Rare feat by Ransilu of Kingswood, Kandy

Powerlifting, which is relatively a new sport, since 1960 developed rapidly through the USA and Britain and has today gained the recognition of the International Olympic Committee.

The Annual Championships which were organized and held by the Sri Lanka Powerlifting Federation at the Soysa Community Centre, Moratuwa recently saw a spectacular performance.

Thirteen-year-old Ransilu Jayathilake of Kingswood College, Kandy displayed a rare prowess in this game along with senior performers when he won the 100 kg. weight category totalling 395 kg.

C.B. Bibile of the Ultra Fitness Centre, Kandy was adjudged Best Lifter. Best Lifter Bibile in the 56 kg. weight category totalled 355kg. M. Fazeel of the Ultra Fitness Centre maintained a Sri Lankan record in the 67.5 kg. weight category which is 115kg. in the Bench Press event achieved in 1998 by Wijeratna Banda of Power World. M. Fazeel of Ultra bettered old record by notching 135kg. in the Bench Press. M. Fazeel is trained by the National Coach, D.U.M. Jayathilake.

Desha Prabhoda Liyanage officiated as Chief Referee while D.G. Samarasena, D.U.M. Jayathilake, I.P. Nandasena, Bernard Fernandez and Siridasa Liyanage made up the rest of the referees.

Ronnie Abeysinghe, pioneer of the iron game and the President of Sri Lanka Powerlifting Federation distributed the awards.

Results - Men

52 Kg: 1st K.P.R. Kodituwakku (Deerananda College, Kandy); 2nd N. Nishantha Goonawardena (Soysapura Powerlifting Club, Moratuwa.); 3rd G.M.S. Manjula (Bandaragama Pradeshiya Sabha Sports Club).

56 Kg: 1st C.B. Bibile (Ultra Fitness Centre, Kandy); 2nd P.N. Pathiratna (Deenagolla Powerlifting Club); 3rd M.L. Chandrasekara (Soysapura Powerlifting Club, Moratuwa).

60Kg: 1st W.C.S. Bibile (Ultra Fitness Centre, Kandy); 2nd W.D.R. Sampath (Super Eagle Sports Club, Negombo); 3rd K. Dissanayake (Soysapura Powerlifting Club, Moratuwa).

67.5Kg: 1st M. Faizeel (Ultra Fitness Centre, Kandy); 2nd P.A.J. Karunaratna (Power World, Wellawatte);

75Kg:

1st Janaka Perera (Peradeniya University); 2nd Kitsiri Fonseka (Herms Sports Club); 3rd W. Wadanan (Super Sports Club, Negombo).

82.5 Kg:

1st Janaka Perera (Peradeniya University); 2nd B.P.P. Nishantha (Sri Lanka Army, Panagoda); 3rd H.P.P. Amarasinghe (Sri Lanka Army, Panagoda).

90 Kg: 1st C.L.B. Wickramasinge (Peradeniya University); 2nd S.K. Dissanayake (Ultra Fitness Centre, Kandy); 3rd U.K. Danuska (Bandaragama Pradeshiya Sabha Sports Club).

100 Kg: 1st Ransilu Jayathilake (Kingswood College, Kandy); 2nd H.I.J. Wijeratna (University, Colombo); 3rd D.M.I. Dissanayake (Vidyartha College, Kandy).

110 Kg: 1st W.M.R. Sampath Gunasekera (Mount Royal Sports Club, Kandy);

Women

48Kg. Cagetory: 1st S.N.S.B.B.M. Semasinghe (Sri Lanka Army, Panagoda); 2nd K.W.D.W. Nimani (Sri Lanka Army).

52Kg: 1st B.J.P. Gomes (Sri Lanka Army, Panagoda); 2nd H.G.G.S.P. Gamage

(Sri Lanka Army, Panagoda).

56 Kg: 1st D.P. Jayaweera (Sri Lanka Army, Panagoda); 2nd Anusha Priyanthi

(Bandaragama Pradeshiya Sabha Sports Club).

60 Kg: 1st B.P. Karunaratna (Sri Lanka Army, Panagoda); 2nd Anusha Jinidasa (Peradeniya University).

Best Powerlifter's award went to B.J.P. Gomes of Sri Lanka Army.

Hillwood college girls now have their own pool

It was the realisation of a long, and at times seemingly hopeless, dream when the swimming pool of Hillwood college, Kandy was declared open recently by the chief guest Julian Bolling.

Pomp, pageantry and the usual razmataz were all in evidence at the ceremony which was conducted with slick efficiency.

