The Malaysia coach lifts the Cup after beating Korea in the final of the Singer SriLankan Airlines Sevens Rugby Championship at Nittawala on Sunday.
(Pic by Nishan S. Priyantha)

Malaysia, spearheaded by their Fijian warriors put up a dazzling show as they defeated Korea by 31 points (3 goals, 2 tries) to 21 (3 goals) in the final to lift the Cup Championship for the first time in the history of the tournament in the 10th edition of the Singer SriLankan Airlines Sevens Rugby Championship at Nittawela, in Kandy on Sunday.

The Malaysians, who came into the final as the underdogs after a surprise draw against the Koreans in the preliminary round, trounced China 35-14 in the semi final. They came from behind to stage a late rally to overpower the much fancied Koreans to grab the title after trailing behind by 21 points to 5 at the breather. It was Timoci Hacokula, Mohamed Nazeer Nesharah, Semi Seruvakula and Vilaiame Veto who scored a try each for the Malaysians, while the last points for the winners came in the form of a penalty try and the tries were converted by Nazeer Nesharah to add up 31 points. For the Koreans it was Kim Keun Hyun, together with Kwon Soo Kuwan and Kim Jae Hung, who scored a try each.

Meanwhile, the Sri Lankans, who completed the preliminary round on an unbeaten note whilst winning all four matches and becoming the champs in Group B, looked quite dismal subsequently and had to be contented with fourth place, one slot behind their previous best.

Sri Lanka, who met Korea in the Cup semi finals, were beaten by 28 points (4 goals) to 14 (2 goals) and thus their hopes of entering the final were shattered. Yet, they could have salvaged some pride to retain their previous best in the 3rd place play off against China whom they beat earlier convincingly 17-7, but they lost possession continuously in this game and adding salt to the wound, they also lacked focus and thus were trounced by the Chinese by 24 points (2 goals, 2 tries) to 5 (1 try) in the end.

It was Sajith Saranga of Isipatana College just out of school who did the scoring for Sri Lanka in the third place match against China.

Despite losing, Sri Lankan winger Sanjeewa Jayasinghe came up with a stupendous performance and was the highest try scorer for the team.

While Kazakhstan beat Chinese Taipei by 22 points to 12 to walk away with the Plate Championship, Singapore beat defending champions India by 15 points to 0 to lift the Bowl Championship.

Preliminary round: Group A: Thailand bt. Arabian Gulf 28-24, Korea drew Malaysia 28-28, group B: Chinese Taipei bt. Kazakhstan 21-7, Sri Lanka bt. China 17-7

Plate semi final: Kazakhstan bt. Thailand 17-12, Chinese Taipei bt. Arabian Gulf 15-10

Cup semi final: Malaysia bt. China 35-14, Korea bt. Sri Lanka 28-14,

Bowl final: Singapore bt. India 15-0

7th & 8th place play off: Arabian Gulf bt. Thailand 17-7

Plate final: Kazakhstan bt. Chinese Taipei 22-12, 3rd & 4th place play off: China bt. Sri Lanka 24-5