2017 — the year that was
View(s):January
- Jan 5: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 282 runs to win the second Test match at Newlands, Cape Town. With the win South Africa claimed the three-match Test series 2-0
- Jan 6: The Dialog Champions League Super 8 football tournament, which was suspended for four months due to international commitments, recommenced
- Jan 8: The Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2017 kicked off
- Jan 10: Sri Lanka was named in Group ‘A’ alongside New Zealand, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Samoa for the 10-team World Youth Netball Championships to be held in Botswana in July
- Jan 11: Sri Lanka Cricket named a 14-member Women’s squad under the captaincy of Inoka Ranaweera for the Women’s World Cup Qualifiers
- Jan 14: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 118 runs at the New Wanderers in Johannesburg and inflicted whitewash in the 3-match Test series
- Jan 14: Neyara Weerawansa won the Girls’ Singles final on Week 1 of the ITF Asia 14 and Under Tennis Division II
- Jan 16: Kumudu Prasanna made history by becoming the first Sri Lankan to record a win at the MX Muay Thai Extreme Competition in Bangkok, Thailand
- Jan 17: Sri Lanka Cricket President, Thilanga Sumathipala summoned an Emergency Meeting at the SLC Headquarters to discuss and review Sri Lanka’s 0-3 whitewash in the Test series against South Africa
- Jan 20: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 19 runs in the first T20 match at Centurion
- Jan 22: Sri Lanka Cricket revealed that it intends to host an International Cricket Tournament to celebrate Sri Lanka’s 70th year of independence in 2018
- Jan 25: Sri Lanka won the third and final Twenty20 match against South Africa by 5 wickets at Cape Town and clinched the three-match series 2-1
- Jan 25: Sri Lanka Cricket named Upul Tharanga as the captain for the 5-match ODI series against South Africa, after regular skipper Angelo Mathews returned to the island sustaining an injury
- Jan 25: Chamila Karawita and Bandara Manike emerged victorious in Men’s and Women’s categories respectively at the inaugural National Sumo Championship held at the YMCA Building in Colombo, Fort
- Jan 28: Sri Lanka Under-19s thrashed South Africa Under-19s by 77 runs to win the Youth Tri-Nation Tournament at Paarl. Sri Lanka was beaten thrice by South Africa but they reached final after beating Zimbabwe thrice
- Jan 30: Kalutara PCC and Panadura SC, two of the leading Premier League cricket clubs in the country, were charged with match-fixing allegations after their SLC Premier Tier ‘B’ match found to be played under suspicous circumstances. The incident sparked off upon table leaders of Premier League ‘B’ Division, Sri Lanka Ports Authority (SLPA), made a protest to Sri Lanka Cricket
February
- Feb 1: Kumar Sangakkara officially launched the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2017 competition at an event held in Colombo
- Feb 1: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 121 runs in the second ODI at Durban
- Feb 7: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 40 runs in the fourth ODI at Cape Town
- Feb 9: Upul Tharanga, who was named the Sri Lanka captain for the ODIs against South Africa earlier, was given an extension as captain of Sri Lanka T20 side against Australia for the 3-match series
- Feb 11: Kandy Sports Club claimed the Dialog Division ‘A’ Inter-Club Rugby League Championship for the third consecutive year
- Feb 12: Darin Weerasinghe, the National Power-lifting champion and Asian bronze medalist, broke the Sri Lanka Bench Press record at the National Independence Bench Press Championship, lifting 195kgs and then 200kgs in three attempts
- Feb 14: Tamara Liyanage was appointed the coach of Sri Lanka Youth Netball team by the Sri Lanka Netball Federation
- Feb 14: Sri Lanka Cricket announced Dhananjaya de Silva as captain of the 15-man Sri Lanka ‘A’ cricket team for its tour against England Lions. The home series included two Unofficial Tests and five Unofficial ODIs
- Feb 20: Sri Lanka and Australia signed a Sports Development Progamme Agreement in Canberra, Australia
- Feb 22: Australia beat Sri Lanka by 41 runs in the third T20 at Adelaide. Sri Lanka won the three-match T20 series 2-1
- Feb 22: Swimmer-turned-snowboarder Azquiya Usupth became the first Sri Lankan to represent the country at winter sports when she qualified for the Asian Winter Games
March
- Mar 1: Sri Lanka Cricket appointed former national cricketer Asanka Gurusinha as Manager Cricket of the national team
