Hoodvian uplifts Galle rugby
Newcomers to Mercantile 'sevens' rugby - Hoodvian Group, who won the Plate
championship has further spread the gospel of rugby in the Galle District.
The players, who turned out for Hoodvian Group virtually an Under-22 side
drawn from the Galle Rugby Club, who emerged runner-up to Police SC in
the Caltex 'B' Div. final.
Hoodivan Group has its outlet in Koggala is not only promoting the sport
at grassroots level, but also giving them gainful employment to the youth
in the district. The lads are committed to the sport. Not in a faint hearted
manner, but put everything before them when they scrum down.
The CEO Hoodvian Mr. Ramai, is the cog-in-the-wheel. He told The Sunday
Times that via sport it will help bring about reconciliation. The lads
have been afforded with job opportunities for their future well-being.
They have benefited much as a result to work and play. The idea is for
them to work in the district and play for a district team and keep the
sport alive.
Last year Hoodvian came to the quarters in the Cup and lost to HNB 'A'.
But this year they co-ordinated better with Tony Amit, to assist them and
got that much needed exposure whilst turning out for Galle R.C., in the
'B' Caltex League. Ruhuna has many firsts in sports be it cricket, athletics
or football. Now they have added the most beautiful sport - rugby, thanks
to the efforts of Kumar Abeywardena at grassroots level. Of course two
old Royalists helped them initially - Hemaka Amerasuriya and Udeka Tennakoon
to make it a reality.
Since then with their humble beginnings they never looked back. In its
wake came the Hoodvian Group's long-term sponsorship package. It was also
masterminded by another old Royalist, in Malik Samarawickrema a die-hard
rugby promoter. Malik worked from the blind side to put the sport on a
firm footing. (BW)
Cisir wins
Cisir won the Nationalised Services Cricket Association Group D title defeating
Ceylon Petroleum Corporation by 2 wickets at the NSCA grounds at Ratmalana.
Petroleum Corporation: 142 all out in 30.3 overs (R. Premaratne 36,
D. Prasanna 11, A.P. Kumara 28, A. Hindagoda 23; Udaya Ranasinghe 4 for
13, M.K. Piyal 3 for 21, S.M.M. Zaneer 2 for 34).
CISIR: 147 for 8 in 34.4 overs (Saragara Wickermasekera 36, U.K.D. Amarajeewa
24, Udaya Ranasinghe 14, M.K. Piyal 22 not out; A. Hindagoda 2 for 33,
R. Premaratne 3 for 29).
Int. Schools in Wesley sixes
The much looked forward to Schools six-a-side cricket tournament for the
Elephant Lemonade Trophy, will see 28 schools participating this year.
Sponsored by Ceylon Cold Stores and organised by the Old Wesleyites
Sports Club, the tournament will be held on October 20 and 21 at Wesley
College Grounds and Campbell Park.
For the first time 2 international schools will also be participating,
namely Colombo International School and Wycherly International School.
Play will commence on each day at 8.00 a.m., while a ball-by-ball commentary
will be broadcast on the SLBC's Sports Service on Sunday October 21 .
Special awards for best batsman, bowler, fielder and Man of the Tournament
will also be made.
The champion winning team will be awarded the Elephant Lemonade Trophy.
War or not cricket as usual in Sharjah
By Marlon Fernandopulle
The Board of Control for cricket in Sri Lanka(BCCSL)was confident that
the forthcoming Sharjah Triangular tournament and the West Indies tour
to Sri Lanka will be on schedule, despite the cloud of uncertainty that
followed the US Military strikes in Afghanistan.
When contacted by The Sunday Times yesterday an official of the BCCSL
said, "We have been in constant touch with the Organizers in Sharjah and
they are of the view that the tournament will be on schedule and there
will be no changes". Sri Lanka who will be seeking their third straight
win in the desert venue will battle it out with Pakistan and Zimbabwe in
the Triangular.
Sri Lanka won the Championship in April(2001) beating Pakistan and earlier
in November last year beating India.
The Official of the BCCSL also dismissed reports that the West Indies
had raised doubts on their forthcoming Test and One day tour to Sri Lanka.
"At no time was their any doubt or questions raised by the West Indies
Cricket Board(WICB).We have been in touch with the WICB and can say that
the Windies will be here for three tests and a One day Triangular tournament
which will also feature Zimbabwe. The itineraries of the tour have already
been confirmed with the only exception of an additional rest day requested
by the WICB between the 1st and 2nd test".
It is very unlikely that countries will forefit tours abroad in the
future as the International Cricket Council(ICC) is planning to impose
a penalty of $2 million or more. The ICC Executive Board is meeting in
Kuala Lumpur this week to discuss and approve this proposal. "The aim of
the penalty is to protect the intergrity of the future tours", says ICC
Communications Manager Mark Harrisson in a press release to the media.
