, finished the job along with Rutherford, who hit an unbeaten 35 off 16 balls.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 153 for 3 in 16.4 overs (Shubman Gill 61*, Washington Sundar 49, Sherfaine Rutherford 35*; Mohammed Shami 2-28, Pat Cumminss 1-26) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 152 for 8 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 18, Ishan Krishan 17, Nitish Kumar Reddy 31, Heinrich Klassen 27, Aniket Verma 18,Pat Cummins 22*; Mohammed Siraj 4-17, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 2-24, Prasidh Krishna 2-25)by seven wickets
[Cricinfo]
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