Inaugural ‘NDB Olympics’Grand Finale

Pix by Nilan Maligaspe

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NDB Bank hosted the grand finale of “NDB Olympics” on Saturday, August 17 at the Wesley College Campbell Park; where athletes who qualified within the previous rounds faced the ultimate battle for victory competing along with their colleagues from departments in the head office. Five qualifying rounds were held previously in five regions, collaborating 73 branches and 600 staff participants from around the island. The participants competed in track and field events as well as in fun events representing houses Blue Sharks, Red Chillies, Kapuwath Green, Minions and Purple Gorillas.

At the final event on Saturday the team Blue Sharks which included the winners from the Kandy region walked away with the NDB Olympics Championship. Under the special awards categories, the best Male and Female athletes in the open category were Dinuka Peiris and Shamali Wickramasinghe respectively, whilst Colin Adaman and Lalithangani Jayaweera walked away with the accolades in the veteran category. The invitation relay was held with the participation of other mercantile athletes and the relay teams from Sampath Bank won both the male and female events. The event was graced by the Chief Executive Officer Rajendra Theagarajah, Chief Operating Officer Indrajit Wickramsainghe, Chief Financial Officer Faizan Ozman and other members of the senior management. Amidst tight competition the staff members also enjoyed themselves and had a memorable day.

Malinthi Lekamge (right) leads Recoveries Dept to victory in the Women’s 100m relay.	Members Members of the champion team, the Blue Sharks in a jourvile mood
Hasitha Samarakoon takes the baton from Amila Gamage on his way to win the Men’s 100m relay for Treasury Back Office.	Hasitha Samarakoon takes the baton from Amila Gamage on his way to win the Men’s 100m relay for Treasury Back Office.
Members from different branches mingle around	Blue Sharks who won the Men’s Tug-O-War event prior to the set off
Member of the organising committee, Ganendran (with mike) watches the progress of the Men’s Tug-O-War event, which was won by Blue Sharks	The group from Kandy Members of victorious Blue Sharks team with skipper Janaka Nonis (right)
Members of Minions who won the best decorated house award with co-skippers Nadun (5th from left) and Prarthana (6th from left)	The Invitees Men’s 100m Relay for Corporate Firms in progress
The finish of the Invitees Women’s 100m Relay for Corporate Firms	Winners of the Invitees 100m Relay Events Sampath Bank (left) who won the Men’s race and SriLankan Airline (right) who won the Women’s race
	Members take part in fun games – this time it’s egg passing
Members take part in fun games – this time it’s egg passing	Members take part in fun games – this time it’s egg passing
Members take part in fun games – this time it’s egg passing	Members take part in fun games – this time it’s egg passing
Members take part in fun games – this time it’s egg passing	A photo finish took place in the Mixed 100m Relay. Kusal of the Kandy Branch and Colin from the Kadawatha Branch crosses the line at almost the same time
Asanka Sampath from CPU (right) and Sasanka Dharmakeerthi from the Pilimathalawa Branch leads the Blue Sharks to victory in the Men’s Tug-O-War event

Members of the victorious Blue Sharks perform a ‘haka’	Members of the victorious Blue Sharks perform a ‘haka’
The Blue Sharks flag is held high by its members after emerging victorious	Participants tap their feet to the beat
Girls of the Red Chillies in a huddle	The Red Chillies form a human train

Participants at the awards ceremony	Members of the organising committee, (from left) Rakitha, Chandana, Vinod, Nalin, Shabeer, Priyantha, Nawaratne, Dineshika, Mario and Chalani at the awards ceremony
	Vice President of NDB, Raj Aboobucker distributing awards to winners
Vice President of NDB, Raj Aboobucker distributing awards to winners	Dinuka Peiris receives his award from CEO of NDB Rajendra Theagarajah
CEO of NDB Rajendra Theagarajah awards the winner of best Veteran Male athlete, Colin Adaman from Kadawatha Branch	: Shamali Wickramasinghe from Trade Finance was adjudged the best female athlete of the NDB Olympics. She received the award from CEO of NDB Rajendra Theagarajah
J.M.A. Lalithangani became the Veteran best female athlete. She received the award from CEO of NDB Rajendra Theagarajah	Kumudini Dissanayake (left) and Kumar Krishnamoorthi (right) co-captains of the winning team, the Blue Sharks receives the championship trophy from CEO of NDB Rajendra Theagarajah and Chandana Guniyangoda, the President of SRC
Udana Yagoda, the skipper of ‘Kapuwath Green’ receives the overall runners-up trophy from CEO of NDB Rajendra Theagarajah and Chandana Guniyangoda, the President of SRC	Members of the victorious Blue Sharks celebrate immediately after being awarded
Members of the victorious Blue Sharks celebrate immediately after being awarded	Members of the runner-up team ‘Kapuwath Green’
The Men’s 3000m event in progress	A Red Chillie member receives first aid from fellow members
	Members of the organising committee
Mascots of Kapuwath Green, Shrek and Fiona	Mascots of Kapuwath Green, Shrek and Fiona
Nimesh Rajapakshe leads the Purple Gorillas Tug-O-War team