The CEO of the BCCSL Anura Tennekoon and Interim Committee Chairman
Vijaya Malalasekera will represent Sri Lanka at the ICC Executive Board
meeting in Kuala Lumpur this week.
Royal-Thomian waterpolo game ends in 2 all draw
By Bruce Maurice
The first leg of the Dr. R.L. Hayman waterpolo 'Battle of the Blues' encounter
which took place at the Thomian pool yesterday, ended in a two all draw.
Thomian Thenura Abeywardena opened the Thomian account in the first
quarter and then made it two nil when he scored his second goal in the
second quarter.
Royal now came back in the second and third quarters through the Rozairo
brothers who scored in the 3rd and 4th quarters to save the day for the
visitors.
The game however, was marred by some of the Royal players, who seemed
fo be going for the man instead of the ball. Three Thomian players suffered
injuries with Eranga Fernando and Tharuna Abeywrdena suffering eye injuries
while Rajiv Nagaraja, the third player to suffer injuries, needed stitches
under his eye. Sohan Wu was warned many times by the referees and Yohan
Rozairo was ordered out of the pool by the referees on a number of occassions.
After the game the Royal coach stated that he was not responsible for
the conduct of his charges. However, Royal Principal Mr. H.L.B. Gomez who
was a spectator and was witness to these incidents stated that he will
be taking action to see that performances of this nature are not repeated.
The pick of the Thomian players were, captain Ranga Warnapura, goal
keeper Senura Abeywardena and Thanura Abeywardene while captain Janith
Peirs and the Rozairo brothers - Yohan and Damith - played best for the
visitors.
The under 15 game also ended in a draw with both schools scoring a goal
each.
Royal-S.Thomas' keep waterpolo alive
The Royal-Thomian Water Polo encounter for the prestigious Dr. R.L. Hayman
Trophy was inaugurated in 1992.
In the decade under review of keenly contested games, outstanding players,
shrewd rival captains and much victories, the true spirit of traditional
rivalry and qualitative sportsmanship have always been exhibited. The privilege
and pride of honour to captain Royal College fell on the able shoulders
of Nethru Nanayakkara and Jeevaka Perera of S. Thomas' College.
By and large, the Thomians have always fielded a more experienced outfit
and completely dominated this tournament going unbeaten throughout. There
were flashes of Royal quality too, where as final leg ran to two extra
time sessions - such was the closeness of the games.
These two pre-eminent colleges have kept water polo alive despite very
little organisation help and co-operation in the sphere of promotion of
the game in Sri Lanka.
A healthy rivalry has been maintained throughout in keeping with the
great traditions of the two most prominent Colleges in the island. All
schools and clubs taking part in various tournaments thus contributing
to the success and high standards of the sport in no small measure have
buoyed up this game, still in its infancy.
The teams representing Royal and S. Thomas' this past decade have been
ambassadors of this sport and we hope and expect that participants and
these two Colleges will carry the game to greater heights in true competitive
spirit of gentlemanly behaviour in the new decade dawning. Let them uphold
true sportsmanship and friendly rivalry traditional to their distinguished
alma maters.
A special inaugural award for the most outstanding player featured in
this year's tournament and will become part of the tradition. The juniors
battled it out for the RCUAC Challenge Trophy Under-15.
This event also featured the 2nd leg match of the past players. Royal
College was spearheaded by 5th year coloursman and national player Janith
Peiris and his deputy was 4th year coloursman Sanjaya Fernando, while Mahinda
Liyanage acted as coach and Fareed Noor Ameen acted as technical official.
The Thomian outfit: Ranga Warnapura, assisted by Senura Abeywardena,
and coached by former Thomian Captain Nawaf Mubarak. Incidentally, this
year both vice captains happened to be the respective team goalies.
This year saw Royal in the box seat assured of getting the better of
their age-old rivals at the All Island Inter Schools Tournament. This boosted
their competitive spirit and kept their rivals on their toes.
A word of special thanks and praise is surely not out of place to all
the past and present principals, sports officials, and captains and no
less to the players who represented their Colleges for the past decade.
Abandoned after fire
BANGKOK, Oct 13 (Reuters) - The World Cup qualifier between Thailand and
Bahrain was abandoned on Saturday after a fire broke out in the stadium
25 minutes into the match.
The fire started at about 6.55 pm local time (1155 GMT) in the electric
control room of the 60,000-seater Rajamangala national stadium.
The stadium was not immediately evacuated and the 3,000 to 4,000 spectators
inside the ground watched the blaze from the stands as it was broadcast
live on television.