The Principal, Sumitra Ratnayake, in her address spoke with pride of the fact that every cent that went into the construction of the pool was provided by members of the Hillwood family - students, staff, parents and even employees.

Bolling, one of Sri Lanka's swimming greats delivered a short speech in which he emphasised the importance of the Olympic spirit where winning is not the most important thing, but participation.

The piece de resistance of the evening's programme was the exhibition swim by Bolling and Corporal Priyadarshana ( a soldier who lost a leg in action at the front) Incidentally, Priyadarshana who is being coached by Bolling is ranked number seven in the world in his event, and will represent Sri Lanka at the Olympics for the disabled. Bolling, the gentleman and sportsman, finished a close second to Priyadarshana when coach and pupil pitted their skills.

Mahamaya, Trinity and St. Anthony's took part in the invitation relays. There were also water ballets, pool side barbecues and a fireworks display to round off the evening's entertainment.

The girls of Hillwood College now have their own pool and, ever long, they should be making a big splash in terms of both quality and quantity. _ (A.K.)

NCC and CCC favourites in today's under 23 semi final clashes

By Marlon Fernandopulle

NCC and CCC go out as favourites in the BCCSL Under 23 semi final clashes against Panadura SC and Sebestianites SC which will be worked off today for a period of three days.

NCC did well to defend a modest total and defeat arch rivals SSC in the quarter final last week.They have a well knit talented side,brimming with confidence and should get the better of their opponents.Sri Lanka under 19 medium pacer Akalanka Gamage,test cap Malinga Bandara,Pradeep Hewage,Susantha Prad-eep,and Dilan Ramanayake are some of the players the Maitland Place club will be looking forward to, inorder to take them to the final.

Panadura SC on the other hand completed a successful first round but were lucky to qualify to the semi final after their quarter final game was washed off by rain last week.

They have an uphill task ahead of them but are certain to put up another fighting performance.

CCC will hold the upper hand in their clash against Sebestianites SC at Maitland Place.The Maitland Crescent club boosts of a strong bowling line up led by medium pacer Hemantha Boteju.Suppo-rting Boteju would be spinners Nisitha Rupasinghe and Sri Lanka Under 19 all rounder Jehan Mubaraq.

Rupasinghe has been churning out wickets for CCC with his left arm leg breaks even in the clubs division one side on a regular basis and is expected to hold the key in todays encounter.

Sebastianites has been one club that has improved in leaps and bounds in the recent past.

They have sprung a few surprises in the Division one tournament and their under 23 side is all out to continue in that manner.

Their team does not boost of any big names nevertheless they have the talent and the determination to turn tables on their day.

With the weather improving and the sun shining strongly in Colombo an interesting tussle could be expected at Braybrooke Place and Maitland Place.

Mastery SC win Mayor's Cup

Mastery SC beat Naula Sri Naga S.C by 6-1 in the final and won the Mayor's Cup at the Matale District inter-club football tournament organised and conducted by the Matale District sports office and worked off at the Bernard Aluvihare Stadium in Matale last week.

S. Fernando and S. Ratnaweera scored 4 goals and 2 goals respectively for the winners while S. Mendis scored the losers' solitary goal.

Ten (10) soccer clubs in the district participated in two groups in this knock-out tournament held for the second consecutive year for the Mayor's Cup.

Group A - Mastery SC - St. Thomas' SC - Cameroons SC - Young Mathalenians SC - Malwatte SC

Group B - Jolly Boys SC - Prabuddha SC - Christ Church SC - Naula SC - Rangers SC

Volley ball - Mayor's Cup.

Yatawatte SC and Naula Sri Naga SC teams won the Mayor's Cup in the men's and women's volley ball respectively at the inter-club volley ball tournament conducted by the Matale District sports office at the same venue - last week. Yatawatte SC beat Swiss SC Inamaluwa by 2-1 in the men's final and in the women's final Naula Sri Naga beat Ukuwela Prabuddha by 3-2

Thirteen volley ball teams - 7 mens and 6 womens took part in this inter-club volley ball tournament organised and conducted by the Matale District sport office for the first time for the above cup.

Matale Mayor Rohana Dissanayake was the chief guest and he presented the trophies and certificates to the winners and runners-up.

L.D.Chandrasiri

Sevens saga

If one was to get some information about Sevens Rugby in Sri Lanka, he would perhaps have to hunt high and low in almost every library and come up with nothing. Unless one happens to know the dates and issues of various newspapers where articles on Sevens appear it will be quite a daunting task.

Neil Wijeratne, has put together a neat booklet on Sevens Rugby, aptly titled Sevens Saga which is actually a history of seven-a-side rugby in Sri Lanka.

