Tournament officials and team captains pose for a photograph during the draw ceremony.
Rugby fans in Doha will be in for a treat when the seventh edition of Lions Sri Lankan Schools 7’s Touch Rugby Tournament will be held today at the Doha Rugby Football Club grounds from 8.00am onwards.
The much-anticipated Sri Lankan community rugby event sees 16 teams, including 12 schools old boys’ teams and four Qatari teams competing.
Wesley College, champions for the past four years, will be looking to maintain their supremacy during this year’s tournament, but will face stiff opposition from strong teams in the calibre of St Anthoney’s College, St. Peter’s Isipathana, Trinity, Mahanama, Royal etc.
The teams include some of the best ruggerites Sri Lanka has ever produced, including former Sri Lanka national and club rugby players. Isipathana College team boasts of securing the services of star players such as Asoka Gunawardena, Udaya Kumar and Janith Kukulegama while Peterites include two former Sri Lanka national players as well as two who have played for Qatar national team. All the competing teams come from highly recognised schools in the rugby scene in Sri Lanka, who are among the top five in Asia in rankings.
The Qatari teams competing in the tournament are French Frogs, Pirates RFC, Doha Warriors and Sherborne School.
The tournament’s official draw was held at City Centre Rotana Hotel, Doha with the presence of participating team captains and organizing committee members. The teams have been divided into four groups while each group includes invitational clubs with a motive to develop and promote touch rugby game in Qatar.
The matches will be streamed live on www.thepapare.com.
The tournament is organized by Lions Rugby Football Club (RFC) Doha in collaboration with Qatar Touch and the organisers expect this year’s event to be much superior to the previous editions.
“It is with great delight the lions will hold the seventh edition of the Lions Touch Sevens in collaboration with Qatar Touch. We are proud of our existence that started so humbly and continues to thrive and develop year after year,” Nimo Amit, Lions RFC Doha President said.
The event will also be a fun filled family day out for the entire family which will include kids play area, games, bouncing castles, slides, Sri Lankan products stall and many more.
This year’s event is sponsored by Vodafone, Sports corner, Oliexec, Sri Lankan Airlines, Total sports, Sampath bank, Al Rayyan Water, Well on restaurant, Bloomsbury resort, Deluxe travels, Puncha’s Rent a Car and www.thepapare.com.
