Carrom: Sri Lanka emerge runners-up at ICF Cuo 2015

Sri Lanka finished runners-up in the Men’s and Women’s segments at the Carrom ICF Cup 2015 held from October 7 to 11 at the Thayagaraj Sports Complex in New Delhi.   The other countries which figured in the event are India, Bangladesh and Maldives.   World No. 1 ranked Nishantha Fernando lived up to his expectations defeating high ranked Indians players in the men’s singles quarters and semis but unfortunately due to the disturbance created by the Indian crowd lost his concentration to be defeated by Indian Akbar Ali in the finals.   Nishantha partnering Chamil Cooray went down fighting gallantly in the men’s doubles to beat Hafizul and Hemayat of Bangladesh 2-0 and in the semi-finals.   The Sri Lankan pair never gave the Indian pair Akbar Ali and Sandeep to relax but unfortunately lost their way in the middle of both games to lose 2-0 in the final game.   In the women’s doubles Joseph Roshita and Chalani Lakmali sailed to the finals defeating the Bangladesh pair in the quarter-finals and an Indian pair in the semis but went down tamely to India’s Rashmi Kumari and Tuba losing 2-0.   The Manager of the Sri Lanka contingent said that this tournament was a good outing in preparation for the forth coming World Cup and the management found the areas that need immediate attention to uplift the game as well as the requirements of the players.   The 7th Carrom World Cup will be held in England in 2016 at the congress, This was decided at the ICF held in India during the tournament.   Sri Lanka was represented by Thumula Naotunna, the General Secretary of the CFSL.   Results:   Men’s Singles Quarter-finals: Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka) beat Yogesh Paradesh (India) 2-0 (25/17, 25/22) Semi-finals: Nishantha Fernando beat K. Srinivas (India) 2-1 (25/18, 20/25, 25/24) Final: Akbar Ali (India) beat Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka) 2-0 (25/22, 25/10)   Men's Doubles Quarter-finals: Chamil Cooray/Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka) Hafizul/Hemayat (Bangladesh) 2-0 (5/24, 25/20) Semi-finals: Akbar Ali/Sandeep (India) beat Chamil Cooray/Nishantha Fernando (Sri Lanka) 2-0 (25/18, 25/19) Final: Akbar Ali/Sandeep (India) beat Yogesh Paradesh/K. Srinivas (India) 2-0 (25/10, 25/05)   Women’s Doubles Quarter-finals: Joseph Roshita/Chalani Lakmali (Sri Lanka) beat Ainul Nishath/Sabina Akthar (Bangladesh) 2-0 (25/00, 25/00) Semi-finals: Joseph Roshita/Chalani Lakmali (Sri Lanka) beat Kajol Kumari/Devanjan (India) 2-1 (25/19, 18/25, 25/16) Final: Rashmi Kumari/Tuba (India) beat Joseph Roshita/Chalani Lakmali (Sri Lanka) 2-0 (25/21, 25/00)