Has Coach Ford abandoned ship?
All points to a situation where former Sri Lanka Test batsman Asanka Gurusinha, who at present is Cricket Manager and a selector of Sri Lanka Cricket, will be taking over as the Chairman Selection Committee. A veteran of 41 Test matches with seven Test hundreds and eight Test fifties ended up scoring 2452 runs and [...]
Lankans likely at full strength against weaklings Zimbabwe
Hosts Sri Lanka is likely to go full strength against lowly ranked Zimbabwe to bolster their limited over rankings, when the bilateral tour begins in a fortnight in Galle. Sri Lanka is ranked 8th with 93 points, their worst standing in many moons as they have gone through a difficult patch losing all but two [...]
Lasith creates history in polling — tops 200,000 mark
Overall leader Lasith Croosepulle of Maris Stella College Negombo became the first to reach the milestone of 200,000 votes in the history of the competition as Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2017 reaches its 23rd week. Lasith, who usually has a good following added 11042 combined votes to take [...]
Lee holds on to his lead stubbornly after eight counts
As the two winged competition of Singer-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Ruggerite of the Year and Most Popular Rugby Team of the Year 2017 reaches the eighth week, star player Avishka Lee, the Wesley College three-quarter, continues to lead players’ list with 2559 votes. Lee added 117 to his existing count as his tally [...]
Appuhamy and Madurika grab Race Walking titles
Sampath Niroshan Appuhamy and Kalhari Madurika of the Western Province came up with encouraging performances to end-up winners of the Race Walking event of the 43rd National Sports Festival held at Thalawathugoda, yesterday. Appuhamy who finished the event with a timing of 1 hr 40:06mts beat last year’s winner Sandaruwan Dunukara of North Central Province [...]
St. Joseph’s cruise to their first major final
St. Joseph’s were too good for Dharmaraja and as expected they came out victorious with a convincing 34 points to 12 win in the first semi-final of the Milo U20 inter-schools President’s Trophy rugby knockout tournament played at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. St. Joseph’s winger Sachith Silva and fly half Chathura Seneviratne set early pace [...]
Isipathana, St. Peter’s lock horns for knockout glory
Isipathana and St Peter’s will lock horns in the second semi-final of the Milo U20 inter-schools rugby knockout tournament scheduled to be kicked off today at Sugathadasa Stadium from 4.15 p.m. onwards. The match is no doubt going to be a blockbuster as the two teams will be confronting each other for the second time [...]
Schools Rugby 7s on July 1 and 2
The much delayed Singer U20 Schools Rugby 7’s which normally heralds the schools rugby season and will now be played on July 1 and 2 at the Race Course rugby ground in Reid Avenue. The tournament will see the participation of all the top rugby playing schools who up to now has confirmed their participation. [...]
Close call, but Ananda prevail
Ananda prevailed over Thurstan in another thrilling encounter of the Milo U20 Premier Trophy inter-schools rugby knockout tournament when they recorded a close 30-27 in the semi-final played in the afternoon session at the Sugathadasa Stadium. This close match saw Ananda sealing the game in the dying stages having taken a three point lead through [...]
St. Anne’s enters final with thrilling win
St. Anne’s Kurunegala advanced to the final of the Milo U20 Champions Trophy inter-schools rugby knockout tournament final when they record a thrilling two points (20-18) win over Moratu MV in the semi final encounter played in the morning session at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. The Annites came back with vengeance in the second half [...]
Sunday will be a day to remember for cricket fans
So, after two-and-a-half weeks of international cricket, some rain but plenty of great cricket and several surprises, we are all braced for a huge final – India versus Pakistan. The ICC’s commercial department have probably been celebrating with their rights partners since Thursday because this is the organiser’s dream clash with the possibility of a [...]
Further delays in Sugathadasa track relaying
A major delay in awarding the tender to relay the 400m and 200m synthetic tracks at the Sugathadasa Sports Complex has put national athletes in a fix ahead of two major international meets, the Asian Championships and the World Championships, the Sunday Times learns. Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera says the process will take at least [...]
Cricket’s negative vibes and Godfather
Now that Sri Lanka’s quest for the ICC Championship Trophy is over, I think, now is an opportune time to probe the Lankans’ performance and how one could reconcile with the final outcome. Initially, I would like to pinch a few thoughts of a modern Lankan Cricket great, who, if he is of the opinion [...]
