Sri Lanka’s men’s rugby sevens team will face Japan in the Cup quarter-finals of the Asia Rugby Emirates 7s Series today in Suzhou City, China. Sri Lanka finished Pool C with one win and two losses, securing their spot in the knockout stage after a dominant 49-7 victory over Kazakhstan in their opening match. However, they narrowly lost their next two games against South Korea and China, the latter overcoming Sri Lanka 26-19, and South Korea edging them 19-17 in a closely contested match.

Japan, the top team from Pool B, enters the quarter-finals unbeaten after decisive wins against India (46-0), Singapore (31-7), and the United Arab Emirates (61-12). Alongside Pool A leaders Hong Kong, China, and South Korea from the same pool as Sri Lanka, Japan is viewed as one of the favorites to win the two-legged Asian Sevens Series.

In their losses, Sri Lanka showed resilience by regaining possession after early deficits but ultimately fell to last-minute plays by their opponents. The match against South Korea was particularly close, with Sri Lanka nearly overturning the result until the final moments.

On the women’s side, Sri Lanka competed in Pool F against strong teams Thailand, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. The Sri Lankan women suffered heavy defeats against Thailand (57-0) and Hong Kong (47-0). However, they managed to secure a 10-0 victory over Malaysia in a tense encounter marked by multiple yellow cards to both sides. Sri Lanka will face Malaysia again today in a Round 1 match among teams seeded 9 through 12, scheduled for 10:10 a.m. local time.