A fine match bag of 11 for 8 runs (5/6 and 6/2) by Mevan Dissanayake guided St. Benedict’s College to beat Basilica College by innings and 143 runs in their inter school under 13 division one tournament cricket match played at Kotahena Perhaps this match bag could be a record in the under 13 division one and also getting Basilica college out for eleven runs.

Batting first Bens declared at 200 for 3 with Mario Fernando and Maheesha Treshan scoring 83 and 70 runs respectively and in reply Basilica College collapsed for 46 runs and following on visitors were skittled out for 11 runs.

St. Benedicts College 200/3 dec in 32 overs Mario Fernando 83, Maheesha Treshan 70

Basilica College 46 in 26.1 overs Mevan Dissanayake 5/6, Methmika Fernando 2/3 and 11 in 11.1 overs Mevan Dissanayake 6/2, Anthony Olagama 2/1.

In another game in the same group, age and division St. Benedicts beat Lumbini Vidyalaya on first innings by 124 runs at Piliyandala. Batting first Bens scored 170 runs and in reply Lumbini were bowled out for 46 runs and following on Lumbini were 11 for 1 at stumps.

St. Benedicts College 170 in 56.5 overs Mevan Dissanayake 33, Kevin Jason 24, Preshan Silva 21, Yasod Kavinda 3/45, Submasith Siriwardene 2/33.

Lumbini Vidyalya 46 in 27 overs Shehan Biter 3/10, Kevin Jason 2/2, Preshan Silva 2/0, and 11/1.

With the intention at improving Sri Lanka’s badminton standard and giving the Lankan shuttlers the much needed foreign exposure the Asian German Sports Exchange Programme with the blessings of Sri Lanka Badminton has invited club teams from Germany and Switzerland to tour Sri Lanka early next year.

On a request by President of Sri Lanka Badminton Rohan de Silva the CEO of AGSEP Dr. Dietmar Doering has decided to bring down club teams from these two countries.

Badminton club teams from the German cities of Cologne Berlin, Munich, Stuttgart, Bonn, Hiedelberg, Dortmund, Leipzig, Hamburg, Bremen and Switzerland’s, Zurich, Bern, Basel, Lausanne, Geneva and Luzern will be visiting Sri Lanka early next year to play against school and club teams from Sri Lanka and the experience gained by the Lankan shuttlers will stand them in good stead when they take part in international tournaments. Three student volunteers of AGSEP Martin Vogel from Bern Switzerland and Franziska, Eckert and Elena Breman from Bonn, Germany are the co-ordinators of the Badminton tours by Swiss and German teams and are taking great pains to make the tours a success.

LONDON, Sunday - An FA Cup qualifying match between Haringey Borough and Yeovil Town was abandoned on Saturday after allegations that players were racially abused and spat on.

The players of seventh-tier outfit Haringey walked off the field with about 25 minutes to go, shortly after Yeovil had scored a penalty. The incident during the match in the fourth qualifying round came just five days after England players endured racist abuse during their Euro 2020 qualifier against Bulgaria in Sofia.

Haringey manager Tom Loizou said defender Coby Rowe suffered racial abuse while Cameroonian goalkeeper Douglas Pajetat was also spat at, prompting him to take his players off the pitch. “Early into the second half, we got a corner and a couple of the players said to me there was monkey chants,” Loizou told Sky News. “We got over that, we carried on playing. They got a penalty and my goalkeeper was spat at and had missiles thrown at him.

“The referee halted the game briefly, they scored the penalty, one of players went to pick the ball out of the back of the net and Coby Rowe was racially abused.” Loizou said he had to take his players off.

“I looked at a couple of our players’ faces and I was distraught myself, just to see their faces. I gave it a couple of minutes and I went on the pitch and pulled my players off,” he said. “There was no way that two or three of those players could have continued playing. What they heard was disgusting, they looked frightened. “I can’t sit down and watch young players being abused by a minority.”

Rowe later posted on Twitter: “Can’t believe I’m tweeting this and it’s 2019 but today I was a victim of racism, in what was supposed to be a great day for @HaringeyBoroFC. Another game of football ruined by racists.”

Anti-discrimination charity Kick It Out praised the “swift and decisive action” taken by Loizou and his players. The FA said it was looking into the incident “as a matter of urgency”.

In a statement, Yeovil said: “We are aware that there are allegations that racist comments were made in the crowd and this allegation will be a key part of any investigation.

“Irrespective of the outcome of any investigations, we would like to make it clear that the club will not accept racism or discrimination in any form.” - AFP

ABU DHABI, Saturday - The United Arab Emirates finished a terrible week which saw three of their players charged with corruption with an impressive victory over Ireland on Saturday in qualifying for the 2020 T20 World Cup.

The hosts of the tournament had opened their campaign with a loss to Oman on Friday in Abu Dhabi. But they bounced back, despite being without the charged trio of captain Mohammed Naveed, batsman Shaiman Anwar and right-arm pace bowler Qadeer Ahmed, beating the Irish by five wickets.

