Emerge runners-up to Hong Kong:
Sri Lanka in smashing 31-6 win over Chinese Taipei
Sajeewa Jayakody
The Sri Lanka Under-19 team rugby team made amends for their defeats
at the hands of South Korea and Hong Kong with a smashing 31 points
(four goals, one penalty) to 6 (two penalties) win over Chinese Taipei
in the last game of the Singer Under-19 Asian Rugby Football Tournament
match played at Race Course, Colombo after leading 14-6 at half time.
The host nation missed an easy chance of taking lead when skipper
Tharinda Ratwatte missed an easy 15-metre penalty in the 4th minute.
Chinese Taipei grabbed lead in the ninth minute when full back Powei
Huang fired across a 20-metree penalty. He increased their lead by
putting over another easy penalty to give them a six-naught lead.
The Lankans snatched the lead in the 21st minute, when skipper
Tharinda Ratwatte put the finishing touches to a move begun in mid-field
by scoring under the posts and added the extra points himself.
Just before the ‘breather’ burly Number Eight Omalka Gunaratne scored
a try by the corner flag with Tharinda Ratwatte making a spectacular
conversion to give the Lankans a 14-6 lead at ‘lemons’.
In the 16th minute after resumption, the Lankans increased the lead
when Ganuka Dissanayake scored off a rolling maul near the right corner
flag. Ratwatte made a fine conversion to make 21-6.
Fourteen minutes later, burly Sri Lanka Number Eight Omalka Gunaratne
scored by the corner flag off a rolling maul with Ratwatte making a
splendid conversion to make it 28-6.
Four minutes before the final whistle, the Lankans added to their
tally when Tharinda Ratwatte made no mistake with an easy 20-metre
penalty to give the hosts nations a resounding 31-6 win.
With this win, Sri Lanka emerged runners-up of the tournament having
more bonus points than South Korea and Chinese Taipei with all three
teams winning one match each.
Mighty Hong Kong emerged champions of the tournament with a runaway
58 points (six goals, two tries, two penalties) to 6 (two penalties) win
over South Korea in the other game played at the same venue yesterday.
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