Resolute fifth wkt. stand helps Royal
By Bernie Wijesekera
Royal were struggling at four for 37 in their second innings but a resolute
fifth wicket stand of 76 runs between Rochana Wijeratne (a perky 55 with
8 fours) and M. Keenawinne 33 (four fours) helped Royal to total 146 for
6 at close to draw their inter-school cricket match against Dharmapala
at Reid Avenue yesterday.
Royal in the first essay made 203. The Pannipitiya school after being
3 for 82 overnight, replied with185,thanks to a determined second wicket
stand of 68 between A. Peiris (36) and Agiliyage (31), which featured their
innings.
Paceman T. Kottehewa 5 for 59 and skipper G. Ratnayake 3 for 29 (off-spin)
contained the Palian batsmen.
Royal in their second essay were struggling at 4 for37 but recovered
thanks to their two seniors - Wijeratne and Keenawinne, batting confidently,
pulled Royal out of the woods. Damith Abeygunawardena 15 n.o (one four)
batted steadily. S. Bowela, who bowled a livelypace returned and returned
the best figures of 3 for 32.
Royal - 203 and 146 for 6 in 37 overs (Rochana Wijeratne 55, M. Keenawinne
33, Damith Abeygunawardena 15 n.o, Navin Dias 15; S. Bowela 3 for 32, D.
Agiliyage 2 for 38)
Dharmapala - 185 in 99 overs , overnight 82 for 3 contd. (A. Peiris
36, D. Agiliyage 31, T.Kasun 24, C. Sampath 17, T. Kottehewa 5 for 59,
G. Ratnayake 3 for 29) - B.W
Thomians thrash Mahinda by an innings
By M.Shamil Amit
The Thomians made mince meat of Mahinda College when they thrashed them
by an innings and 65 runs in their inter-school cricket match which concluded
at Mt Lavinia yesterday. The match was over by 2.00 p.m. Having bundled
out Mahinda for 56, the Thomians declared their innings at 212 for 8 wickets.
Mahinda started their second innings found things going tough again when
two early wickets fell with the score on 10. They only had a minor recovery
which was not enough to save the game.
Vijesh Balasubramaniam with his nagging length had the Mahinda batsmen
at sea. He had figures of 4 for 20 and was ably supported by paceman Tharindu
Fernando who took 3 for 29 and Denham Williams with 2 for no runs.
Mahinda in the end were bowled out for just 91. Leaving the Thomians
victors by an innings.
Mahinda - 56 and 91 (G.S.Liyanage 36, T.Randima 30; Vijesh Balsubramaniam
4 for 20, Tharindu Fernando 3 for 29, Denham Williams 2 for 0)
S.Thomas' - 212 for 8 declared (Heshan Peiris 53, Kaushal Silva 48,
Tharindu Fernando 25 n.o, Praveen Perera 23, Pramuditha Rodrigo 20; S.Malinga
3 for 102)
Drawn match at Darley Road
Splendid batting by Chandana Aravinda, who scored 83 which comprised 8
boundaries and 4 sixes and a half century by skipper Thivanka de S Wijeratne,
was the feature of the drawn inter-school cricket match between St Joseph's
and Maris Stella Negombo which concluded at Darley Road yesterday. In reply
to Maris Stella's score of 252. The Josephians recovered from 43 for 3
wickets to score 273. Maris Stella in their second innings scored 116 when
stumps were drawn.
Maris Stella - 252 and 116 (Ishan Mutalip 26, Ashu de Silva 20; Shiraz
Illiyas 3 for 35, Ranesh Perera 3 for 13, Chandana Aravinda 2 for 28)
St. Joseph's - 273 (Chandana Aravinda 83, Thivanka de S. Wijeratne 50,
Dion Melder 23, Hashan Goonetileke 22; Dinusha Ratnasiri 2 for 19, Harsha
Perera 2 for 17, Shanaka Silva 2 for 34)
-MSA
Draw at Katugastota
St. Anthony's and Wesley figured in a relatively high-scoring draw at Katugastota
yesterday. Notwithstanding the interruptions from the weather, a result
never looked possible as bat triumphed over ball. On the first day opener
Nuwan Ratnayake (114 with 12 fours) and left hander Tyronne de Silva (62
with 9 fours) combined in a century stand in their imposing total of 281
for 7. Paceman Eric Joseph had a four wicket haul.
Despite the loss of their star bat and skipper Maharoof for a second
ball 'duck', Wesley showed they had plenty of depth in their batting. Almost
all the top order contributed with Makalanda top scoring with an unbeaten
43.
Once more the inadequacies of the Antonian bowlers was there for all
to see.