“Beating a full member team is a great feeling and on the back of yesterday’s game it’s a big morale booster for us,” said UAE skipper Ahmed Raza after his team beat the only Test side in qualifying.

Ireland opener Paul Stirling struck a 58-ball 72, but Gary Wilson’s men were bowled out for just 125 as no other batsman passed 14 in their 20 overs.

Off-spinning all-rounder Rohan Mustafa took 4-18 for the home team.

The UAE, who themselves had mustered only 108-9 against Oman, made a quick start thanks to Mustafa’s 39 from 16 deliveries, including four fours in the first over.

They had a brief wobble but were seen over the line with three overs to spare by Waheed Ahmed’s unbeaten 15. “I’ve known Rohan (Mustafa) for over 10 years and I just told him to go and express himself,” added Raza. In all, 14 nations are vying for six places at next year’s World T20 in Australia by playing in the round-robin qualifiers.

Earlier on Saturday, Nigeria made their qualifying bow with a 69-run loss to Jersey. The African side, playing in the event due to Zimbabwe’s suspension by the ICC which was lifted earlier this week, stumbled to 115-7 chasing 185 to win.

“One hundred and eighty on a track like this was still gettable and when we had them 80 for three we thought we had the match in control,” said Nigerian captain Ademola Onikoyi. “There were one or two batsmen that took it away from us.”

Scotland bounced back from their shock opening loss to Singapore, seeing off Kenya by 31 runs in Dubai. – AFP

New Star Sports Club, Addalaichenai beat Akkaraipattu ACC team in the final to emerge champions by four wickets and bagged the champion trophy of an eight-a-side limited over cricket tournament conducted by Kanawatta Golden Foundation, Addalaichenai at the Addalaichenai Ashraff Memorial Public Play Grounds recently.

This tournament was conducted by the Addalaichenai Kanawatta Golden Foundation while 30 prominent teams from the Ampara district took part in the tournament.

New Star Sports Club, Addalaichenai won the toss and fielded first. Akkaraipattu ACC team, scored 58 runs loss of three wickets in their allocated five overs. In reply New Star Sports Club, scored 59 runs in the 4.4 overs for losing four wickets.

New Star Sports Club, Addalaichenai emerged champions beating Akkaraipattu ACC team by 4 wickets in the final.

Man of the match was M.Nowshad of New Star SC awarded trophy and the Man of the Series was A.Feros of Akkaraipattu ACC Team awarded trophy and Rs.1,500.00 cash prize.

The awards ceremony was held under the patronage of the Addalaichenai Kanawatta Golden Foundation Secretary J.Arsath.

Winners were awarded Trophy and Rs.16,000.00 cash prize by the chief guest Consumer Affairs Authority Executive Director M.A.Anzil and the runner-up Akkaraipattu ACC team was awarded a cash prize of Rs.11,000.00 and trophy by the Addalaichenai Y.M.M.A Branch President M.I.M.Riyas at the ceremony.

Federation of Addalaichenai All Sports Clubs President A.H.Hamza Sanoos, Golden Foundation President Mohamed Sabri, New Star SC Secretary A.H.Aslam and many others were present at the cricket final.

Tokyo, Sunday: South Africa scrum-half Faf de Klerk led a tackling blitzkrieg to help South Africa snuff out Japan’s chance to show off the pace they had to burn out wide in a 26-3 World Cup quarter-final victory on Sunday.

De Klerk produced an outstanding, no-holds-barred individual defensive performance that galvanised a Boks side that led only 5-3 at half-time at Tokyo Stadium.

The 27-year-old joined the exodus of South African players to Europe when he signed for English Premiership outfit Sale in 2017.

He and his current Bok coaches led by Rassie Erasmus credit the move with sharpening his decision-making and improving his kicking game.

Both were on display as well as some much-needed raw defence that starved Japan’s touted wingers of possession for much of the first-half.

Instead of free-flowing attack, it was all bone-shuddering tackles, de Klerk charging around like a head hunter, blonde surfer-dude locks making him all the more conspicuous in his man-of-the-match performance.

Prop Tendai Mtawarira took one hit a step too far, shown a straight yellow card by English referee Wayne Barnes for a tip tackle on Keita Inagaki.

The Japanese might have had 81 percent of the possession in the first 40 minutes, but they had a sole Yu Tamura penalty to show for their helter-skelter game-plan up against the Bok defensive wall led superbly in midfield by centre duo Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am.

The second period saw de Klerk start to play percentage football for the Boks, drilling kicks into the corners and hoping a blitz defence against a tiring Japanese team would force errors.

Just a day after the free-running, offloading brilliance of the All Blacks saw them past Ireland, it was a very different approach by the pragmatic South Africans.

The Boks enjoyed dominance at set piece, competing at Japan’s line-out with success and bossing the scrum.

But where they really excelled up front was the driving maul, number eight Duane Vermeulen and giant locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager the outstanding exponents of a tactic guaranteed to exhaust opposition teams.

