Singer Rugby Asiad in November: Best of three on offer

by Lal Gunesekera

"I am wearing two hats - one as Chairman of the Advisory Committee and the other as Chairman of the title sponsors, for the Singer Rugby Asiad to be staged in Colombo from November 17 to 25 at three venues (Sugathadasa Stadium, Longden Place and Royal College Sports Complex)," said the Chairman of Singer, Hemaka Amarasuriya, at the launch of the event at the Galadari Hotel on Thursday night.

The co-sponsors are Sri Lanka Telecom (Mobitel), Toyota, Ceylon Cold Stores with the specific sponsors being Galadari Hotel, Zeppelin, Carlsberg, SriLankan Airways, Hemtours, Casilan 90, Excel World and John Keells Office Automation (Pvt) Limited. Amarasuriya said that they have been successful in raising Rs. 30 million so far and that there is more "to come in" and that the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union (SLRFU) may be able to invest some of these monies. He further said that Singer is not there to score for Sri Lanka Rugby, but support it as they were very happy with the way "things are turning out" and results shown. Caltex and SriLankan Airlines too are happy with the progress made by the SLRFU.

He congratulated the very efficient Secretariat led by SLRFU's CEO, Dilroy Fernando, and from this point onwards Amarasuriya requested the SLRFU to conduct the best ever Asiad in Colombo. The earlier Asiads in Colombo were staged in 1974 and 1990.

The President of the SLRFU, Priyantha Ekanayake, himself thanked his CEO, Dilroy Fernando, for his untiring efforts and also Singer for their support, not only for rugby but also for Sri Lanka sports in general. He also thanked the various other sponsors and for Hemaka Amarasuriya for his personal love for rugby. Ekanayake who also heads the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU), said that he hoped that the Singer Asiad will be the "best ever" and raise the level of the country. He said that Colombo is hosting an Asiad after 16 years and now that there are 25 members affiliated to the ARFU (Bangladesh too to join the club), the next Asiad in Colombo could well take another 50 years.

SLRFU's CEO, Dilroy Fernando, disclosed that 13 countries have confirmed participation at the Singer Asiad which is to be conducted in three tiers (Cup, Plate and Bowl). He also said that the winners of the Cup category will represent Asia at next year's (2007) Rugby World Cup finals in France.

Lanka in Plate

Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong will figure in the Cup category with Arabian Gulf, Sri Lanka, China, Chinese Taipei, Singapore and Thailand in the Plate, while Malaysia, India, Pakistan and Iran will fight it out for the Bowl title. In the Cup category (which is also the RWC qualifier), the games will be Japan vs Hong Kong on November 19, Hong Kong vs South Korea on November 22 and Japan vs South Korea on November 25.

Fernando also disclosed the format for the games in the Plate and Bowl categories, and that they expect Kazakhastan to confirm their participation in a week or two. The Iranians are competing at an Asiad for the first time and that rugby has grown in that country with women's rugby too been very popular.

He also said that there will be delegations from the IRB and ARFU for the Singer Asiad and that the annual general meeting of the latter too is scheduled to be held in Colombo during this period. He further disclosed that there are several expatriates who will be turning out for both India and Pakistan and that Sri Lanka too has got the "all clear" signal to field expatriates from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Fourteen sub committees too have been appointed to make the Singer Asiad a tremendous success.

Among the others who attended the launch were Kishu Gomes (CEO of Caltex), Ranjith Edirisinghe (Ceylon Cold Stores), Asitha Abeysekera (Singer), Suren Amarasekera (CEO of Mobitel), Peter Hill (CEO of SriLankan Airlines), Nobushko Kato (CEO of Toyota), Sampath Siriwardene (General Manager of Galadari Hotel) and Michael Jayasekera (Deputy President, SLRFU).