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Sports

Thomians reign supreme
The Thomian Rowing crew came out with flying colours winning, the 30th Royal Thomian Regatta for the fourth consecutive year with the convincing margin of 34 to 6 points at the Beira Lake on the 26th of October. S. Thomas' has now won the T. N. Fernando Trophy as overall winners on 16 occasions to Royals' 13 with a tie in one year. The prestigious Boat Race for the Senior Four too was won by the Thomians bringing the tally to 17 wins for each school.

The Senior Pairs event was won for a record three consecutive years by the same unbeatable Thomian combination of Preshith Ganegoda and Tharindu Gunasekera. They were coxed this year by 13-year-old Dathika Wickremanayake.

Senior Skulls event was won by Isuru Perera with the fast timing of 3.48 sec whilst Tharindu Gunasekera of S. Thomas' College was awarded the trophy for the Oarsman of the Regatta by contributing the highest individual points.

'The Thomians were led by Preshith Ganegoda and were coached by Ajith Goonewardena. Hosts, Royal were led by L.Lankaputhra and were coached by Mr.H. Dorenegama. The Chief Guest was Mr. Kavantissa Ratnayake.

Results:
Boat Race: D. De Zoysa (B), T Gunasekera (2), P. Karunanayake (3),I. Perera, (S), and S. Kannangara (cox) of S. Thomas' beat S. Perera (B), P. Perera (2), V. Wickremasinghe (3), J. Lankaputhra (S), M. Careem (C) of Royal by 8 secs (Time 3.23).

Junior Fours: Hishan Fernando (B), Salman Nistar (2), Preshith Ganegoda (3), Dharshan Goonaratne (S), Lashika Weerasinghe (C) of S. Thomas' beat A. Sulziash (B), N. Gajendradas (2), N. Caldera (3). T. Jayathilaka (S), A Deen (C) of Royal by 12 secs (Time 3.25 secs).

Senior Pairs: Preshith Ganegoda (B), Tharindu Gunasekera (S), Dathika Wikremanayake (C) of S. Thomas' beat S. Padmapriya (B), R. Jayasinghe (S), R. Wishwakula (C) of Royal by 9 secs (Time 4.33 secs).

Junior Pairs: S. Wanigasekara (B), R. Jayachandran (S), M. Careen (C) of Royal beat Hishan Fernando (B), Dharshan Goonaratne (S), Sean Abeyewardena (C), of S. Thomas' by 2 secs (Time 4.37 secs).

Senior Skulls: Isuru Perera of S. Thomas' beat Suranjaya Dharmaratne of Royal College by 12 seconds (Time 3.48 secs). Junior Skulls: Lakith Lankaputhra of Royal beat Dejan de Zoysa of S. Thomas', by 6 secs (Time 3.55 secs).

Junior B Fours: Naresh Navaratne (B), Shannon de Silva (2), Dineshka Aluvihara (3), Mahangu Weerasinghe (S), Dathika Wickremanayake (C) of S. Thomas' beat K. Sooriyarachchi (B), R. Jayachandran (2), S. Padmapriyan (3), R. Jayasinghe (S), T. Monsoor (C) of Royal with a lead of 26 sec.

A large crowd packed the Colombo Rowing Club to witness this sport of high endurance which was sponsored by Dialogue GSM The Thomian Oarsmen have been invited to participate in the Hong Kong National championship Regatta this November.

India overwhelm Lanka at HK sixes
Robin Singh led from the front as India overwhelmed Sri Lanka by four wickets to book their place in the championship round of the 2002 Hong Kong Sixes.

Chasing a target of 61, India lost opener Hemang Badani in the third ball of the first over. But Atul Wassan (19 off 8 balls with one four and two sixes) and Robin Singh put their team back on track, adding 37 for the second wicket. After Wassan's dismissal Singh (30 off 13 balls, including three fours and two sixes) joined hands with another left-hander Hrishikesh Kanitkar to see his team to victory without any further hiccups.

The four-wicket win also secured India a place in the championship round where they will join South Africa and Pakistan. Earlier, Sri Lanka, after being put in, were given a strong start by opener Thilina Kandamby, who made an unbeaten 48 in the previous match that Sri Lanka lost to South Africa. The 20-year-old made 31 off 14 balls with one four and three sixes, before retiring.

But with his opening partner Duminda Perera struggling to force the pace, the men from the Emerald Isles struggled to put a meaningful target for the strong Indian batting line-up. (Crickinfo)

A rare gesture by the squash champion
Ten-year-old Vinuri Gunathilake of Visakha Vidyalaya won the U-11 title at the Inter-Schools Novices Squash Championships conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Squash Federation last week.

A beaming pretty little Vinuri was pleasantly surprised and excited to receive an additional trophy - the biggest and the most attractive of the trophies on offer on the day- donated by the most successful squash player among the schools, 15-year-old Tehani Guruge of Musaeus College. Tehani also donated tins of "Sustogen Sport" to the other placed players in the U-11 category out of her Mead Johnson allocation who sponsors Tehani's energy drink.

Asked to comment on her fine gesture, an acutely embarrassed Tehani after much reluctance said that she saved a part of the prize-money awarded when she won the women's open and U-19 titles at the recently held Air Force Open particularly for an occasion like this as she felt she has to give back at least something to the game she loves.

Tehani feels that all squash enthusiasts must endeavour to encourage the few young players taking to the game as squash is one game Sri Lanka can excel at Asian level in the short term.

Tehani also commented that the Musaeus College Principal Ms. Pilapitiya has always encouraged the students to give generously to the society even in a small way whenever possible. She also recalled with pride that the College donated one million Rupees to the Hope Cancer Hospital project recently.

Tehani is also lucky in the sense that her entire playing gear and the baggage is sponsored by the Wilson Sports Co., Malaysia while her Yonex clothing range is sponsored by the Sunrise Co., Singapore for the next 3 years.

Tehani is also the lucky recipient of a five year sponsorship package from the Minister of Sports Johnstone Fernando for her unique achievements in the International arena.

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