Netball: Holy Family Convent Kurunegala overall Schools champions

Holy Family Convent Kurunegala won the overall championship, for the eighth year running, at the 24th All-Island Schools Netball Tournament held at Bernard Aluwihare Stadium in Matale on Sunday (19).   HFC beat Maliyadeva Girls School Kurunegala 25-20 in the Under-18 final and 12-6 in the Under-14 final.   But a rare opportunity of winning a triple was thwarted by Siddhartha Maha Vidyalaya Eppawela, who beat HFC in the Under-16 final 11-10 in a thrilling final.   On their way to the final the HFC Under-14 team beat Kolonnawa MV 22-10 in the quarter-final and Visakha Vidyalaya by 14-12 in the semi-final.   Kalutara Balika Vidyalaya won the third playoffs in the Under-18 and Under-16 categories while Visakha Vidyalaya secured the third place in the Under-14 category.   Devini Herath of the victorious HFC team won the award for the best player in the Under-18 category while Shanika Ekakanayka of Siddhartha MV Eppawela won the best player award in Under-16 category.   HFC’s Dilusha Gallage won the best player in the Under-14 category.   Dilani Perera of Visakha Vidyalaya Colombo, with 6712 sms and facebook votes, won the most popular netball player of the year award.