Sports

Sports

‘Thou shall not lose’ attitude kills schools cricket in Kandy
Dharmaraja's slightly surprising triumph in the final of the limited over tournament is indeed a fillip to school cricket in Kandy. However, Under-19 cricket in Kandy has become somewhat static. Most schools, if not all, are exactly where they were at the end of last season.

Spectator support is minimal and this is not confined to Kandy alone. Part of the reason is that some of the cricket played is negative in the extreme. The 'thou shall not lose' attitude dominates and this makes for lack-lustre, unenterprising cricket. One school in particular has been most negative and unimaginative, batting 100 overs on one occasion to score 120 for 5, and 94 overs on another for a mere 111 runs.

Kingswood led by Milinda Wattegedera were quite impressive until the advent of February. They had pulled off a good win over DS Senanayake and generally fared well. Trinity, it was who derailed them by making over 400 and putting them under a lot of pressure. Besides Wattegedera who made a hundred, the bulk of the runs came from Ariyadasa, Liyanage, Weeraratne and Dissanayake.

Kingswood's pace attack led by Gihan Ekanayake was moderate, but the spinning duo of Niroshan Perera (left arm) and tiny Asiri Amerasinghe (right arm leg) more often than not produced the goods.

The Antonians were unfortunate in that Skipper Nipuna Ratnayake had a poor season. Thus the onus fell on the left-handed all-rounder Tyronne de Silva who shouldered the burden magnificently, scoring a thousand and picking up around 50 wickets. Opener Rislan had a wonderful season, passing hundred thrice and reaching the nineties on two occasions.

Off-spinner Ariyaratne was the chief wicket-taker. He ran amok against the Rajans and almost fashioned a win. Priyantha Ekanayake, Pinnaduwe, Rikaz and Edirisoriya performed commendably.

Trinity were middling until they produced that mountainous 400 plus against Kinsgswood. Left-hander Clifford Fernando, the skipper, had a lean run midway, but came back to his best later on. Ishan Ratnayake, the opener, hogged the headlines, scoring a double hundred and a single one.

Trinity's bowling was their weaker suit. Muneer was generally impressive but the rest struggled. The happy feature about the Trinity team is that most of them will be around in 2003-04. Avanka Pieris who has a reasonable season will be missed, but youngster Pathirana could be counted on to show improvement.

The Rajans scored a win over the Devans and had a few good first innings wins. Skipper Muditha Wijekoon and Chandratilleka made hundreds, while Kapugedera added to his stature in some innings.

The bowling was almost all Amal Ekanayake - the left arm spinner reaped a fairly rich harvest and always demanded respect. Off spinner Maduka Rajapakse also lent support to the left-armer. Disappointingly Mahes Weerasuriya has a forgettable season.

Like the Anthonians, the Rajans, too, blotted their copy book by being beaten by Royal. Kingswood promised much but failed to deliver. Their star performer Kosala Kulasekara who made two hundreds last season didn't hit it big this time. Skipper Wekadapola passed three figures in the Big Match. Nilan too was generally in the runs.

Vidyartha's bowling, especially the pace, was disappointing. It was left to the spinners - Senanayake and Gangoda - to produce the goods. Vidyartha had a good win over their rivals in the limited over game.

The Sylvestrians didn't produce big totals regularly. Even when they did, the effort was too time-consuming. Skipper Athauda, in an all round capacity, led the way. Jayatissa and Dhanajaya Karunarathne were their most looked-up-to batsmen.

St. Sylvester's did have Thurstan on the ropes but allowed their opponents to wriggle free. It was disappointing that medium pace Hameed, of whom a lot was expected, fell by the wayside.

Sri Rahula Katugastota, playing in division two alongside Trinity and Vidyaratha, had a good season. Skipper and attacking left hander Nimantha Priyadarshana passed six hundred, while fourteen-year-old Krishan Silva made four hundred plus in seven games.

They lacked a left arm spinner. However, paceman Udayakumara and off-spinner Nalin Atapattu did their best to compensate. The find of the season was sixteen-year-old Asela Gunaratne who hammered a superb 159 in just his second game (in his life!!).
He also dismissed thirty batsmen. Sri Rahula won one game and drew ten.- Aubrey Kuruppu

Top field for Radella
The Radella Hill Climb is scheduled to be worked off on April 15 at 9.00 a.m. The event which is organized by the Sri Lanka Association of Racing Drivers and Riders (SLARDAR) is sure to provide all the thrills and spills of motor racing with Sri Lanka's top drivers and riders expected to go at each others record.

