Cream of junior sports crop to be harvested at schools awards
View(s):A total of 501 young sportsmen and women are set to receive colours at the 20th Sri Lanka Schools Milo Colours Awards Ceremony, which will be held at the BMICH next Friday.
The much-awaited sports awards ceremony will see the crème de la crème of the junior sports fraternity rewarded for their efforts in respective fields of sport.
A total of 33 school sports governing bodies affiliated to the Sri Lanka Schools Sports Council (SLSSC), the conductors of the event, have entered their respective nominees for Milo colours. According to SLSSC, all 501 young sports stars were selected for their outstanding achievements at national and international competitions.
All colours winners have been picked based on their performances during 2012, with a majority of them being eligible for their feats at 
international level according to a SLSSC official.
But the main attraction of the day will be the top 11 names who have been nominated for the main awards under four different categories, which are the Most Outstanding Athlete Boys’, the Most Outstanding Girls’, the Emerging Boys’ Athlete and the Emerging Girls’ Athlete.
Overall, swimming has the most number of colours with 75 awards from the whole lot while 55 are set to receive colours in athletics. Badminton and rugby will see 31 each being honoured with colours while cricket (26), karate (23), judo (20), power/weightlifting (19), football (18) and hockey (17) constitute the other sports with a high number of coloursmen. The remaining 186 athletes who are set to receive colours are those who excelled in netball, rowing, table tennis, volleyball, basketball, elle, carrom, gymnastic, wrestling, chess, kabaddi, softball cricket, aerobic gymnastic, wushu, mountaineering, taekwondo, life saving, throwball, cycling, boxing, handball, tennis and squash. The event, which is sponsored by Nestles’ energy drink product Milo for the 20 successive occasion, will begin at 2.00pm on Friday at the BMICH in Colombo.
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 Most Outstanding Athlete – Boys Name: Matthew Abeysinghe School: Asian International School Sport: Swimming Achievements: Men’s Short Course National Champion 2012; Singapore Grand Prix 2012 (Won a Bronze medal in the 200m Freestyle and a Gold medal in 400m Freestyle; Malaysian Open 2012 (Won a Bronze medal in 400m Freestyle); FINA Short Course World Championships 2012 held in Istanbul; Record holder (Long Course): 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 1500m Freestyle, 400m Medley; Record holder (Short Course): 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle Name: Milan Dissanayake School: Rajasinghe Vidyalaya Hanwella Sport: Athletics/High jump Achievements: National Youth Sports Festival 2012 (New meet record of 2.10m); National Sports Festival 2012 (Placed second with 2.15m); Sri Lanka Army Meet 2012 (New meet record of 2.10m); Defence Services Games 2012 (New meet record of 2.13m); 15th Asian Junior Athletics Championships (2.13m); 14th World Junior Championships (Placed seventh overall with 2.17m) Name: Tharindu Kaushal School: DevapathirajaVidyalaya Rathgama Sport: Cricket Achievements: Represented Sri Lanka at ICC Under-19 World Cup in Australia; Represented Sri Lanka against New Zealand in 2012; Represented Sri Lanka against Bangladesh in 2013; Represented Sri Lanka ‘A’ in West Indies in 2013; Claimed over 50 First Class wickets at Premier Club competition |
 Most Outstanding Athlete – Girls Name: Machiko RaheemSchool: Asian International SchoolSport: SwimmingAchievements: Women’s National Champion in SC Nationals; Singapore Grand Prix 2012; Malaysian Open 2012; Record holder (Long Course): 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 800m Freestyle, 200m Medley; Record holder (Short Course): 200m Backstroke, 100m Freestyle, 200m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 800m Freestyle; Represented Sri Lanka at FINA Short Course World Championships 2012 held in IstanbulName: Shivanthi Kumari RathnayakeSchool: St. Joseph’s Girls’ School KegalleSport: Athletics/400m Achievements: 15th Asian Junior Athletic Championship (Captain, won a Gold medal in 400m, a Silver medal in 4x400m relay); Junior National Championship (Won a Gold medal in 400m, won a Gold medal in 200m); Sri Lanka School Senior Athletic Championship (Won a Gold medal in 400m, won a Gold medal in 200m); Women’s Championship (Won a Gold medal in 400m, won a Gold medal in 200m)Name: Thilini Promodika HendahewaSchool: Visakha VidyalayaSport: BadmintonAchievements: BWF Junior Ranking (38 in Women’s Singles); Asian Youth Under-19 Championship in Gimcheon, Korea; Thomas and Uber Cup in Macau, China; BWF Junior Badminton Under-19 Championship in Japan; Nuwara Eliya Badminton Championship 2012 (Champion at Women’s Single and Women’s Doubles); Junior Nationals (Triple Crown at Under-17 category, Champion at Women’s Singles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles); 60th National Badminton Championship 2012 (Champion at Open Women’s Singles, Open Mixed Doubles); SSC Open Badminton Championship 2012 (Champion at Open Women’s Singles); All-Island School Games Western Province Champion and Upcoming player of the year 2012; Western Province School Games 2013 (Merit Colours winner); All-Island Open 2012 (Runner-up at Open Women’s Singles); Represented Visakha College at All-Island Schools Under-18 Division ‘A’ Team Championship (Champions); Represented Visakha College at All-Island Schools Under-19 Super Division ‘A’ Team Championship (Champions) |
 Emerging Athlete – Boys Name: Akila Dananjaya Perera School: Mahanama College Panadura Sport: Cricket Achievements: Represented the Sri Lanka team at the ICC Twenty20 World Championship 2012 held in Sri Lanka; Represented Sri Lanka cricket team against New Zealand in 2012 Name: Dulaj Madusanka Ranasinghe School: Pasyala Maha Vidyalaya Sport: Athletic/400m Achievements: Represented Sri Lanka in the World Youth Athletic Games; 400m Gold medalist at 15th Asian Junior Athletic Games; Best performer at provincial level in 100m (winner), 200m (winner), 400m (winner)
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 Emerging Athlete – Girls - Name: Kimiko Raheem School: Asian International School Sport: Swimming Achievements: Women’s National Champion at LC Nationals; Record holder (Long Course): 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly stroke, 50m Freestyle; Record holder (Short Course): 50m Backstroke, 100m Backstroke, 200m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly stroke, 50m Freestyle; Represented Sri Lanka at FINA Short Course World Championships held in Istanbul and set a new national record in 200m Backstroke Name: Nimesha Siriwardene School: Galenbindunuwewa Central Sport: Athletics Achievements: Junior National Athletic Championship 2012 (Won with new meet record 1.80m); Asian Junior Athletic Championship (Second with 1.79m); World Junior Athletic Championship, Barcelona, Spain (1.75m); All-Island School Games (First with 1.65m); Provincial Meet (Won with new meet record 1.82m) Name: Thisala Tharani Algama School: Visakha Vidyalaya Sport: Netball Achievements: Best shooter at 8th Asian Youth Netball Championship 2013; Best player at National Netball Festival 2013; Represented Sri Lanka at 7th Asian Youth Netball Championship 2010 in India, 8th Asian Netball Championship 2012 in Sri Lanka, Ranking test matches in 2011 in Scotland, World Netball Championship in 2011 in Singapore, Ranking test matches in 2012 in Australia, the ‘Demons Club’ in Australia, 6th Nation Netball Championship in 2012 in Singapore; Champions at All-Island National Schools Championship in 2012 and 2013 |