- Mar 7: Chamil Cooray and Yasika Rahubadda won the Men’s and Women’s titles at the 49th National Carrom Championship
- Mar 11: Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 259 runs in the first Test at Galle
- Mar 16: Sri Lanka Cricket announced that it will host a Triangular One Day International Series featuring Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh to celebrate the country’s 70th Independence Day in 2018
- Mar 18: Sri Lanka Cricket appointed Upul Tharanga as captain for the three-match ODI series against Bangladesh after regular skipper Angelo Mathews was not cleared fit from his injuries
- Mar 19: Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets at the SSC to level the two-match Test series 1-1
- Mar 19: Sri Lanka Women’s 7s Rugby team won the Borneo 7s Championship while the Men’s team failed to impress
- Mar 23: Sri Lanka Deaf Cricket team emerged runners-up at the 3rd Asia Deaf Cricket Tournament held in Hyderabad, India, where the hosts won the championship
- Mar 26: Adithya Karunaratne, the 14-year-old Sri Lankan earned World Ranking in Tennis when she reached 205th in the ITF Under-18 Junior World Rankings
- Mar 29: Sri Lanka made major strides when they beat fancied Pakistan by 4-2 to win the 13th West Asia Baseball Cup in Islamabad
April
- Apr 1: Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 70 runs in the third ODI at SSC and leveled the three-match series 1-1
- Apr 3: The Ministry of Sports banned three officials of Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA), namely Suraj Dandeniya, Amal Dias and Ruwan Gallage, from representing the SLBA in the future, in accordance to the New Sports Regulations
- Apr 4: Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 6 wickets to win the first T20 at R. Premadasa Stadium
- Apr 19: Sri Lanka Rugby named the Under-18 7s Rugby team for the Youth Commonwealth Games, under the captaincy of S. Thomas’ College skipper Naveen Henakankanamge
- Apr 23: Sri Lanka won a gold, silver and bronze medal each at the First Leg of the Asian Grand Prix Athletic Championship held in Xinhua, China. Indunil Herath won the gold medal in Men’s 800m, while Himasha Eshan won the silver in Men’s 100m and Gayanthika Abeyratne claimed the bronze in Women’s 800m
- Apr 28: Anura Rohana won the Pune Open Golf Championship 2017 at the Poona Club Golf Course
- Apr 29: Colombo, led by Dinesh Chandimal, won the SLC Super Provincial Limited Overs Championship, beating Galle by 137 runs at the R. Premadasa Stadium
MAY
- May 9: Hiruni Wijayaratne, a Sri Lankan athlete based in the USA, qualified for the London World Athletic Championships, after clocking 2 hours 43.41 minutes in the Eugene Marathon
- May 11: Sri Lanka was placed 10th among 11 countries at the Asian Men’s Under-23 Volleyball Championship held in Iran
- May 12: The Tug-O-War Federation of Sri Lanka made an appeal through the National Olympic Committee to include Tug-O-War at the South Asian Games in 2019
- May 13: Thilini Hendahewa claimed a triple crown while Buwaneka Gunathilaka clinched a double at the annual Summer Season Badminton Championship 2017, held at the Nuwara Eliya Municipal Indoor Stadium
- May 13: Sri Lanka crashed down to fourth place after Hong Kong beat them by 58-49 in the Third Place Playoff at the Asian Youth Netball Championship held in Gongju, South Korea
- May 19: Swimmer Matthew Abeysinghe was crowned the Sports Star at the Presidential Sports Awards 2016 held at the BMICH
- May 20: Royal College beat Trinity College 22-17 in a double decider where the First Leg of the 73rd Bradby Shield encounter and also the virtual final to decide the Singer Schools Under-20 League Championship 2017. Royal lost only one match on their way to clinch the Schools League title
- May 21: Scotland beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets in the first of two practice matches ahead of the ICC Champions Trophy at Beckenham
- May 27: Kulna Titans, a franchise of Bangladesh Premier League, revealed that it had appointed Mahela Jayawardene as Head Coach, following his success with IPL’s Mumbai Indians, who won the title in 2017
- May 29: Dian Gomes was elected President of the Amateur Boxing Association of Sri Lanka
- May 29: Experienced and champion rider Ananda Wedisinghe passed away after clashing during a race event held in Nuwara Eliya on April 23, from when he was admitted to the ICU of Kandy National Hospital. Since April 23, Wedisinghe was in a coma state and survived with the help of a Life Support Machine
- May 30: Rtd Major General Palitha Fernando was elected the President of Athletic Association of Sri Lanka.