Nineteen events comprising of seven motorcycle and twelve motor cars are planned for the day. These events include four championship events of the SLARDAR Championship 2003 which is co-sponsored by McFoil consisting the Group 'A' Over 12 kg/hp, Group M & T upto 3500cc, Ford Formula 1600cc and the Group MX upto 125cc. Over 100 entries have been received for both the category's (cars and bikes).

This year there will be no practice session like in the past and this year’s participants will have to be well prepared leaving no room for any hiccups on the way to the finish which would effect their timing. The Modified Formula event is going to be an interesting one with veteran Suranjith Premadasa gearing himself up to give course record holder Rohan de Silva who has the best timing of 31.85 seconds a challenge. With Rizvi Farouk, Romani de Silva, Dinesh Jayawardena, Harsha de Silva and Rohan de Silva to fight it out in the Ford Formula event.

Other drivers expected to shine on the day are record holder Dhammika Peiris, Nishan Wasalathanthri, Sajad Zuhair, Rohan Wijeratne in the Group 'A' Cars Over 12 kg/hp. In the Group M & T car event record holder Nishan Weerasooriya will face stiff opposition from Dinesh Deheragoda, Aravinda Premadasa, Pradeep Jayawardena and Nalin D. Perera. Experienced car drivers Zakie Ismail, Yoga Perera, Bri Ponnambalam, Sheran Fernando and Javed Wahab, Mahen Thambiyah, Nihal Premasiri, Nihal Weerasinghe and Ishraq Wahab are also expected to return fast timings.-MSA

Southern Rally on May 2
The Southern Motor Rally organized by the Southern Motor Sports Club is scheduled to be held on May 2, 3 and 4 in Matara. The 630-km rally is one of the most challenging, better organized and memorable events in motor rallying in Sri Lanka. This will be a journey through the wilderness of the south. BP Castrol, ICI Autocolor and Eagle Insurance are the sponsors who have confirmed their support and the organizers are looking forward for more sponsors who have promised to support them.

The organizers of the Southern Rally is taking a step forward by introducing a speed leg for the first time in Sri Lanka, it was earlier conducted on the TSD format which is the only format used in Sri Lanka rallies in the past. The introduction of this speed leg will uplift the rally into the category of FIA (the world motor sports authority). In the process falling into the WRC (world rally championship) level of events and a step towards international motor rallying. It will make the Southern Rally a highly exciting and superb motor sports event for the rally hungry motor sportsman in the country. -MSA

Noohus', Khaalis squeeze past to win Sunquick Cup
By M. Shamil Amit
The Noohus' combination (father MS and son Ashif) landed the best race on the second day of the festival meet at Nuwara Eliya. This combination landed the best race of the day when their horse Khaalis ridden by jockey Ashok Kumar squeezed through to win the Sunquick Cup in the race sponsored by Scan Products. This was the fourth event of the day and the highest winning stakes event. Local jockey Ashok Kumar won another race later in the day giving him a double. Owner trainer Nigel Austin and the Abeyratne's also had a double with Nigel winning the third and seventh race and the Abeyratne's taking the second and fifth event.

The proceedings began with Devinda S. Senanayake's horse Early Night ridden by A. Mariyasoosai getting the better of Icelndic to win the Breeders Cup. The owner of Early Night always has the knack of winning the first race of the day. The second race which was for the Cotton Hall Cup - named in memory of a past champion and run over seven furlongs - went to Anurath Abeyratne's Sonali ridden by V. Mathialagan.

Nigel Austin's Hi Gorgeous who won on last time out Monday made a repeat to take the Keen Sight Cup which was the third race of the day. The Lion Air Cup presented by Lion Air Ltd for the fifth event of the day and run over seven furlongs went to R.B. Shinde ridden Perfect Placement owned by Malini Abeyratne. The sixth event which was for the Ahamed Mahir Didi Cup, run over seven furlongs, gave owner C. Brodie his first win on Battle Call with V. Punthiraj on board. Nigel ended the day with a double winning the Lake Gregory Cup with his Tamana ridden by Ashok Kumar.