Followers of rugby will be surprised to know that sevens rugby in Sri Lanka actually evolved in 1931 and that too in Ratnapura. The book traces the sevens game to the Bowl winning performance in 1984 in Hong Kong and to the hosting of the first ever Asian Sevens tourney in 1999 in Kandy.

Neil Wijeratne, a law graduate and practicing lawyer, is the author of nine books including three novels. He is the first honorary recorder of the Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union and holds office since 1989. Neil's previous book on rugby was 'Rugby Across the Straits - Rugby Football links between sri Lanka and India' published in 1999.

Kandy CC continues their lean run

Kandy CC continued their lean run in the BCCSL's Under 23 tournament when they lost a close game to Matale's Old Thomians. In another fixture which was affected by rain, KCC made a challenging declaration only to see the lads from Wennapuwa SC almost overhaul their score.

Rangana who has scored three half centuries in a row and leg spinner Premakumara have been the mainstays of the KCC side.

Old Thomians Matale beat Kandy CC on 1st innings KCC 181 (S. Rangana 59, P. Munidasa 17, C. Wickremanayake 14, M. Premakumara 29, T. Indrasena 5 - 36, L. Herath 2 - 36) and 101 - 3 (S. Rangana 57, S. Ranasinghe 18)

OTMSC 234 (M. Jayasinghe 85, P. Gunaratne 28, L. Herath 19, S. Jayasundera 22, T Indrasena 30, R. Bandara 3 - 39, P. Munidasa 2 - 22, C. Wickremanayake 3 - 38.)

KCC vs Wennapuwa SC - No Decision.

KCC 200 - 6 decl. (S. Ranagana 54, H. Bandara 32, R. Warnasuriya 32, not out, Gamini Bandara 34, S. Kurera 3 - 48)

Wennapuwa SC 184 - 3

(R. Fonseka 42, S Kurera 39, J.A. Fernando 47 n.o., R. Kurera 28, M. Premakumar 2 - 37.)

-A.K.

Up-country cricket ground is neglected

By V.T. Rajah - Our Badulla Sports Correspondent

The Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka is spending exorbitant sum of money for new Cricket Stadiums in the country, but it is rather painful to note that any improvements to the Badulla Cricket Grounds has hardly received the support it deserves from the controlling body.

Two to three years back the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka commenced constructing turf wickets at the Badulla Esplanade and spent more than five lakhs of rupees initially. Today the ground is neglected and the grass is seen overgrown and the local matches are still being played on matting wicket.

Badulla Esplanade is the only place in Sri Lanka where several games like cricket, hockey, football, basketball, netball and volleyball could be played simultaneously. Such facilities are not available in any part of the country. We have such a large ground and it could still be improved if funds are available. One-third of the grounds is now being dumped with waste materials and once this is completed, rugger, badminton, swimming and athletics too could be carried out respectively.

The BCCSL earlier planned not only to construct a stadium, but also provide an indoor practice net, including a hostel etc., at a cost of nearly 20 million rupees. The Mayor of Badulla M.D. Hemachandra too volunteered to hand over the grounds to the BCCSL when such proposal was made to him, but today the cricket grounds is in such a state where the 46th Battle of Uva between Uva College and Dharmadutha College was played at the football grounds, Vincent Dias Stadium.

Cricket players and fans in Badulla are of the opinion that the BCCSL will at least take steps to complete the turf wickets, so that the cricket fans in the area will be in a position to witness some foreign teams in action at Badulla.

Decision at board meeting

ICC to focus on corruption

The executive board of the International Cricket Council (ICC) will focus on corruption within the game when it meets in the Kenyan capital Nairobi next week, the ICC said on Friday.

Sir Paul Condon, the former head of the Metropolitan Police in London who has been appointed to head the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit, will address the meeting to detail the structure and operating methods of the new body.

Malcolm Gray, president of the ICC, also welcomed a call from the Pakistan Cricket Board for a judicial enquiry into two games involving Pakistan in the 1999 World Cup in England.

"If...this could rid the sport of corruption then we welcome it," he told reporters.

Ali Bacher, president of the United Cricket Board of South Africa (UCBSA), said in June he had been told that Pakistan's defeat by Bangladesh and the match against India were fixed.

The ICC said in a statement it planned to spend up to $4 million to fund the Anti-Corruption Unit over the next three years. The new body will have a staff of six and will be based in London.

The ICC has come under fire from some quarters, notably former Australian captain Ian Chappell, for not having done enough to tackle the scourge of match-fixing, highlighted by the Hansie Cronje affair.

In other business over the two days starting on Monday, the ICC board will also discuss recommendations on procedures for players who have been reported by umpires for having a suspect bowling action.

