Good fare on the card

Wesley and Royal will clash in their annual hockey tournament for the Dudley de Silva shield scheduled to be played at Campbell Park on November 4 at 4.30 p.m. This will be the fourth in the series. Royal are the holders of the shield since the encounter began in 2007.

The shield was donated by the Royal Old Boys Union to recognise its distinguished student Dudley Kenneth George de Silva after his academic career at Royal and also the principal of his alma mater from 1954 to 1956.

Royal this year will be led by Marlan Senanayake while Jatoosh Parameswaran will lead Wesley. The two leaders have immense experience behind them with both having played for the national junior team.

Royal skipper Marlan has the services of seven players who were members of the national junior team besides him in his deputy Jasintha Senaratne, Chirantha Wijesinghe, Shahid Hussain, Malith Abeysundara, Shahin Ahamed, Thakshila Mohottiarachchi and Milinda Alles.

Though Wesley have experienced players in Thanushan Kularatnam, Promoth Ramadas and Imadh Muzammil who are capable of giving the Royalists a torrid time.

This time out with the two teams being well balanced the encounter is no doubt going to be a close tussle. Host Wesley will be looking forward to chalk up their first win of the series while Royal will no doubt be aiming to make it four in a row. Apart from the shield, the best player will be awarded with the R.O.D. Paul memorial challenge cup.

Wesley Squad – Jatoosh Parameswaran (Capt), Thanushan Kularatnam, Promoth Ramadas, Imadh Muzammil, Arun Dharmasridharan, Krishan Anthony, Safan Haneefa, Lakshan Manoharan, Thanushan Vasanthanathan, Nihaad Nasooh, Aaqish Faizal, Aaqil Azmi, Abhishek Devadas, Yohan Manula, Dhanushan Parthiban, Harishan Asokan.

Royal Squad - Marlan Senanayake (capt), Jasintha Senaratne, Chirantha Wijesinghe, Mushtaq Rumy, Sanju Peiris, Thakshila Mohottiarachchi, Shahid Hussain, Malith Abeysundara, Shahin Ahamed, Susanga Jayawardena, Dhanuja Gunasekara, Minidu Alles, Thanweer Hallaj, Musharraf Uwais, Azman Ziyad, Kolitha Kaluarachchi.