Only one more count; Lahiru holds on to the lead
Lahiru Wickremasinghe of De Mazenod College Kandana managed to cling on to the top position of the All-Island Category according to the official results of the penultimate week before of the 35th Bata-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest comes to an end. The intensity of the battle is clear between the top two contestants, Lahiru and Randev Pathirana of Royal College Panadura, who had a major share of the competition. Lahiru leads Randev by 1282 votes after adding up 11860 votes to his tally over the week but Randev can be termed as the best achiever of the concluded weekend for his collection of 14722 votes. Despite Randev’s major triumph, he still lingers behind Lahiru but the ultimate fate of the two will all depend on the final count which will be released in the coming weekend.
Besides this development the concluded week failed to produce a major change in places in the top ten of the All-Island category of the contest. Behind Lahiru and Randev, remain the other eight contestants without a change as last week.
Akila Lakshan also of Royal College Panadura has received a considerable amount of votes compared to other weeks where he remained at the third place for many weeks even without a single vote. But of late Akila’s count has improved but his position remains without a change as he is clearly not in a position to counter the top two with only a week remaining.
Ravin Sayer of Trinity College remains at fourth but is at a vulnerable position with his immediate rival Madushan Chameera of Isipathana College possessing to be a threat. Others in the race, from the sixth position, are Priyamal Perera of St. Joseph’s, Nimesh Gunasinghe of At. Anthony’s Katugastota, A.K. Tyronne of Richmond, Yashan Samarasinghe of St. Joseph’s and Kusal Mendis of Prince of Wales’ in the top ten.
As predicted finally Lahiru Vimukthi of Sri Sumangala College Panadura has dislodged the stronghold of Danushka Lahiru of Vidyaloka Vidyalaya Galle in the Emerging Schools contest. Danushka who led this category from the beginning until last weekend, for 18 continuous weeks, finally had to concede the top position to Lahiru, who waited till the correct time to strike. Lahiru’s lead is a slender count of 53, which is a count that can run both ways. The coming weekend could be anybody’s call and the Emerging Schools category too has developed to become another thrill provider as the main category.
In the International Schools contest Romesh Madushan of Leighton Park has left no room for risks as he expanded his lead by a further 6145 votes. Romesh’s total count comes up to 27032, a clear lead of 22268 from Rasanjana Mallikarachchi of Lyceum Nugegoda who initially proved to be a close rival but eventually failed to impress.
Today’s issue of the Sunday Times will carry the final coupon of this year’s Bata-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year contest. Coupons will be received until May 29 before the final count is officially issued.