June
- Jun 3: South Africa beat Sri Lanka by 96 runs in a Group B match of the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval
- Jun 3: Royal College beat tradition rivals Trinity College 13-8 to win the second leg and the Bradby Shield at the 73rd annual Rugby encounter played at the Royal Sports Complex in Colombo. Two weeks earlier Royal won the first leg by 22-18 and regained the Bradby Shield with an aggregate of 35-26
- Jun 8: Sri Lanka beat India by 7 wickets in a Group B match of the ICC Champions Trophy at The Oval
- Jun 8: Sri Lanka’s greatest ever spinner and current world record holder in Test cricket, Muttiah Muralidaran, was inducted to the ICC Hall of Fame, becoming the first from Sri Lanka to be named so
- Jun 12: Sri Lanka Navy won the 8th Trinco Blu Sailing Regatta held in Trincomalee
- Jun 21: Sri Lanka cricket coach Graham Ford left the team midway through his four-year contract with Sri Lanka Cricket, due to unknown reasons. Fielding coach Nic Pothas was named the Interim Coach of the team
- Jun 21: Mandira Chathurangi was named the captain of the Sri Lanka team for the 8th World Youth Netball Championship
- Jun 24: St. Joseph’s College beat Isipathana College 19-13 to win the Milo Inter-School Under-20 Knockout Rugby Championship, played for the Presidents Cup
- Jun 29: Sri Lanka’s Chamari Atapattu made the third highest ODI score in women’s cricket when she hit an unbeaten 178 off 143 balls against Australia in a ICC Women’s World Cup match in England
- Jun 30: Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka by 6 wickets in the first ODI at Galle.
July
- Jul 1: Anura de Silva was re-elected as President of the Football Federation of Sri Lanka after a heated election
- Jul 8: Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka by 4 wickets in the fourth ODI at Hambabtota to level the series 2-2
- Jul 10: Zimbabwe beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets to win the fifth ODI at Hambantota and clinch the series 3-2
- Jul 10: Sri Lanka’s K.W. Nimali was declared the winner of the Women’s 800m final at the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship in India, after the hosting country’s Archana Adhav was stripped of her gold medal due to infringement
- Jul 11: Angelo Mathews stepped down from the captaincy of the national cricket team, after Sri Lanka’s disastrous defeat 2-3 against Zimbabwe in ODIs
- Jul 12: Sri Lanka Cricket officially named Dinesh Chandimal as Test captain and Upul Tharanga as ODI and T20 captain after Angelo Mathews stepped down from the captaincy
- Jul 16: Dinesh Priyantha Herath won the Silver medal in 400m T46 event at the World Para Athletic Championship in London, England
- Jul 16: Sri Lanka lost six out of seven matches at the World Youth Netball Championship held in Botswana
- Jul 17: Kyle Abeysinghe created history by becoming the first Sri Lankan to win a Commonwealth medal after winning a silver medal in Boy’s 100m at the 17th FINA World Swimming Championship held in Bahamas
- Jul 18:
- Sri Lanka beat Zimbabwe by 4 wickets in the one-off Test match at the R. Premadasa Stadium
- Jul 19: Sri Lanka Under-19 and P. de S. Kularatne Maha Vidyalaya fast bowler, Nipun Ransika was named the Dialog 4G-the Sunday Times Schoolboy Cricketer of the Year 2017 at the awards ceremony held at Nelum Pokuna
- Jul 21: Sri Lanka Under-18s Rugby 7s team was placed fifth at the Commonwealth Youth Games 2017
- Jul 22: Sri Lanka gained promotion to Asia/Pacific Oceania Zone Group II after Harshana Godamanne beat Qatar’s Mubarak Shannan Zayed in the Group III Promotion Tie
- Jul 28: Football Federation of Sri Lanka lodged a complaint with the Cinnamon Garden Police, after uncovering its Accountant had transferred at least Rs. 28 million to his personal account from the FFSL accounts
