Lankans fight back but salvage a long road ahead
At the end of another extraordinary day of cricket, the Indians sit in the driving seat with Sri Lanka desperate to stave off an innings defeat after the visitors mandated a follow-on with a massive first innings lead of 439 at the SSC yesterday. Sri Lanka replied strongly at stumps on day three reaching 209 [...]
For Aabid and the Thomians it’s time to rejoice
Aabid Cader and his team S. Thomas’ College officially confirm their authority as official winners of the Singer-the Sunday Times Most Popular Schoolboy Ruggerite of the Year and Most Popular Rugby Team of Year 2017 competitions. Both Cader and S. Thomas’ received almost 18,000 votes and won by healthy margins that closes in to 13,000. [...]
We played to a plan in the second inning – Dickwella
Sri Lanka fell like a pack of cards in the first innings but came up with a concerted effort in their second innings after India enforced the follow on with a mammoth 439 first innings lead to end the day three on 209 for 2 at stumps. Niroshan Dickwella who made an aggressive half century [...]
Lyceum Wattala and St. Joseph’s take top honours
Lyceum International School, Wattala and St. Joseph’s College, Colombo won the Overall Championships in the Girls and Boys categories respectively at the Pentathlon Swimming Championship 2017 concluded at the Sugathadasa Swimming Complex yesterday. Fifty events were worked off in three days duration at this year’s edition in Under 11, 13, 15 ,18 and 18 and [...]
Hong Kong thump Lankans 36-0
Sri Lanka faced intensity, brutality and total isolation as Hong Kong powered their way to become unbeaten champions of the Asian Under-20 7s Rugby Series with a thumping 36-0 win at Kings Park in Hong Kong yesterday. Both Hong Kong and Sri Lanka were before the final face-off but evidently the hosts had the upper [...]
Opening ceremony of 2nd Matara Super League T20
The opening ceremony of the 2nd Matara Super League T 20 (MSL T20) cricket tournament organised by the Matara District Cricket Association (MDCA) will be held next on August 9 and the tournament proper get underway on the 11th. Twelve teams namely – title holders — Old Thomian Cricket Club, Old Servatians SC (runners-up), Old [...]
Chronology of a cricket disaster
When the coalition of Thilanga Sumathipala and Jayantha Dharmadasa convincingly beat the group led by once-powerful board secretary Nishantha Ranatunga at the Sri Lanka Cricket elections in 2016, expectations were high of the new administrators. Twenty months into their first term, they have achieved little in respect of their promises of good governance, transparency and, [...]
Lankans will play first game on August 9
Sri Lanka will meet Vietnam in their first round match on August 9 in the 19th Asian Senior Women’s Volleyball Championship in the Philippines. The tournament will be held from August 9 to 17 and the matches will be held in two cities: at the Alonte Sports Arena in Biñan, Laguna and Muntinlupa Sports Complex [...]
Division ‘A’ semi -finalists found
MAS Holdings (MAS) ‘Reds’, Commercial Credit & Finance (ComCredit), DFCC Group and Sampath Bank (Sampath) qualified for the Men’s ‘A’ Division semifinals of 27th Mercantile Services Basketball Association (MSBA) League Tournament 2017 worked off at the Henry Pedris Basketball Complex. National Development Bank (NDB) are already in the Men’s ‘C’ Division semifinal having overcome David [...]
Reigning Champs Pakistan aiming for 3 in a row
Sri Lanka will host the 6th Lawyers’ Cricket World Cup to be played at six venues from August 10-20. Sri Lanka Lawyers’ Cricket Club (SLLCC) volunteered to host this event at a meeting of the International Committee during the 5th Lawyers World Cup in Brisbane, Australia, in 2015-16. The 6th edition will feature 12 teams [...]
Maliban, Sri Lanka Telecom in final
Maliban Biscuits (Maliban) and Sri Lanka Telecom (SLT) will meet in the final of the 7th Stafford Motor Co. (Pvt) Ltd., sponsored ‘Honda’ Trophy, MCA ‘G’ Division 25-Over League Tournament 2017, on Saturday, August 12 at the MCA Grounds, from 10 am onwards. In the semifinals played last weekend at the MCA grounds, Maliban [...]
WP Classic Badminton C’ship from Sept.1-3
The 19th Classic Badminton Championship conducted by the Western Province Badminton Association (WPBA) will be held from September 1-3, at the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) Courts, Colombo 7. Shuttlers born in the WP are eligible to take part in the tournament. The Championship shall consist of Under (U)-14 and U-18 Boys, Girls Singles, Doubles, Over-20 [...]
Kite-surfing legend Ruben Lenten trains local talent
Kite-surfing legend Ruben Lenten spent 5 days in Sri Lanka to conduct a training programme for 32 local Athletes, as part of the Red Bull Local Hero Tour. The programme was held from July 13-17 at Kappalady Lagoon, Donkey Point, Kalpitiya Lagoon and Vela Island. The locals took on Ruben’s tag line- “Ride Hard and [...]
Kyle Abeysinghe sole medal winner with 2 Silver
Sri Lanka Athletes would have returned home empty handed if not for the 2 Silver medals won by ace swimmer Kyle Abeysinghe at the 6th Commonwealth Youth Games concluded last Sunday in the Bahamas. Abeysinghe became the first Sri Lankan to win a medal at any Commonwealth Games in Swimming. Abeysinghe won Silver in the [...]
SLC anti-corruption man on his way out
Now it is the beleaguered SLC’s anti-corruption man Lakshman de Silva himself who is in a spot of bother. The former Sri Lanka Police Officer turned ICC anti-corruption sleuth has been sidelined by the Lankan cricket administration after he was in the midst of a row with tour organising committee official Aruna de Silva, also [...]
