Sri Lanka Sevens
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The Sri Lanka Sevens is an annual international rugby sevens tournament held in
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. Sponsored by telecommunications provider
Dialog Dialog is an online information service owned by ProQuest, who acquired it from Thomson Reuters in mid-2008. Dialog was one of the predecessors of the World Wide Web as a provider of information, though not in form. The earliest form of the Dial ...
, the event has been part of the
Asian Sevens Series The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams. It has been held regularly since 2009 to determine Asia's best men's national team in the sport of rugby seve ...
since 2015. It was founded in 1999 as the Singer Sri Lankan Airlines Rugby 7s. For ten seasons from 1999 to 2008, the tournament was hosted by the Kandy Sports Club at the
Bogambara Stadium Bogambara Stadium ( si, බෝගම්බර ක්‍රිඩාංගනය) is a multi-purpose stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka It is one of the oldest grounds in the country. Stadium is currently used mostly for Rugby matches and hosted the gam ...
in
Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
. National men's teams from Asia and Europe were regular competitors. The event moved to
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
for the 2009 and 2010 seasons after the
Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union Sri Lanka Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest governing bodies in the world, being founded as the Ceylon Rugby Football Union in 1908. History The Ceylon Rugby Football Union was founded in 1908. T ...
formed a partnership with the Tharunyata Hetak youth organisation to organise the Sri Lanka Sevens tournament. The international team format was replaced in 2011 by the Carlton Super Sevens series, a competition featuring ten domestic Sri Lankan franchises. After four seasons the international format was re-established for 2015 with the
Dialog Dialog is an online information service owned by ProQuest, who acquired it from Thomson Reuters in mid-2008. Dialog was one of the predecessors of the World Wide Web as a provider of information, though not in form. The earliest form of the Dial ...
Sri Lanka Sevens, held in Colombo.


History


Singer Sri Lankan Sevens (1999–2008)

Initially the competition was part of the Kandy Sports Club's 125th anniversary celebrations in 1999. The first tournament was limited to ten Asian rugby playing countries. A schools event ran concurrently with the international competition, with sixteen schools competing. The original naming rights sponsors of the tournament were
Sri Lankan Airlines SriLankan Airlines (formerly known as Air Lanka) is the flag carrier of Sri Lanka and a member airline of the Oneworld airline alliance. It is currently the largest airline in Sri Lanka by number of aircraft and destinations and was launched ...
and
Singer (Sri Lanka) Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC is a Sri Lankan holding company engaged in retailing and wholesale marketing home appliances and furniture. The company is also taking part in financial services and manufacturing businesses. The company is listed on the Colo ...
. Other sponsors included Rolls-Royce,
Airbus Industries Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: '' ...
, SITA, Haesl, IAE International, CFM, John Keells Elephant House, Lion Brewery and Amaya Resorts. The inaugural cup was won by
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
in
Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
in 1999. The tournament was made an open event and expanded to 16 teams in 2000, with teams from Europe competing. In that year and the following,
Chinese Taipei "Chinese Taipei" is the term used in various international organizations and tournaments for groups or delegations representing the Republic of China (ROC), a country commonly known as Taiwan. Due to the One-China principle stipulated by th ...
won the cup. Portugal won in 2002. In 2003 teams from Africa (Kenya, Morocco and the Arabian Gulf) and Oceania (Australia, New Zealand and the Cook Islands) competed and the Kenyan national team was the winner of the cup. The 2004 tournament was played as the Asian qualifier for the
2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens The 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens or the Melrose Cup was the fourth edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens. The tournament was held in Hong Kong at Hong Kong Stadium. Fiji defeated New Zealand in the final to take the Melrose Cup for the second time ...
, and was once again limited to the Asian rugby playing nations. The winner was Japan, with Chinese Taipei and South Korea (second and third respectively) also qualifying for the
Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport ...
. The tournament was subsequently recognised by the
International Rugby Board World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international rug ...
as an IRB satellite event. In 2005 Japan won the cup. South Korea and Hong Kong won in 2006 and 2007, respectively, however the Japanese team was conspicuous by its absence. The winner of the cup in 2008 was Malaysia.


