Wesley crowned champs for fifth straight year

Wesleyhave won their fifth consecutive Lions Sri Lanka Schools Touch Sevenstitle played on Friday at Doha Rugby Football Centre. Wesleydominated St. Sylvester’s 3-1 in the final, helped by two tries fromLahiru Prasad. Teammate Sajith Ariyawansha scored their team’s secondtry while Sashi Kanth crossed over for St. Sylvester’s only touchdown. Wesley have now won the prestigious Lions Touch tournament five times running, a feat once thought of as impossible. Captain Shivan Pathirage said the team were only focused on winning.“With half our players out to other commitments our training was mainly focused on winning our group division” Pathirage said. “Afterthat we were aiming at taking it match by match. The fact that we couldwin five titles was not part of our strategy. We played as if were ourfirst title as we had a lot of pressure coming into the tournament”. “I am very thankful for the boys who gave a solid performance all day. Everybody did their job”. Pathiragesaid playing in the most prestigious touch event in Qatar and for thefirst time at the Doha Rugby Club was something special. “Full credit toQatar Touch who with the Lions Committee was able to deliver a Touchfestival atmosphere we haven’t experienced before”. St. Sylvester’stry scoring machine Kanth said, “The Lions Touch is a big prize for usand we wait all year for the event in hope to win the cup. Itpainstaking to make the final and lose to silly mistakes”“We appliedthe basics much better than Wesley but we just couldn’t match theirspeed. However, the chance to play the final at DRFC with a huge crowdwas something to remember. We are still absorbing the atmosphere” Kanthsaid. Following the ceremonial presentation Lions RFC and committeepresident Nimo Amit said, “We thank God for a blessed day. Everythingwent according to plan and it was a great day for the sport of Touch”. “The competition was fierce with the standard of Touch elevated to heights we haven’t seen before”. Amitwas full of praise for the event partners saying “I would like toexpress our sincere gratitude to all our partners and sponsors inparticular Qatar Touch, Sports Corner, Oil Exec, Vodafone, Sri LakanAirlines, DRFC, Sampath Bank, and Well-On restaurant”. For his partQatar Touch official Samuel Rico told the media, “Qatar touch has beenproducing and presenting Touch events since 2010. However, today Touchreached a new dimension”. The final days results: Cup: Wesley 3 – St. Sylvester’s 1 Plate: Isispathana 1 – Trinity 0 Bowls: St. Peters 2 – Royal 1 Sheild: Dharmaraja 1 (extra time) – Mahanama 0 Invitational: Sherbourne 3 – Warriors 0