August
- Aug 1: Sri Lanka Rugby named a strong Under-20 7s squad for the Asian 7s Series under the leadership of Naveen Henakankanamge
- Aug 2: Tara Bolling, the legendary Sri Lankan swimmer and mother of top swimmers Jeremy, David and Julian, passed away at the age of 76 in Colombo
- Aug 5: Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 36-0 to win the Asian Under-20 7s Rugby Series at Kings Park in Hong Kong
- Aug 6: Kyle Abeysinghe became the first Sri Lankan to win a medal at any Commonwealth Games in swimming, when he bagged two silver medals at the 6th Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas
- Aug 7: Eshan Pieris recorded a podium finish, placing third at the X30 Challenge Japan Cup in Mizunami. He became the first Sri Lankan to achieve such a feat in the Asian Go Karting circuit
- Aug 8: Sri Lanka Cricket announced the appointment of former national speedster Rumesh Ratnayake as Head of Fast Bowling in the Sri Lanka cricket coaching unit
- Aug 9: Anika Seneviratne and Jithmi Jayawickrema beat top seed Medhira Samarasekara and Amritha Muttiah to win the Women’s Open Doubles title at the 102nd National Tennis Championship
- Aug 12: Top seed Shamal Dissanayake beat Sankha Athukorala to win the Men’s Open Singles title at the 102nd National Tennis Championship
- Aug 14: India beat Sri Lanka by an innings and 171 runs to win the third Test at Pallekele and won the series 3-0
- Aug 16: Heartbroken cricket fans held a candle light vigil and staged a demonstration at the Independence Square on the downfall of cricket in Sri Lanka
- Aug 19: Anika Seneviratne won the Girls’ Under-16 Singles and Doubles titles at the Junior National Tennis Championship
- Aug 20: India beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to win the first ODI at Dambulla
- Aug 20: Dinidu Saparamadu qualified to represent Sri Lanka at the World Boxing Championship to be held in Hamburg, Germany
- Aug 21: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan to win the inaugural HSBC International Junior Golf Championship held at the Royal Colombo Golf Club
- Aug 22: Lack of funds forced Sri Lanka to pull out of the Asian Rugby Under-17 Sevens Championship to be held in Chinese Taipei in September. This tournament also served as the qualifying platform of the Youth Olympic Games 2018 to be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina
- Aug 23: Sudarshana Muthuthanthri was appointed the captain of the Sri Lanka 7s Rugby team for the Asian 7s Series to be played in Hong Kong, South Korea and Sri Lanka
- Aug 24: India beat Sri Lanka by 3 wickets to win the second ODI at Pallekele
- Aug 25: Sri Lankan allrounder Thisara Perera was named for the World XI team that will tour Pakistan for a three-match Twenty20 cricket series
- Aug 26: K. Prabagaran won the Sri Lanka Open Golf Championship by seven strokes at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Course
- Aug 28: The Selection Committee of Sri Lanka Cricket, headed by Sanath Jayasuriya tendered its official resignation. The other members in the Selection Committee were Ranjith Madurasinghe, Romesh Kaluwitharana, Asanka Gurusinha and Eric Upashantha
September
- Sep 2: Olympic athlete Manjula Kumara Wijesekera and E.W.U. Rathnakumari won the Men’s and Women’s Best Athlete Award respectively at the 95th National Athletics Championships
- Sep 5: Panadura SC and Kalutara PCC, the two First Class club cricket teams involved in match-fixing, have been found guilty in one of three charges. Both teams faced a suspension for a period of one year
- Sep 6: India beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets to win the only T20 match at the R. Premadasa Stadium