Carlton Sri Lanka 7s (2009–2010)

Carlton Sports Club, the sports wing of Tharunyata Hetak (A Tomorrow for Youth), took over the running of the Sri Lanka Sevens in a partnership with the
Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union Sri Lanka Rugby is the governing body for rugby union in Sri Lanka. It is one of the oldest governing bodies in the world, being founded as the Ceylon Rugby Football Union in 1908. History The Ceylon Rugby Football Union was founded in 1908. T ...
in 2009. The tournament was moved to Colombo. It was officially recognised by the
Asian Rugby Football Union Asia Rugby, formerly the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU), is the governing body of rugby union in Asia under the authority of World Rugby. Founded in 1968 by eight charter nations, the Union today has 36 member unions in countries across Asia, ...
(ARFU) in that year, and became the last event of the 2009 IRB
Asian Sevens Series The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams. It has been held regularly since 2009 to determine Asia's best men's national team in the sport of rugby seve ...
. Japan returned to play in the tournament and won the competition for a third time in 2009. A number of non-official national sides competed in the 2010 tournament, with the Fiji Barbarians becoming the eventual winners. The 2010 event was also the last of the Carlton Sri Lanka Sevens under the international teams format due to the introduction of the Carlton Super 7s series, featuring local Sri Lankan franchises for the 2011 season.


Carlton Super 7s series (2011–2014)

In 2011, the Carlton Sri Lanka 7s was transformed into the Carlton Super 7s series; a domestic club competition comprising two tournaments hosted on consecutive weekends. This format continued until 2014, although additional selection tournaments for local players were included at the start of the final two seasons. Prominent players from around the world were contracted to join each local franchise to raise the standard of competition. The tournament events were held at various locations in Sri Lanka, including Kandy, Galle and Koggala. The final leg of the series for each season was hosted in Colombo. The Carlton Super 7s series was contested by ten teams, representing the nine provinces of the country and the Jaffna region:


Colombo Sevens (2015–present)

Following a sponsorship deal with telecommunications company
Dialog Dialog is an online information service owned by ProQuest, who acquired it from Thomson Reuters in mid-2008. Dialog was one of the predecessors of the World Wide Web as a provider of information, though not in form. The earliest form of the Dial ...
, the international teams format was re-established in 2015 with the tournament hosted in
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
. The
2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
event became the third and final leg of the
Asian Sevens Series The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams. It has been held regularly since 2009 to determine Asia's best men's national team in the sport of rugby seve ...
. The tournament was contested by eleven international teams over two days in October, with
Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
the eventual winner,
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
runners-up and Sri Lanka in third position. In
2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
the tournament was again the final leg of the Asian Sevens Series and contested by eight teams. The tournament was won by Hong Kong, with runners-up
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
and third place going to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.


Champions

Key:
''Light blue line indicates a tournament included in the
Asia Rugby Sevens Series The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams. It has been held regularly since 2009 to determine Asia's best men's national team in the sport of rugby seve ...
.''


Past champions (schools)


See also

*
Rugby union in Sri Lanka Rugby union in Sri Lanka is mainly played at a semi-professional and recreational level. It is a popular team sport with a history dating back to 1879. In 2012, according to International Rugby Board figures, there were over 103,000 registered ru ...
*
Asian Sevens Series The Asia Rugby Sevens Series is an annual series of regional rugby sevens tournaments run by Asia Rugby featuring national sevens teams. It has been held regularly since 2009 to determine Asia's best men's national team in the sport of rugby seve ...
*
World Rugby Sevens Series The World Rugby Men's Sevens Series is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby featuring national sevens teams. Organised for the first time in the 1999–2000 season as the IRB World Sevens Series, the com ...
*
Rugby World Cup Sevens Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport ...


Notes

The Jaffna Challengers and North Western Blacks were declared joint champions of the 2012 Carlton Super Sevens series. Local tournaments (shown in ''italics'') were added to the Carlton series for the final two seasons. These tournaments were not part of the Carlton Super 7s competition that included marquee international players, but were used as preparation to select the best local players for the main competition later in the season. In 2013 the local tournaments were at Nuwara Eliya and Nawalapitiya. In 2014 they were held at Kurunegala and Beliatta. Colombo was scheduled for 26-27 September as the third leg of the 2020 Asian Sevens Series, prior to August 2020 when Asia Rugby cancelled all their remaining competitions for the year due to the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. Colombo was scheduled for 25-26 September as the third leg of the 2021 Asian Sevens Series, but was subsequently replaced in the calendar by Dubai.


References


External links

* Former official website: {{Rugby union in Sri Lanka International rugby union competitions hosted by Sri Lanka Sport in Colombo Sport in Kandy Rugby sevens competitions in Asia 1999 establishments in Asia Recurring sporting events established in 1999