One of the best ever rugby legends produced by Sri Lanka Srinath 'Soori' Sooriyabandara big adieu to the oval ball game yesterday (18) after a long service of 16 years.
Asian Games gold winners Hong Kong took on all time powerhouse of Asia Rugby Japan in the Men's finals. Hong Kong were also the winners of the previous Asian Series held in August this year in China. Japan finished 2nd.
China set the clash with Japan in the Women's final.
Men's 5th place:
Sri Lanka Men's team finished 5th beating Malaysia. After losing the cup quarters 26-19 to China and hopes of the cup lost, Lankans had to fight for glory. In the 5th place semis, Sri Lanka beat UAE 26-10.
Maliksha Perera opened the scoring through a brilliant dummy to score under the posts. Just before halftime Pasindu Bandara put Lanka up 14-05 with another splendid try. Diluksha Dange opened the second half with a bang with a slick corner flag try to go up 19-05.
Maliksha Perera scored yet again to seal the deal with Shaahid Zumri scoring under the posts at the end to win 33-05.
In their group stage games Sri Lanka beat UAE 21-17, India 26-19 and lost to Hong Kong 17-05.
Sri Lanka Women however had a disappointing tourney but ended on a winning note beating Uzbekistan 19-15 in the 9-12 ranking game.
Men's 7th place:
UAE had a runaway 40-00 victory against Korea.
Women's 7th place:
Singapore pipped the UAE 17-12 at sudden death golden point with the game ending 12 all at full time.
Women's 5th place:
India beat Thailand 19-12 after a hard-flight battle by both teams.
Men's 3rd place:
China beat Thailand 21-12 in a tense game where Thailand tried all tricks against the much fancied Chinese outfit.
Women's 3rd place:
Hong Kong beat a resilient Kazakhstan outfit 14-05. The Kazakhs were impressive throughout the tournament as one of the most improved teams in the Asian Women's circuit.
Men's Final
Japan took sweet revenge from the last series as they beat Hong Kong 28-14 in a complete show of masterclass.
Women's Final
Japan made it a double delight as they laid their hands on the women's title as well beating China 14-07