The Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League will see both Abu Dhabi Harlequins and Doha Lions travelling to Sri Lanka for matches in what could be an interesting future development for the region. These matches will be played against the Sri Lanka league champions Kandy Sports Club and the two games will take place at Nittawela grounds with Sean Wijesinghe who did a good job in the Sri Lanka Super Sevens being given the task to handle the organizing part. In this scrum down the league winners from each country meet on the global stage.
It was in August 2015 plans came out to organize the inaugural Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League, and it took place in September where four championship-winning clubs from the respective cross-border or domestic competitions in the UAE, GCC, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan took part. The teams were Abu Dhabi Saracens, Doha Lions, Kandy Sports Club and Olymp - played against each other in order to decide the champions of West Asia. In the inaugural year Kandy SC was number two.
The happiest was the Asia Rugby president Trevor Gregory, who was the man behind the inaugural Asia Rugby Western Clubs Champions League. In 2016 Dubai Exiles, Abu Dhabi Harlequins and Kandy SC were the participants and Kandy SC were placed number three. This time league champions of Bahrain, UAE and Sri Lanka will lock horns to decide who is the best of the three countries. This is the third edition, and Kandy SC has participated in all three tournaments.
Kandy SC travelling expenses in the past two years was looked after by Malik Samarawickrema who gave them the necessary support. Now they have got a chance to play in their home territory and fashion out a win.
Abu Dhabi Harlequins, as the winners of last year’s competition, will host Bahrain, the runners up, on September 8, before flying to Sri Lanka. Bahrain will fly to Sri Lanka to play Kandy SC on September 15 and on September 22 Kandy SC will play Doha Lions. Abu Dhabi Harlequins and Doha Lions will have their eyes on Kandy SC who are for the first time trying to pocket the championship.
Abu Dhabi Harlequins is a rugby league team based in Abu Dhabi in UAE. They play in the Gulf Top 6 in rugby union, and the Emirates Rugby League competition in rugby league. They switched to rugby league in 2013, taking part in the inaugural Emirates Rugby League Cup competition. They were the inaugural Emirates Rugby League champions, beating Mana Dubai in the final of the competition. This club has an excellent rugby program brilliant facilities and friendly coaches drawn from the families of its players. And the club is in very safe hands that make the game of rugby fun and instructive at the same time.
Doha Qatar Lions Rugby Football and Cricket Club, Rugby started off with a group of Sri Lankans playing “Touch Rugby” once a week. This team since then developed with the commencement of full contact training and been playing contact rugby since 2010. A number of Doha rugby club members, players and friends who founded the lions have showed interest in helping to develop this promising club and making the lions a formidable team. Ever since Doha Lions has been a team to watch playing with passion and for the love of game, ‘Rugby’. The club also has a great number of following supporters because of the diversity of nationalities. Reportedly up to and over thousands of supporters in way of families and friends attending the matches and to a smaller extend the training sections. The supporters are a very lively group and play a big part in the club activities and give the team the extra boost to perform better.
Achievements 2011/2012 season Inaugural QRF League Champions (15-a-side) 2011/2012 season 7 Champions, 2012/2013 Dubai 7’s ‘Gulf Open’ Plate runners up, 2014/2015 DRFC 7’s Plate Champions 2015/2016 (Qatar National Day 7’s) Cup runners up.
Kandy Sports Club founded in 1874, at the start known as Kandy Athletic, Boating, Cricket, Football and Dancing Club, but 14 years later, the name was changed to Kandy Sports Club when the club also started playing rugby, hockey and polo. Kandy SC the glamour boys of the local rugby scene, will aim high in this competition. Thanks to the players this club has touched heights that no other club could have reached over the last two and half decades extending their number of wins in the League, they have seventeen league wins since 1994. The winners of this can truly claim to be the strongest club in Western Asia.
0 comments:
Post a Comment