'Battle of Uva' ends in a draw

The 46th Battle of Uva between Uva College and Dharmadutha College ended in a tame draw at the Vincent Dias Stadium in Badulla last Friday.

Maliban Biscuits manufacturers Ltd., sponsored. Dharamadutha College missed a golden opportunity of winning this encounter by an innings as they failed to declare their innings by lunch when the score was 242 for 7 on the second day. Dharmadutha College took a lead of 90 runs on first innings. Batting for the second time Uva College lost six of their wickets for a mere 25 runs when Sajeewa Dinesh captured 5 wickets. Mohamed Azoor, Manatunge and L. Kumara saved Uva College from an outright defeat.

Sajeewa Dinesh of Dharmadutha College not only won the Best Bowlers award, but was also adjudged as the Man of the Match for his all round performance. C.D. Aththanayake won the best Batsman's award.

It was also unanimously decided to play the 47th Battle of Uva on April 2nd and 3rd next year at the same venue. The Mayor of Badulla l Mr. M.D. Hemachandra was the chief guest and distributed the awards.

Uva College 170; (C.D. Aththanayake 102, Gihan Indika 3 for 47 and A. Nishantha 3 for 34) and 80 for 7; (R. Wickremarachchie 17, A.N.K. Manatunge 15, M. Azoor n.o. 22 and Sajeewa Dinesh 5 for 15).

Dharmadutha College 260; (B. Udayanga 54, Sajeewa Dinesh 53, G.V. Nimantha 74, A.N.K. Manatunge 3 for 67, I.D.D. Ratnayake 4 for 53).

Central College wins hockey title

Badulla Central College emerged Under-15 Hockey Champions when they beat Dharmadutha College by a close 2-1 victory, played at the Vincent Dias Stadium in Badulla recently.

There was a poor response from the Schools in Badulla District as only three teams entered this tournament organised by the Uva Schools Hockey Association. If the association had taken more interest, there would have been at least six teams in this tournament.

P. Chathuranga and K. Aranwela scored the goals for Badulla Central College while D. Kumara sounded the boards for the losers. Messrs. E.S. Ratnayake and P.T. Palliyaguru officiated.

Badulla district junior football champions

Badulla Central College and Dharmadutha College emerged Badulla district under-14 and under-12 inter-schools Milo Football Championships respectively played at the Vincent Dias Stadium in Badulla during last week.

Eight schools participated in each age group in this Badulla district football tournament organized by the Sri Lanka Schools Football Association. These two champions have qualified to play in the second round against other districts in this all-island tournament. In the under-12 tournament, Badulla Central College beat Al Adhan Muslim M.V. in the semi-finals by a solitary goal while Dharmadutha College beat Medagama M.V. Bibile by 2-1 in the second semi-finals. In the finals Dharmadutha College beat Badulla Central College by 2 goals to nil.

In the Under-14 tournament concluded on Friday, Badulla Central College beat Al Adhan Muslim M.V. by 3-0 in the first semi-finals while Uva College beat Dharmadutha College by 3-0 in the second semi-finals. The finals between Uva College and Badulla Central College ended in a goal-less draw and Badulla Central College beat Uva College by 3-2 in the tie-breaker penalties.

Narangala Tamil M.V. Hali Ela, St. Thomas' College, Bandarawela and Passara Muslim Maha Vidyalaya are the other schools, which participated in this tournament.

ROVER pinpoints....

Talk of the town

A Sri Lankan cricketer's name has been mentioned by the South African captain about the match fixing scandal which has rocked the cricketing world. Whilst all this was going on a cricketer's house is said to have been raided which incidentally took place the same day the former Indian cricket captain Azharuddin's house was raided in India where money was found.

Life members

A spanking new headquarters were declared open recently close to the Ministry of Sports and all present members of this association were made life members by the big man concerned. All this happened when those who had done much to the sport in the past were left kicking their heels on the sidelines. Furthermore a bar was also opened by this big wig with the intention of providing his catchers with wine and song as he happens to own a liquor shop and another bar in Narahenpita as well. This is promoting sports and making a fast buck as well!!

Vehicles misused

A big mouth who was going great guns at the Olympic Village in Sydney took on all the powers vested on his boss, took charge of the vehicle provided to the Sri Lankan delegation while the members of the Sri Lankan delegation had to bus it or use taxis. Is this done Sir?

NAASU on a lifeboat?

Going by the way coaches are picked for foreign tours, one wonders at the favouritism involved in getting their nod to the ones closest to them, who does not utter the wrong doings of NAASU officials being rewarded with trips.

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