Baptism of fire for DDS, as Sri Lanka set to meet Afghans in one-off Test
A new era of Sri Lankan cricket begins in Colombo this week when Dhananjaya de Silva leads is team in a one-off Test against Afghanistan. The match–the first between the two nations–will begin on Friday at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) where the 32-year-old all-rounder will lead his charges for the first time in a [...]
Dominant Sabalenka crushes Zheng to defend Australian Open title
Melbourne, Australia, AFP: An authoritative Aryna Sabalenka blew China’s Zheng Qinwen off court on Saturday to successfully defend her Australian Open title — the first woman to do so in more than a decade. The Belarusian world number two proved too powerful for the 12th seed with a 6-3, 6-2 drubbing in 76 minutes to [...]
Dimuth scores ton, Kandy in mammoth chase
Dimuth Karunaratne and Kusal Mendis led Colombo’s resurgence against Dambulla on day three of the National Super League tournament at Pallekele Stadium yesterday. The former Test skipper scored 161, including 15 boundaries, and had two significant partnerships — first a 148-run stand with Mendis, who made 80 with 12 boundaries, and then a 73-run partnership [...]
Kanchana shines, Ananda force draw
Kanchana de Livera’s resilient half century helped Ananda College secure a draw in their U-19 school cricket match against S. Thomas’ College at Mt. Lavinia yesterday. Ananda, resuming the day on 42 for 2, could only manage 172 as a resurgent Thomian bowling attack ran through their innings. Despite being forced to follow on, Ananda [...]
Smith guides Australia to healthy position
Brisbane, Australia, AFP: Steve Smith guided Australia to a healthy position as they reached 60-2 at stumps on the third day of the second Test against the West Indies in Brisbane on Saturday. Australia need another 156 runs for victory to take a clean sweep of the two-Test series with eight wickets in hand. At [...]
Ton-up Pope pulls England into lead in first India Test
Hyderabad, India, AFP: Ollie Pope struck a defiant century to help England bounce back with a lead of 126 after their batting stutter against a persistent Indian attack in the opening Test on Saturday. England’s second innings reached 316-6 at stumps on day three in Hyderabad with Pope (148) and Rehan Ahmed (16) at the [...]
Sri Lanka and Australia vie for top spot
The ongoing ICC U-19 World Cup in South Africa has nearly reached its midpoint, with most matches in the group stage completed and the teams advancing to the Super Sixes determined. Sri Lanka and Australia, having both won their matches so far, have almost secured qualification from Group ‘C’ and are set to face off [...]
SLB to host two BWF event in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) has beean awarded the rights to host two international badminton events in 2024 by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the world governing body of badminton. Accordingly, Sri Lanka will host the Li-Ning Sri Lanka International Challenge from February 5 to 11 followed by Li-Ning Sri Lanka International Series from February 12 [...]
Globe-trotting officials done little to get football back on track
Despite being elected over four months ago, the current football administration led by Jaswar Umar has failed to articulate a clear vision for governing the once defunct sport, according to insiders. The most affected by this four-month period of inaction are the players, clubs, coaches, and officials, as reported by officials of certain leading clubs. [...]
Australian Open 2024 — competitive maturity
Success in Grand Slam events show competitive maturity of players, country and the continent. In participatory numbers, the Australian Open 2024 draw weighed heavily in favour of Europe, the two Americas. Having said that professional tennis arena does not reflect the player development potential of a nation or a continent. It is very much a [...]
CA 58 – Transformation of a name to a brand
Chamari Athapaththu, the dynamic captain of the Sri Lankan women’s cricket team, was this week named the ODI Cricketer of the Year for 2023. This prestigious honour follows an exceptional season where the 33-year-old Southpaw exhibited her remarkable batting skills, leading Sri Lanka to their historic first-ever series win against New Zealand. The highlight of [...]
Cool Sinner faces battling Medvedev in Australian Open final
Melbourne, Australia, AFP: Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner go head-to-head in the Australian Open men’s final today, with the only guarantee being that there will be a new name on the trophy. Since Stan Wawrinka won his only title in Melbourne in 2014, Novak Djokovic has picked up six trophies, Roger Federer won two and [...]
Transgender swimmer challenges ban before CAS
Lausanne, Switzerland, AFP: American swimmer Lia Thomas, who became the first transgender athlete to win a US national college title, is taking legal action in a bid to be allowed compete again in elite female competition, including the Paris Olympics. Thomas has not swum since World Aquatics introduced new rules in 2022, which prohibit anyone [...]
Thurstan vs Isipathana Millennium Legends clash today at Colts
Providing an opportunity to reminisce their past achievements, while laying a platform to share the camaraderie, members of the cricket teams that played during the millennium representing Isipathana College and Thurstan College, will feature in a first-of-a-kind, at the Thurstan vs Isipathana Millennium Legends Big Match cricket encounter. The Twenty20 cricket encounter will be played [...]
Draws galore as Holy Family GS win girls’ hockey title
St. Joseph Vaz College, Wennappuwa and St. Thomas’ College, Matale ended up as joint champions of the Boy’s category of the All-Island Schools Under-18 Boys and Girls Hockey Tournament while Holy Family Girls’ School, Wennappuwa overcame Sri Sangamittha Balika Vidyalaya, Matale by 1-0 to annex the Girls’ category winners. A total of 56 teams were [...]
Lyceum Nugegoda victorious at Under-19 International Schools Cricket Championship 2023
Lyceum International School, Nugegoda emerged victorious at the Under-19 International Schools Cricket Championship 2023. The victorious team led by Duvindu Silva, included Sachira Delankawala, Abilash Sasidharma, Thevindu Bandara, Lashika Shewan, Anuda Ranasinghe, Shevan Silva, Karunnyan Ponkovan, Shenal Perera, Banula Kumbukdeniya, Sadeesa Akash, Duvindu Silva, Shaheer Shifan, Nushan de Silva, Sethika Balasuriya, Imadh Siraj, Shaveen Edirisinghe, [...]
Nelson Mendis felicitated as CCC School of Cricket celebrate 25 years
The 25th anniversary of the CCC School of Cricket was marked with a blazing felicitation ceremony on January 20, at the Bishop’s College Auditorium with distinguished guests gracing the momentous occasion. The event was graced by distinguished guests and cricket legends in attendance that made the evening with excitement to remember. The entire auditorium was [...]
Jevahn and Kaya stamp their class at Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship 2023
Two promising junior golfers — Jevahn Sathasivam and Kaya Daluwatte — secured the top prizes in the Gold segment Boys and Girls respectively at the Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship 2023 which concluded at the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) recently with a colorful prize giving. The event was organised by Sri Lanka Golf [...]
SLR conducts TDE Programme in the north
The Training, Development and Education Programme of World Rugby for the year 2024, conducted by Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) kicked off from the Northern Province. The programme was held at the Jaffna University and Vavuniya Unoversity with 30 participants each, mainly school leavers and university students from the region, covering the one day programme. The [...]
Shenuk, Nethmi crowned Open Singles champions
Shenuk Samararatne emerged as the Men’s Singles champion at the Uva Province All-Island Open Badminton Tournament, organised by the Uva Province Badminton Association under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Badminton. The tournament’s fourth edition, recently conducted at St. Thomas’ College Indoor Badminton Courts in Bandarawela, saw Shenuk securing the title by defeating Malitha Hasaranga [...]