Ostapenko’s blitz and Superman Nadal
A new name came into prominence at this year’s French-Open . It is Jelena Ostapenko. She is the first Latvian, for that matter, first from the Baltic States to win a Grand-Slam tournament. The French title is hers now. Her performance nearly overshadowed the superman feat of Rafael Nadal’s 10th title win in Paris. From [...]
Poor fitness, overuse key to injuries- Prof. de Silva
Poor overall fitness levels among Sri Lankan cricketers–particularly in comparison with team members of other countries–could be one reason for frequent injuries, a leading sports medicine doctor said this week. Another major factor is overuse, explained Prof Arjuna de Silva, former Head of the Sports Ministry’s Sports Medicine Unit and also a member of the [...]
The St. John’s Rugby conundrum
Poaching players is a tradition that has come to stay in Sri Lanka Schools Sports but, in the latest development, this practice has reached an extreme level, where a school had to withdraw from an important tournament because, almost the entire team was pinched by five top schools. St. John’s College Nugegoda, a school with [...]
Boiling underneath
This lady held a key position in this sport but she was kicked out by a top official. But another top official was quick to help her and gave her a position in one of his companies. It looks as if all is not well between these two officials, belonging to the same sport. On [...]
Bat prevails over ball with an exception
Three opening batsmen, Lakshan Perera from Fair First Insurance (FFI), Tharaka Marasinghe from Kelani Cables (KC) and Nirushan Ramachandran from Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) along with bowler, Shamil Jayalath from CEAT International, Kelaniya, (CEAT) stole the limelight, in the ongoing 7th Stafford Motor Co.(Pvt) Ltd., sponsored, ‘Honda’ Trophy – MCA ‘G’ Division 25-Over League Tournament [...]
MSBA League 2017 gets under way
The 27th edition of the Mercantile Services Basketball Association (MSBA) League Tournament 2017got under way on Monday (12), at Sir Edward Henry Pedris Stadium, Colombo 5. In the tournament openers, Mobitel Women, Kanrich Finance (Kanrich) Men and WNS Global Men recorded victories while Nations Trust Bank (NTB) Women Aitken Spence Men and Virtusa Men emerged [...]
Royal Hockey Festival today
The Royal College Hockey Festival will take place today commencing 7.30 am at the Royal College ground. This competition is being held to promote the game in the school. The competition is conducted by the Royal College Hockey Association. Involved in the game are 117 players in the age groups of under 11 to 13. [...]
FTZ Sports Assoc. elects Office-bearers
The Free Trade Zone Sports Association (FTZSA) with a history of over three decades, was inaugurated as a voluntary body mandated to provide sports and recreational activities for employees of the Katunayake Export Processing Zone (KEPF). FTZSA was the brainchild of late Shabbir A.I. Jafferjee, then Managing Director of A.J. Milton Lanka Ltd. and A.J. [...]
Off go the 22 athletes for Asian Championships
The Sri Lanka team will proceed – in two groups for the 22nd Asian Championships to be held in Bhuvneshwar, India from July 6 to 9. The Athletics Association of Sri Lanka has selected a contingent of 22 athletes (men and women) and sent the team to be approved by the Minister of Sports. The [...]
Lasith stars in Annites victory
A superb knock of 150 in 137 balls by number three batsman Lasith Warnakulasooriya helped St Anne’s College Kurunegala to an easy 108 run victory over Kingswood College Kandy in their all island inter school under 17 division I Cricket tournament match played at Prison grounds Pallekelle recently. Warnakulasooriya reached his hundred in 113 balls [...]
St. Thomas’ Boys, Sangamitta Girls finish on top in style
Reigning champions St. Thomas’ Matale and Sri Sangamitta Girls National School Matale retained the boys and girls championships respectively at the Matale education zone schools track and field meet 2017 concluded at Aluvihare MV ground in Matale. St. Thomas’ Matale accumulated 150 points on their way to clinching boy’s title, while Sri Sangamitta girls earned [...]
Matale and Naula win Men’s and Women’s titles
Matale divisional secretariat and Naula divisional secretariat won men’s and women’s volleyball titles respectively at the Matale district inter divisional secretariat region volleyball championship 2017 concluded recently at Edward De Silva ground in Matale. In the Men’s final Matale Divisional Secretariat team led by Mohamed Fahim outplayed Yatawatta Divisional Secretariat team by 2-0 (25-14, 25-21), [...]
