Royal emerge WP hockey champions
View(s):A single series penalty stroke goal by Yusuf Shihar helped Royal College to emerge champions by beating their arch rivals S. Thomas’ College in the final of the Under-20 Western Province Hockey Tournament held at the Royal College ground last weekend.
Both the final and five-series penalty strokes followed by the game ended in a draw before the winner was decided through a single series penalty stroke. Both teams made some nail-biting moves during the final with Royal dominating the first half while S. Thomas’ dominating the second half.
Royal U-20 Hockey Team (Standing from left): Anuk Kaveeja, Geesath Bathisha, Thevjan Weerasekara, Rivisha Marambage (Vice Captain), Damith Panditharatne (Coach), Riyaz Aluher (SGM and Assistant Principal), Thilak Wattuhewa (Principal), Chithran (TIC), Lushantha Perera (Coach), Sihath Dasanayake (Captain), Kevindu Dharmarathne, Minol Fernando (Front row from left): Yusuf Shihar, Ashvin Wettasinghe, Ruvi Perera, Muadh Mueen, Stefan Anthonypillai, Aathif Faleel, Haazim Dhailamy, Rumal Jayasinghe, Nehan Wijesekara, Akash Dashendra, Lithum Karunasiri
Royal goalkeeper Stefan Anthonypillai made some excellent saves in quick succession for the team to resist a strong Thomian attack in the second half. Royal players faced it tough at the final as they had to play three games including the quarter-final and semi-final on the same day, while S. Thomas’ played only two games including the final on the day.
The five-series penalty stroke series ended in a 1-1 draw with S. Thomas’ Dann netting the goal while Yusuf levelled it in a nail-biting last penalty stroke for Royal. In the single series penalty stroke, Dann missed the goal while Yusuf made no mistake to sound the board and win the championship for Royal College for the first time in six years.
Royal College, led by Sihath Dassanayaka with Rivisha Marambe as his deputy beat Asoka Vidyalaya by 7-0 in the pre-quarter-final, won against Nalanda College by 1-0 in the quarter-final, and defeated defending champions St. Joseph’s College by 2-0 in the semi-final.
Royal is coached by former national sticker and Air Force player Damith Panditharathne with the assistance of Lushantha Perera, a former Anandian, who has produced some excellent hockey players in Colombo in the recent past.
S. Thomas’ beat St. Peter’s College by 1-0 in the pre-quarter-final, won against Prince of Wales College by 4-1 through penalty strokes after 1-1 draw in the quarter-final, and edged out strong Ananda College in penalty strokes after 3-3 draw in the semi-final. St. Joseph’s won the third place playoff against Ananda through penalty strokes after a 2-2 draw.
In the girls’ category, Janathipathi Balika Vidyalaya beat Musaeus College by 4-1 with the winner decided through penalty strokes following a scoreless draw. Bishops College outclassed Vishaka Vidyalaya by 5-0 to win the third place playoff.