Unbeaten Sri Lanka won the Asian Rugby Under-19 Division One championship when they defeated the Philippines 40-0 in the final played at Yongchuan Sports Centre in China yesterday. The Sri Lankans scored six tries, two conversions and a penalty in making up the points in a one-sided contest. The Philippines, known as the Volcanoes, had some expatriates in their team but the Sri Lankans were far superior in their style of play as Janidu Yasas put the first points on the board with a try in the 16th minute of the game for Zubair Doray to convert and make the scores 7-0.
In the 22th minute Faisar Adahan made a solid tackle and the resulting turnover gave Samuel Ogbebor the chance to score Sri Lanka’s second try. Doray missed the conversion but Sri Lanka led 12-0. Five minutes later Thulaib Hassen and Faisar Adahan got into action and scored successive tries that went unconverted as Sri Lanka took a 22-0 at half time.Manika Sulakshana extended Sri Lanka’s lead with a penalty on resumption and the Volcanoes made many unsuccessful attempts to put points on the board through some failed kicks at goal. Thulaib Hassen and Asiri Senaviratne later crossed the line for tries in the second half and Doray converted one as Sri Lanka romped home easy winners.