Royal concede Dharmaraja a passage to the semi-finals
Milo Schools Under-20 Knockout Rugby Championship 2017 The Milo Schools Under-20 Knockout Rugby Championship 2017 kicked off last weekend at the Sugathadasa Stadium in Colombo. In the main category played among Division I ‘A’ schools Singer Schools League Tournament champions Royal College conceded Dharmaraja College a passage to the semi-finals after deciding to withdraw from [...]
Help from Kandy District CA
Z.M. Zarook, who was employed at the Kandy District Cricket Association (KDCA) for well over ten years was presented a cash donation by the President of the Central Provence Cricket Association, Sarath Ekanayake. Zarook, who retired recently after serving 12 years at KDCA was not in a stable health condition in the recent days. The [...]
Eight Swimmers off to Bahamas and Hungary
Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union nominated two swimming teams comprising two men and two women each to participate in the 6th Commonwealth Youth Games and 17th FINA World Championships in Bahamas and Hungary respectively. The two nominated teams awaits the approval from the Ministry of Sports. The Men’s team for the sixth Commonwealth Youth Games [...]
New practice cricket strips for Debarawewa NS
Three new practice cricket strips are being built at a cost of Rs 1.67 million under the ‘Semata Sarana’ scheme for Debarawewa National School. Debarawewa National School is the only school in the Hambantota District that has qualified to play in Division II of the Under-19 Cricket Tournament and Division I of the Under-17, Under-15 [...]
Did the Lions lose the will to win?
The Schools Knockout Quarter-finals were an interesting contest of mistakes. Were they mistakes or, the result of a long drawn, tiresome season? One may argue that a season for age grade Rugby in the RFU spans from September to May. This, however, has to be looked at from a point of grueling competition, climate, as [...]
St. Thomas’ Matara register a thrilling eleven run win over Rahula
Under-17 Division I Cricket Tournament St. Thomas’ College Matara registered a thrilling eleven run win over Rahula College in their penultimate game of the first round of the ongoing Under-17 Division Cricket Tournament. Rahula needing 13 runs to win the last over with 7-wickets in hand were bowled out with two balls to spare for [...]
Seven outright wins recorded
Under-15 Cricket The Under-15 Division One Inter-School Cricket Tournament which is in full swing saw seven matches ending in outright wins from the matches that were played around the island. All these matches ended in innings wins for Wesley, St. Joseph’s, Royal Colombo, Trinity who secured back to back wins, De Mazenod and St. Sylvester’s. [...]
Ishan and Eshan help Debarawewa NS to cruise to a 9-wicket win
A 124 run first wicket partnership between left hand batsmen Ishan Aravinda and Eshan Wijewardena helped Debarawewa National School cruise to a nine wicket win over Rahula College in their Under-17 Division I first round encounter played at Debarawewa. Invited to bat first Rahula were dismissed for 151 in 49.5 overs. Rifnas Sudin (4/28), Chathuka [...]
Benedictine Athletes finish on top at Colombo Zonal Meet
Benedictines dominated the Colombo Zonal athletic meet 2017 securing 135 points, with St. Peter’s College in second place with 72 points and Royal coming in at third place with 68 points at Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksha Stadium on 26th and 27th May 2017. Benedictine displayed their superiority especially in under 20, under 18 and under 16 [...]
Kandy Blues, Colombo Reds emerge hockey champs
50th Annual Sri Lanka Schools under 19 Girls and Boys Hockey Championships 2017 Kandy Blues and Colombo Reds emerged champions in the Girls and Boys segments at the 50th Annual Sri Lanka Schools Under 19 Hockey Championships 2017 concluded at the Colombo Astro Turf last Monday. In the Girls finals Colombo Reds led by Lakmini [...]
Sanjeewa and Amarapadma off for Pakistan Open on July 3
The Sri Lankan Team of B A Sanjeewa and N Amarapadma take wing to participate in the Pakistan National Golf Championship on July 3, 2017, whilst two other Juniors who excelled in the recently concluded Junior Match Play Championship also travel to Vietnam for a Junior event soon. The Sri Lanka Open 2017 is scheduled [...]