Thomians ‘A’ fours pip Royal to take the dip in the lake
The ‘A’ Fours crew of S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia led by Anuradha Nadarajah pulled off a sensational one and half length win to secure the traditional ‘Boat Race’ and with it clinched the overall T.N. Fernando Memorial Trophy in the Airtel sponsored 41st Royal Thomian Rowing Regatta on the waters of the Beira Lake in Colombo yesterday
Thomians celebrating their ‘A’ Fours win and the T.N. Fernando Memorial Trophy - Pic by Amila Gamage
Prior to the commencement of this crucial race the Thomians who cruised to victories in ‘A’ Scull, ‘B’ Scull and ‘A’ Pairs with three easy victories suddenly found the tide turning when Royal made a superb comeback to win ‘B’ Pairs, ‘A’ Double Scull and ‘B’ Double Scull to bring the points tally to 16 a piece.
Royal then went on to secure the ‘B’ Fours with a remarkable win when Bilal Hassan, Keshan Ranasinghe, Prathap Perera, Praveen Hapugalle and Avishka Jayaweera gave the Royalists the lead for the very first time in the day. Royal were 24 points to the Thomians’ 16 with the all-important last Race the ‘A’ Fours which had 12 points on offer.
The seasoned Thomian ‘A’ Fours Crew led by their skipper Anuradha Nadarajah powered by his team mates Ramith Nanayakkara, Sandesh Bartlett, Vishan Gunatilleke and Kemil Peter left nothing to be chanced as they led from start to finish to give their college by the sea their third consecutive win in this regatta. The Thomians took the overall ‘Boat Race’ race tally 26 to 19 and Regatta tally to 21 to 15 with 5 ties in the series. The races did not take place in 2006.
A delighted Thomian skipper Anuradha Nadarajah commented that the last race was crucial and the usual Royal-Thomian jitters were certainly felt. “These are the moments we train the whole year day in and day out for and there was no way we were going to let this one go. I had the two outstanding oarsmen of this regatta in my “A” Fours team and that certainly helped us to secure this slender 1 ½ length win to secure the trophy” concluded Nadarajah.
The Most Outstanding Oarsmen of the Regatta was awarded to Ramith Nanayakkara and Vishan Gunatilleke of S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia.
| Winners ‘A’ Scull Winner: S. Thomas’ – Sandesh Bartlett ‘B’ Scull Winner: S. Thomas’ – Saliya Gunasekara ‘A’ Pairs: S. Thomas’ – Vishan Gunatilleke/Ramith Nanayakkara ‘B’ Pairs: Royal – Lahiru Herath/Amrith Fernando “B” Double Scull: Royal – Buddhi Dias/Lasaru Kudaligama ‘A’ Double Scull: Royal – Pramodh Rajaguru/Hashen Hettigoda |