Sri Lanka began their 2026 Asia Rugby Emirates Men’s Sevens Series campaign with a 49-7 win over Kazakhstan in Suzhou, China.
Sri Lanka dominated the opening half, racing to a 28-0 lead, NewsFirst reported. They added a further 21 points after the break while Kazakhstan managed a single converted try, closing out an emphatic 49-7 victory in their opening match of the tournament.
NewsFirst did not name try-scorers or give a breakdown of the scoring, and did not report Sri Lanka’s remaining fixtures in the pool.
The tournament
Suzhou is the opening round of the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Series 2026, played across two days on August 29 and 30. Twenty-four national teams — 12 men’s and 12 women’s sides — are competing, with the men’s field including Japan, Hong Kong China, the hosts, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan alongside Sri Lanka.
The series carries a direct Sri Lankan stake beyond results: Asia Rugby has confirmed that the season concludes in Colombo on October 17 and 18, where the men’s and women’s champions for 2026 will be crowned.
Srinath Sooriyabandara continues as Sri Lanka’s sevens captain, leading a 12-member squad drawn heavily from Kandy SC. Sri Lankan officials are also involved in the tournament itself — Ishanka Abeykoon is on the match-official panel at Suzhou, where Dilroy Fernando serves as Asia Rugby’s Referee Manager.
Context
Sri Lanka’s sevens programme has had a mixed year in continental competition. The national side won a double title at the CASA Sevens in May, while the Asia Championship campaign was disrupted in June when a visa issue handed Korea a walkover.
Every match from Suzhou is being broadcast on RugbyPass TV, subject to territory availability.
Tournament structure, venue dates and the Colombo finale are drawn from Asia Rugby’s own announcements. No other verified newsroom LankaNewz tracks had filed the Kazakhstan result at the time of writing.
