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| Sunday, 5 September 2004 |
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Singer-SriLankan Airlines Intnl. Rugby 7's : Japan keen for success - first to arrive by Lal Gunesekera Two hundred and eighteen return air tickets have been issued free of charge of SriLankan Airlines for touring teams and officials who will be participating at the 6th Singer-SriLankan Airlines International Rugby 7s at Nittawela Stadium on September 10,11 and 12. The tourney has been upgraded to a Rugby World Cup (RWC) qualifying event for Asia by the International Rugby Board (IRB). The tourney is conducted by Kandy Sports Club with Singer and SriLankan Airlines as the principal sponsors and Connaissance as the co-sponsors with La Kandyan Hotel as the official hotel. Speaking to the Sunday Observer, a spokesman for Kandy Sports Club said that apart from the generosity of SriLankan Airlines, Singer too have pumped in about Rs. 9 million and have also built a pavilion to accommodate 550 spectators which will be declared open by Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse on September 10 at the auspicious time of 7.09 a.m. The Priyantha Ekanayake pavilion too has come up behind one goal post, which will be the Tournament Headquarters as well as accommodating all players, which includes those figuring in the Schools 7s. Also come up is the Indrajit Bandaranayake Pavilion opposite the main pavilion which will be the Media Centre and accommodate the TV crews too, while all terraces too will be covered. The IRB will be represented by three high ranking officials in Mark Eagen (who is in charge of all IRB 7s tournaments), Jamie Scott (Secretary-General of the ARFU, who is also in the Judiciary for the 7s) and Gogard Gallaher. There will also be nine international referees and touch judges - three from Japan, two from Hong Kong, one each from Singapore, Arabian Gulf, Malaysia and Chinese Taipei. There will also be a doctor sent by the IRB who will be in charge of the Doping Committee, which will also include four Sri Lankans who will be trained to take randem blood tests. Already in the country are Asian giants Japan who arrived on August 30 night, while South Korea and Chinese Taipei are due to fly in on September 6, while the rest of the sides are scheduled to arrive on September 8. The 12 teams are grouped in four groups of three each. South Korea, Singapore and Arabian Gulf are in Group 'A', Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Guam in Group 'B', Sri Lanka, Thailand and Kazakhastan in Group 'C', while in Group 'D' are Japan, China and India. There will be 3 points awarded for a win, 2 for a draw and 1 for a loss. The quarter-final line-up will be - A 1 vs B 2, D 1 vs C 2, C 1 vs D 2 and B 1 vs A 2. Winners of each group play in the Cup semi-finals, losers in the Plate semi-finals, while the rest will compete in the Bowl semi-finals. Last year (2003), Kenya won the Cup Championship defeating Portugal 15-12, while Arabian Gulf won the Bowl beating Denmark with Sri Lanka winning the Plate beating Bulgaria 33-19. There will also be 12 teams in the Schools 7s. They are Wesley, St. Peter's, Royal, Kingswood, Ananda, S. Thomas', St. Anthony's, St. Sylvester's, Isipathana, Dharmaraja, Vidyaratha and Trinity. |
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