38th Mercantile Rugby Sevens:

Emjay International clinch Cup Championship Trophy

Emjay International clinched the Cup Championship of the 38th Mercantile Rugby Sevens by beating Asia Capital by 24 points (two goals, two tries) to 17 (one goal, two tries) in the final after trailing 5-12 at the breather at Longden Place yesterday.

After trailing at half time, Emjay International came back storming in the second half to bag the Dialog Trophy for the first time. They scored tries through Hilmy Mohamed (two), Mohamed Sheriff (one) and Nalaka Weerakkody (one) with Nalaka converting two tries. Scrum half Srinath Sooriyabandara (two) and Gayan Ratnage (one) scored the tries for Asia Capital with Sooriyabandara adding the extra points to one try.

Asia Capital brought off a stunning upset in the semi-finals by beating defending champions Seylan Bank by 12-7 in extra time after the scores stood at 7 all at full time, while Emjay International overcame John Keells by 19-7 in the other semi-final.

Commercial Bank bagged the Plate Championship by overcoming Ceylinco 'A' by 33 points (four goals, one try) to 19 (two goals, one try) in the final, after trailing 7-12 at 'lemons'.

Dialog 'A' took the Bowl Trophy with an easy 19 points (two goals, one try) to 5 (one try) over Dissanayake Enterprises in the final after leading 14-5 at half time. Saliya Kumara of Emjay International was adjudged Man of the Final and was awarded the Pemraj Peiris Memorial Trophy.

Mohamed Sheriff of Emjay International was picked as the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and received the Mohan Daniel Memorial Trophy.

Shane Dissanayake of Commercial Bank was awarded the Capt. Mathew George Memorial Trophy for the Most Promising Player while Silthum Nisala of Dialog 'A' was adjudged the Best Up and Coming Player and received the Dialog Blackberry Trophy.

Nishadhi Gayan of Softlogic carried away the Best Performance Award. Dilroy Fernando refereed the cup championship final.