- Sep 11: Sri Lanka’s Milan Andra Hennadige won the runner-up title at the annual Covelong Surf Point Competition held in Kovalam, Chennai, India
- Sep 12: Sachin de Silva retained the main title at the 96th Royal Colombo Golf Club Championship
- Sep 17: Former national fast bowler Graeme Labrooy was appointed as the Head of the new Selection Committee by Sri Lanka Cricket
- Sep 19: Sri Lanka Cricket named its new Selection Committee by appointing former players Gamini Wickramasinghe, Jeryl Woutersz, Sajith Fernando and Asanka Gurusinha with Graeme Labrooy as Chairman
- Sep 20: Sri Lanka men’s and women’s 7s teams won the Plate championships at the Second Leg of the Asian 7s Rugby Series in South Korea
- Sep 20: Sri Lanka qualified for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 after West Indies failed to win the quoted number of ODI matches against England
- Sep 21: Sri Lankan athletes won four medals — a gold, two silver and a bronze — at the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games 2017 in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan. The gold medal was won by Gayanthika Abeyratne in the Women’s 800m final while Indunil Herath and Amila Jayasiri claimed the two silver medals
- Sep 24: Sri Lanka won the Plate Championship, beating Malaysia 43-7 at the second leg of the Asian Sevens Series in South Korea
- Sep 26: Chandrika de Silva won the silver medal in the Women’s Over-40 Singles at the World Senior Badminton Championship held in Kochin, India
- Sep 27: Kumar Sangakkara retired from First Class cricket after playing his final match for Surrey against Lancashire in England
- Sep 28: Sri Lanka played their first Day/Night Test match against Pakistan at Abu Dhabi
- Sep 29: The Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Badminton Federation was put on hold on a court order after four affiliate clubs took matter to courts
October
- Oct 1: Eshan Pieris made his Formula 4 debut and finished third on the podium at the Sepang Track in Malaysia, alongside the Malaysian Grand Prix
- Oct 10: Sri Lanka beat Pakistan by 68 runs to win the second Test at Dubai and win the two-match series 2-0
- Oct 10: Sri Lanka Navy won the overall title at the National Sailing Championship 2017 held at Bolgoda
- Oct 13: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 83 runs in the first ODI at Dubai
- Oct 14: Royal College won the Stubbs Shield Boxing Championship 2017 with a tally of four gold medals and two each of silver and bronze medals. Royal regained the Stubbs Shield after 30 years
- Oct 14: Chalitha Ranjana and Sri Lanka-born Rajitha Samaraweera won a total of three gold medals at the New Zealand (NZ) Open Table Tennis Championships 2017, held in Christchurch
- Oct 15: Sri Lanka was placed third overall after beating South Korea 22-5 at the third and final leg of the Asian Sevens Series in Colombo
- Oct 16: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 32 runs to win the second ODI at Abu Dhabi
- Oct 20: Sri Lanka Cricket named a 16-man squad under the captaincy of Thisara Perera for the three-match Twenty20 Series against Pakistan in Lahore
- Oct 21: Kandy Sports Club beat Singapore 44-14 in a friendly rugby match played at Nittawela, Kandy
- Oct 23: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 9 wickets to win the fifth ODI and clinch the series 5-0 at Sharjah
- Oct 23: P.H.D. Waidyatilleke, a renowned International Technical Officer of the IAAF retired after a serving athletics for over four decades
- Oct 26: Pakistan beat Sri Lanka by 7 wickets to win the first T20 at Abu Dhabi
- Oct 29: Royal College beat S. Thomas’ College 46-6 in their 48th annual Rowing Regatta at the Beira Lake and retain the T.N. Fernando Memorial Trophy