Tomorrow the Nuwara Eliya race course will take on a carnival atmosphere with the biggest and the most glittering event of the festival - the Sri Lankan Airlines sponsored Governor's Cup - which will take place with the best horses and the cream of the riding talent from India and Sri Lanka. The event will be spearheaded by India's top jockey Aslam Khader who is called the pocket sized dynamite.

He is among the 12 jockeys who have over 1000 winners. Those joining the fun come with your best outfits as the best dressed men and women will be awarded prizes.
Results:

(1) 'Breeders Cup' -1. Early Light (Owner- Devinda S. Senanayake. Trainer- S.T. Nimal. Jockey- A.Mariyasoosai). 2. Icelandic. 3. Be My Friend. (2) 'Cotton Hall' -1. Sonali (Anurath Abeyratne. V. Mathialagan) 3. 'Keen Sight Cup'- 1. Hi Gorgeous (Nigel Austin. L. Dhayalan) 4. 'Sunquick Cup'- 1. Khaalis (Ashif Noohu. Dr. M.S. Noohu. Ashok Kumar). 2. Crowning Star (5) 'Lion Air Cup'- 1. Perfect Placement (Malini Abeyratne. Anurath Abeyratne. R.B. Shinde) 2. Certain Smile. (6) Ahamed Mahir Didi Cup -1. Battle Call (C. Brodie. Rohin de Mel & Monara Stables. V. Punthiraj) 2. Helen of Troy. (7) 'Lake Gregory Cup'- 1. Tamana (Nigel Austin. Ashok Kumar) 2. Flowra.

Rugby World Cup begins on October 10
By Shamseer Jaleel
The rugby World Cup 2003 will kick off on Oct. 10 this year in Australia with defending champs Wallabies taking on the Pumas under lights in Sydney. Twenty countries have qualified to take part and they have been divided into four groups and the top two teams will advance into the quarter-finals. Only Japan qualified from the Asian region while Korea were thrashed by Tonga 117-0 in the qualifying stage.

Rugby World Cup was introduced in 1987 and New Zealand beat France to win that year. Wallabies thrashed the British Lions to annex the 1991 world cup. Four years later South Africa created history by defeating New Zealand 6-3 in the final. In the last World Cup in 1999 Australia beat France in the final. Australia beat England in the first semi-final while France beat All Blacks.

Groupings:
Group A : Australia, Argentina, Ireland, Namibia, Romania. Group B : France, Scotland, Fiji, Japan, USA/Spain. Group C : South Africa, England, Samoa, Portugal, Uruguay, Group D. New Zealand, Wales, Italy, Canada, Tonga.

Draw and fixtures:
Group A; Oct. 10 Australia vs Argentina, 11 Ireland vs Romania, 14 Argentina vs Namibia, 18 Australia vs Romania 19 Ireland vs Namibia, 22 Argentina vs Romania, 25 Australia vs Namibia, 26 Argentina vs Ireland, 30 Namibia vs Romania. Nov 1 Australia vs Ireland.

Pool B. Oct. 11 France vs Fiji, 12 Scotland vs Japan, 15 Fiji vs Spain or USA, 18. France vs Japan, 20 Scotland vs Spain or USA, 23 Fiji vs Japan, 25 France vs Scotland, 27 Japan vs Spain or USA, 31 France vs Spain or USA.
Nov. 1 Scotland vs Fiji.

Group C: Oct. 11 South Africa vs Uruguay, 12 England vs Portugal, 15 Samoa vs Uruguay, 18 South Africa vs England, 19 Portugal vs Samoa, 24 South Africa vs Portugal, 26 England vs Samoa, 28 Portugal vs Uruguay,
Nov. 1 South Africa vs Samoa, 2 England vs Uruguay.

Group D. Oct. 11 New Zealand vs Italy, 12 Wales vs Canada, 15 Italy vs Tonga, 17 New Zealand vs Canada, 19 Wales vs Tonga, 25 Italy vs Wales, 29 Canada vs Wales,
Nov. 2 New Zealand vs Wales, 8 & 9 Quater-finals, Nov. 15 & 16 Semi-finals, 20 3rd and 4th playoff, 22 final.

Back to Sports