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| Sunday, 18 April 2004 |
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RWC Asian qualifier: Sri Lanka grouped along with Thailand and Kazakhstan by LAL GUNESEKERA Sri Lanka has been grouped together with Thailand and Kazakhstan in Pool 'C' for the 6th Singer-SriLankan Airlines International Rugby 7's which has now been upgraded by the International Rugby Board (IRB) as the Asian Region Rugby World Cup (RWC) qualification event, scheduled to be staged at the Bogambara Stadium in Kandy on September 10,11 and 12. This was first started to coincide with the centenary of the Kandy Sports Club. The Secretary of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU), Iswan Omar told the 'Sunday Observer' that the IRB had made the draw in Dublin, Ireland in January and released the full details etc to the organisers. South Korea, Singapore and Arabian Gulf are in Pool 'A', Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Guam in Pool 'B', while Japan, China and India are in Pool 'D'. The IRB will also award 3 points for a win, 2 for a draw and one for a loss while the quarter-final line-up in the Cup category too has been released. It reads as: A 1 vs B 2, D 1 vs C 2, C 1 vs D 2 and B 1 vs A 2. The winners play in the semi-finals of the Cup category, losers in the Plate semi-finals and the rest of the sides in the Bowl. Omar further disclosed that the IRB will appoint match commissioners and referees for the tournament, and that the SLRFU has nominated two Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) qualified referees, Dilroy Fernando and Nizam Jamaldeen to the IRB. The SLRFU has also nominated Anton Benedict (a former President of SLRFU), Brigadier (rtd.) Jupana Jayawardene, DIG Nimal Lewke and Tony Amith to the IRB as match commissioners, but the final selections will be made by the IRB. Meanwhile, the Schools 7's too is scheduled to be worked off during the same period at Bogambara with 16 sides competing with the draw to take place next month in May 2 after the GCE (Advanced Level) Examinations. The Pool games will be on September 10 morning, while the Cup, Plate and Bowl events will be on September 11 and 12 mornings. In 2003 Sri Lanka won the Plate category in the International 7's beating Belgium 33-19 in the final after overcoming Germany 26-19 in the semi-finals, while in the Pool games the Lankans lost to both Chinese Taipei (22-28) and Australian Potoroos (7-19), but beat Denmark 31-0. Arabian Gulf won the Bowl beating Denmark, while Kenya won the Cup beating Portugal 15-12. The Schools 7's was won by Isipatana beating Kingswood 5-0 in the final last year (2003). Omar also said that the national selectors comprising Dr. Maiya Gunasekera Chairman, Rohan Abeykoon, Asanga Seneviratne, Nazim Mohamed and Chaminda Rupasinghe, who will continue in office upto May, will be selecting a 45-member pool in preparation for the IRB/ARFU Triangular to be staged in June with Sri Lanka down to play India in Bombay on June 2 and against Thailand at Longden Place on June 30. "George Simpkin the New Zealander who is SLRFU's "Technical Director" has given every club side training schedules to be followed by the poolists and the SLRFU is in the process of negotiating with Simpkin about renewal of his one-year contract and payments due to the New Zealander. The SLRFU is also hoping to hold discussions with the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs, Jeewan Kumaranatunga very soon in attempts to resolve the monetary crisis involving Simpkin's contract," he said. |
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