- Oct 30: Yevan David, a Sri Lankan born based in Singapore, finished among Top 16 at the IAME World Karting Finals 2017 at the Le Mans International Circuit in France
November
- Nov 1: Vinod Weerasinghe, Taniya Minel, S. Dhuwarshan, Niresh Tejwani and Reshan Algama topped the National Junior Golf Rankings 2017 in their respective age categories
- Nov 6: Sri Lanka Cricket appointed Thilan Samaraweera as batting coach of the national team
- Nov 9: Chandika Hathurusingha tendered his resignation as Head Coach of the Bangladesh cricket team
- Nov 19: Sri Lanka achieved a double feat in canoeing at the Canoe Ocean Racing Asian and World Championships held in Hong Kong when — Chathura Vishwajith Jayaratne, won a rare gold medal and Danuna Tillakaratne, successfully completed a coaching and judging course
- Nov 19: Dilantha Malagamuwa became the first Sri Lankan race driver to record a podium finish when he was placed third at the Lamborghini Super Trofeo World Final at the Imola Circuit in Italy
- Nov 20: India and Sri Lanka drew the first Test played at Kolkata
- Nov 26: Shafraz Junaid and Akhry Ameer made rally history for Sri Lanka emerging second runners-up in the championship deciding leg of the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championships – Rally of Chikmagalur in India
- Nov 26: Sri Lanka won three silver and four bronze medals at the 12th Singapore National Synchronized Swimming Championship
December
- Dec 2: Suresh Subramaniam, a former Sri Lanka Tennis Association President, was appointed as Vice President of Asian Tennis Federation
- Dec 4: The Sports Minister, Dayasiri Jayasekera ordered nine Sri Lanka ODI players heading to India for the Limited Over series to return home as they were leaving the country without his approval. At the time of the Minister’s intervention, the players had even boarded the flight to Delhi but had to disembark
- Dec 6: The third Test between India and Sri Lanka ended in a draw at Delhi. India won the series 1-0
- Dec 8: Sri Lanka Cricket officially confirmed the appointment of Chandika Hathurusingha as Head Coach of Sri Lanka cricket team
- Dec 10: Sri Lanka beat India by 7 wickets in the first ODI at Dharamsala
- Dec 11:Sri Lanka Cricket named the Under-19 squad under the captaincy of Kamindu Mendis for the ICC Youth World Cup to be held in New Zealand in January
- Dec 13: India beat Sri Lanka by 141 runs to win the second ODI at Mohali
- Dec 15: Vinod Weerasinghe and Taniya Minel Balasuriya won the Boy’s and Girls’ titles respectively at the Sri Lanka Junior Golf Championship 2017
- Dec 15: Sri Lanka Power-lifting Association overlooked Ransilu Jayatilleke at its annual Awards Ceremony despite reaching seventh in World Rankings in his weight category
- Dec 16: Hong Kong beat Sri Lanka 40-7 in the second leg of the Asian Junior Rugby Championship at the Hong Kong Football Club
- Dec 18: Football legend and renowned coach P.D. Sirisena passed away after a brief illness at the age of 77
- Dec 18: Parakrama Basnayake was elected the President of Carrom Federation of Sri Lanka
- Dec 20: India beat Sri Lanka by 93 runs in the first T20 at Cuttack
- Dec 21: Anura Rohana won the 16th TATA Open Golf Championship at the Golmuri Golf Course in Jamshedpur, India
- Dec 21:Thilaka Jinadasa was appointed the new coach of Sri Lanka netball team
- Dec 22: India beat Sri Lanka by 88 runs to win the second T20 at Indore
- Dec 23: Susantha Boteju beat M.F.M. Fazil 6-5 to win the 65th National Snooker Championship, his 19th title of the career
- Dec 23: Sri Lanka Cricket named a 23-man preliminary squad to select the ODI squad for the upcoming Bangladesh tour, which will be Chandika Hathurusingha’s first assignment upon taking over the national side
- Dec 24:India beat Sri Lanka by 5 wickets to win the third T20 at Mumbai and clinched the series 3-0