Sri Lanka face Hong Kong in AR Korea 7s opener

Sri Lanka will be up against Hong Kong in their opening fixture of the 2022 Asia Rugby (AR) Men’s Sevens Series second leg which kicks-off on Saturday at the Namdong Asiad Rugby Stadium in Incheon, South Korea.

This will be a huge challenge for the Sri Lankan Tuskers as Hong Kong are fresh after their success in the first leg of the AR Men’s Sevens Series held in Thailand two weeks ago.

Sri Lanka, of course, missed out the Thailand leg as at that time Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) were going through a period of suspension imposed by the governing body AR.

However, after careful consideration, the AR Executive Committee allowed the Sri Lanka Team to compete under the National Olympic Committee (NOC) flag, in the final two legs of the 2022 AR Sevens Series in South Korea and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on November 26 and 27.

AR initially received a request for Sri Lankan teams to take part in the series from the President of the NOC Sri Lanka Suresh Subramaniam and a further request was made by the Sports Minister Roshan Ranasighe, when he met AR President Qais Al Dhalai at the AR Head Office in Dubai.

Sri Lanka’s second match of the series will be against the UAE, three hours later and they will complete their last Pool ‘A’ match against China, scheduled for 1.35 p.m. Sri Lanka time on the same day. In fact, the UAE were placed fourth in Thailand while China secured the Plate Championship.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lanka Women’s Team will compete alongside China, Hong Kong and Kazakhstan in Pool ‘B’ of the tournament, which begins on Saturday

Sri Lanka’s opening match will be against China, who had created a major upset in the AR Series first leg in Thailand by defeating the favourites Japan 21-17 in the Cup Championship final.

Sri Lanka’s second match will be against Hong Kong, and they will complete their Pool ‘A’ matches with a game against Kazakhstan on the same day at 3.15 p.m. Sri Lanka time.