12th Sri Lanka University Games from Sept. 1 to 12
The Twelfth Sri Lanka University Games will take place from September 1 to 12 at seven venues. Sri Lanka University Sports Association (SLUSA) has decided to conduct the Games on the above mentioned dates. Twenty one sports will be included in the SLUSA Games. They are: Badminton, Basketball, Baseball, Carrom, Chess, Cricket, Elle, Hockey, Swimming, Taekwondo, Tennis, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Netball, Rugby, Football, Karate, Wrestling, Rowing, Table Tennis, and Athletics. Twenty four teams are in the SLUSA and over 5,000 athletes are scheduled to take part in the twelve day event. This year’s games will be organised by the Wayamba University.
Competitions will be held in Colombo, Moratuwa, Peradeniya, Kelaniya and Wayamba university grounds and at the Colombo Tennis Court, Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium. Plans were afoot to stage the Sri Lanka University Games in Jaffna this year but due to the unavailability of grounds and accommodation the Games were shifted to the Wayamba District. At the Inter-University Games last year Moratuwa University emerged champions while Colombo University was the runners-up. The University Games takes place every three years and is conducted on a mini-Olympics level.
The Higher Education Ministry has allocated a sum od Rs, 50, million to conduct the Games. Out of this sum Rs, 20 million will be spent to organise the events. On the performances of these event athletes will be picked to participate at the World University Games Universidad to be held in Chinese Taipei in 2017. The last Universidad took place in Korea in the 2015 where a 70 member contingent (athletes and officials) participated.