Lankan marathon runners in action today in London
Sri Lanka marathon runners – Anuradha Indrajit Cooray and Hiruni Wijeratne will take part in the 16th World Athletics Championships Marathon event in London today. The competition which commenced on Friday will continue until August 13. Anuradha Indrajit’s men’s event will be at 10.55 am (London time). Hiruni’s event will be at 2 pm. 108 [...]
Kushan bags maiden championship title
Kushan Peiris burnt the track at the 2nd Commando Challenge Supercross organised by Army Commandos Regiment in collaboration with Sri Lanka Association of Racing Drivers and Riders (SLARDAR) held at the Commando Training School motor racing track in Kuda Oya. The 20-year-old Kushan whose pet event is the Ford/Laser Mazda event and who from recent [...]
ACA president Greg Dyer takes parting swipe at CA
With cricket’s ‘Pay’ war finally over, players’ union president Greg Dyer has taken a thinly veiled swipe at Cricket Australia for its role in the dispute, but CA chief James Sutherland is hopeful the saga can quickly be put in the rear-view mirror. The Australian Test squad will next week fly to Darwin for a [...]
Deshan takes aim for Kiwi Special Olympics Summer Games
Having won the ‘Unbelievable’ Achievement award for being outstanding at the Special Olympics National Summer Games in 2013 and adjudged “Sportsperson of the Year” in the same year, Deshan Walallavita has set his sights on breaking new records at the forthcoming Special Olympics National Summer Games to be held in Wellington in November this year. [...]
FICA congratulates ACA and Australian cricketers on MoU
The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) congratulated the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) on successfully negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on behalf of its members for the next five years based on the same partnership principles that have served the game so well, and including female players for the first time. On behalf of [...]
A friend indeed
In the Sunday Times of 30th July 2017 an appreciation was written about Dr. Upali Mahanama by one of his closest friends Mailk Cader, under the heading ”service to humanity was the best work” I could not agree with him more in his description of Upali. In 1970 I too had the privilege of being [...]
Motorsports whizkid Yasith Gamage on overdrive to stardom
Yasith Gamage was an ordinary youth a few years ago but, during the past two years, he has proved that dreams are meant to be fulfilled. Now, at 30, Gamage is finally achieving his goals of becoming the next star in Sri Lanka Motorsports. As a youngster like any other, Gamage would dream of driving [...]
DRINKS TROLLEY
A common scene at a particular sports event is the Drinks Trolley which is being wheeled in by two pretty girls to the ground. Naturally the girls take the opportunity to speak to the stars. It has now surfaced that the World Ruling Body of the sport has not given the green light for drinks [...]
160 outstanding Sporting Sailors felicitated
Sri Lanka Navy’s (SLN) Colours Night 2017 was held at the Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda Auditorium at the Eastern Naval Command, Trincomalee. Awards for Sportsman of the Year 2014, 2015 and 2016 were Leading Writer BAS Prasanna- Bodybuilding, (Ordinary Seaman RWMSTAP Rajapaksha- Karate, and Able Seaman JMSN Kumara- Triathlon respectively, were presented to those who excelled [...]
OTHU Stickers off to Langkawi, Malaysia
Old Thomians Hockey Union (OTHU) stickers left for Langkawi, Malaysia to participate in the 4th Langkawi International Veterans 5s Hockey Tournament. The tournament will be worked-off in two categories – an open age and an above 40 years category. OTHU is to make their maiden appearance in this invitational tournament and will play in the [...]
Indika Prasad, Lanka’s sole Gold medallist
Sri Lanka’s Indika Prasad Silva displaying exceptional skills defeated India’s high riding Vikas Mahajan in the Men’s Over-40 Singles to clinch Gold at the South Asian Open Veterans’ Table Tennis (TT) Championship 2017, concluded at the S.Thomas’ College Indoor Stadium last weekend. Sri Lanka won 1 Gold, 6 Silver and 23 Bronze at this highly [...]
The old order changeth yielding to the new
The reign of Sanath Martis as head coach of Royal is over. He led Royal to a glorious 2017 season, winning the Schools League as well as the coveted Bradby Shield. Dushanth Lewke, who was his assistant, will succeed him, as revealed by sources close to Royal College. Lewke is a product of the early [...]
LAVER CUP – Europe Vs the World
The last time an event of this nature was initiated for Tennis was in 1900. Then, Dwight Davis started the Davis-Cup. That gave Tennis the boost and Sport to transcend geopolitical boundaries. The Davis-Cup made ‘Tennis’ to what it is today. The story goes that, Australia’s legendary coach Harry Hopman, scouting for talent, visited Laver’s [...]
Sailors keep their sails steady and high
The Sri Lanka Navy women’s Rugby team had an impressive season in 2017, bagging Women’s Championship of the Sri Lanka Super Sevens played at Nittawela and the Racecourse ground earlier this month. The Navy women outsmarted tournament rivals Sri Lanka Army, Sri Lanka Air Force and CR and FC to win the title of the [...]
No plan
As I was saying before; keeping my ear to the ground, I presume it is a part of my job. It gives you vibes without prejudice or even second thoughts; it just surfaces from the ground within – where it began. The other day I was chatting to my grocery man Seneviratne, an ardent cricket [...]
Prize money over Rs. 1.5m for the winners
The Annual Mercantile Volleyball Championship conducted by the Mercantile Volleyball Association of Sri Lanka will be worked off in August and September at the National Youth Services Centre in Maharagama. Over 100 teams participated in last year’s tournament and the Association hopes for a much larger response this year. Prize money for the winning teams [...]