St. Anthony's - 281 for7 dec. (N. Ratnayake 114, T. de. Silva 62, P.
Ranawaka 16, H. Perera 29, M. Rikaz 14, A. Ariyaratne 15; E. Joseph 4 for
62, S. Colombage 2 for 70)
Wesley - 233 for 7 at close (I. Fernando 27, A. Toussaint 23, I. Waduge
33, N. Samith 35, E. Joseph 13, P.Makalanda 43 n.o, A. Shabbar 24 n.o;
J. de. Silva 2 for 52, P. Ekanayake 2 for 30)- A.K.
No decision at Raddoluwa
The inter-school cricket match between Raddoluwa MV and St. Aloysius Galle
which concluded yesterday at Raddoluwa ended in no decision. The feature
of the match was the three half centuries two for St. Aloysius from Devindra
Jayasekera and Ruwan Ratnatileke and the other by Niran Seneviratne of
Raddoluwa MV.
St. Aloysius - 265 (Devindra Jayasekera 77, Ruwan Ratnatileke 50, Nirosh
Welihinda 28; Chinthaka Kulasinghe 5 for 53, Gayan Silva 2 for 50)
Raddoluwa MV - 198 for 7 at close (Niran Seneviratne 74 n.o., Heshan
de Silva 15, Charith Kodikara 22, Chamikara Silva 14, Chinthaka Kulasinghe
41; Dilan Janaka 2 for 48) -MSA
Panadura take upperhand
Two half centuries one by Charitha Buddika and the other by Tharanga Priyadharshana
helped Panadura SC to score 296 and gain a first innings lead over Tamil
Union on the second day of the Under 23 division one quarter final cricket
match being played at the BOI grounds in Katunayake. Tamil Union in the
second innings were 38 for 2 at close. The match will be continued at 9.30
p.m. today.
Tamil Union 120 and 38 for 2 at close (D. Ranatunge 25; Charitha Buddika
1 for 18, Yaditha Diluk 1 for 18)
Panadura - 296 (Charitha Buddika 51, Tharanga Priyadharshana 56, Sampath
Deshabandu 49, Dilruwan Perera 31, Anjula Perera 29, Yaditha Diluk 25 n.o.;
S.Perera 4 for 73, Ranga Dias 2 for 62, Lassana Dias 2 for 4) -MSA
CCC on track for full points
Colombo Cricket Club were heading for full points against Matara CC at
the end of the second days play in their under 23 quarter final match that
was continued at the Saravanamuutu Stadium yesterday.
In repy to the CCC score of 229, Matara were dismiised of a paltry 86
with I. Ratnayaka capturing 5 for 25.
Batting a second time, CCC were 144 for 3 at stumps and enjoyed a lead
of 287 runs with six wickets in tact.
CCC - 229 and 144 for 3 (P.Seneviratne 60 n.o., D. Ranaweera 33, T.
Mendis 42).
Matara CC - 86 (R. Nirmal 25, M. Kandage 23, I. Ratnayaka 5 for 25,
N. Rupasinghe 3 for 25 ).
(BM)
Bloomfield set for outright win over Galle CC today
Bloomfield were heading for an outright win against Galle CC in their under
23 quarter final match at Braybrooke Place yesterday.
Galle CC - 157 (P. Kumara 24, H. Wijesinghe 24, K. Gangodawila 2 for
32, K. Lokuarachchi 2 for 1, D. Maharage 2 for 6) and 67 for 4 (D. Bahar
30, D. Perera 2 for 7)
Bloomfield - 235 (S. Rodrigo 20, R.C. Ruwan 59, R. Peiris 45, K. Lokuarachchi
25, U. Weerasinghe 30, V. Perera 6 for 65, M. Priyanga 2 for 24) BM.
Cops out to drown Sailors
Police SC, who made a late rally in the Caltex 'A' League second-leg take
on the rugged Navy in a President's Trophy K.O., final match, at Longdon
Place, today. Kick-off at 5 p.m.
With the prevailing conditions it should turn out to be a forwards battle.
The sailors though taking the field as underdogs are no pushover side.
Fit and strong they are sure to give the Cops a good run.
Police with the return of Norman Silva has helped the team to play with
better co-ordination. They gave a close run to Kandy SC in the league championship
a close run at Nittawela. Police should have the edge.
On Friday: CR & FC after being beaten by Havies in the second-leg
by a wide margin but did well to topple their traditional rivals 21-16
in a rousing contest. CR meet Army in the semi-final on Oct. 16.
Former Sri Lanka stalwart, Ajit Abeyratne, has taken over CR's coaching.
CR's forwards play showed much improvement - thanks to Ajit.
(B.W) |