Kotaro Matsushima has become the darling of the Japanese and international press with his fleet-footed skills, but Japan’s Pretoria-born winger saw little of the ball in space.

It was instead his opposite number Makazole Mapimpi who first got to stretch his legs, fed down the short-side by de Klerk off a scrum and blasting past a terrible Yu Tamura tackle into the corner for the opening try.

It says something about the game when South Africa’s own pocket-rocket Cheslin Kolbe’s first touch of the ball came after 36 long minutes.

There looked to be a certain second try for Mapimpi as South Africa built a three-on-one on the left, but Am’s offload went to ground, a bad miss five minutes before half-time.

Mapimpi was roundly booed by the sell-out partisan crowd when penalised for taking Matsushima out in the air, the Japanese winger perhaps lucky to have got away with one earlier high tackle on his rival.

De Klerk was the recipient of good Malcom Marx offload from a driving maul, skipping away to dive over for South Africa’s second try to cap a fine individual game.

And Mapimpi then rode a poor tackle by Matsushima to bag his second with 10 minutes to play and put South Africa in total control, to ensure there was no repeat of Japan’s pool victory in the 2015 World Cup.

Springbok eyes instead now turn to a semi-final against Wales in Yokohama next Sunday. AFP

Australia limited-overs captain Aaron Finch is battling a side strain and may not play for Victoria in the Marsh Cup ahead of Australia’s opening T20I against Sri Lanka in Adelaide next Sunday.

Finch did not play in the Sheffield Shield clash against Western Australia which started on Friday despite flying to Perth with the squad. He suffered what was initially diagnosed as back spasms during the opening Sheffield Shield match against South Australia in Melbourne last Friday while batting.

But in an interview with 6PR radio on Saturday, Finch revealed he is struggling with a side strain and is in doubt for Victoria’s one-day match against Western Australia on Wednesday.

“It’s actually a little side strain,” Finch said. “It started out as a little back niggle and it’s just a little tear in my side. So hopefully not too long. It’s been a week since I did it.

“Hopefully I’ll be back pushing to be touch and go for the one-dayer on Wednesday against WA but hopefully ready to go on Sunday for the T20 against Sri Lanka.”

Finch was unsure how it happened but he did not think it was related to any of his back issues in the past.

“It could a combination of a lot of things,” Finch said. “Recently having flown a bit, playing quite a bit. With the Shield game in Melbourne, sitting down for a day and then coming out and trying to slog a few over the rope doesn’t help either. It can be a combination of things but hopefully, there’s nothing too serious or nothing related to my back. I haven’t had too many issues in the past. Just a few niggles here and there.”

Australia plays six T20Is in 12 days against Sri Lanka and Pakistan starting next Sunday in Adelaide. As a result, Finch will only play for Victoria in the Marsh Cup clash on Wednesday if he is confident his side has fully healed.

“That will be a combination of myself and the medical staff with an eye to the T20s of course,” Finch said. “If it progresses well this week I’ll play. If I can still feel it and it’s a little niggle there I think the medical staff will probably take the conservative route. It could the morning of the game that that is decided or it could be the night before. We’ll have to wait and see.” Cricinfo

Oita, Sunday: Substitute Ross Moriarty snatched a late winner as Wales eliminated 14-man France 20-19 in a breathless World Cup quarter-final to exorcise the ghosts of their 2011 heartbreak on Sunday.

A moment of madness cost France dearly in Oita after lock Sebastien Vahaamahina was sent off for elbowing Aaron Wainwright nine minutes into the second half with his side leading by nine points.

Wales, paced by 10 points from fly-half Dan Biggar’s perfect boot, face either South Africa or hosts Japan in the semi-finals next weekend after surviving a scare against the swashbuckling French, who led until the 74th minute.

Still haunted by the memory of a stinging 9-8 semi-final loss to France eight years ago, the Six Nations champions looked decidedly uncomfortable until Vahaamahina’s rush of blood undid all the hard work the three-time finalists had put in.

Defeat also brought the curtain down on France coach Jacques Brunel’s two-year spell in charge before he is replaced by former captain Fabien Galthie.

“I think the better team lost today, but that red card was obviously significant,” said Wales coach Warren Gatland, who is also due set to step down after the World Cup.

“But credit to the players -- I’m really proud of the fact they never give up and kept fighting and found a way to win. Other teams would have probably capitulated.”

Vahaamahina had stunned the Welsh by bundling over from a lineout after just five minutes before France scored one of the tries of the tournament.

Roared on by chants of “Allez, Les Bleus!” flanker Charles Ollivon stormed through to complete a sweeping move involving Virimi Vakatawa, Romain Ntamack and scrum-half Antoine Dupont.

Back came Wales in an electrifying opening 12 minutes as flanker Wainwright pounced on a loose ruck on halfway to race clear for his first Test try.

- Reckless elbow -

Biggar slotted a penalty to bring the Six Nations champions to within two points.

But when a high tackle from substitute Ross Moriarty on Gael Fickou resulted in a yellow card, France made Wales pay as Damian Penaud released Vakatawa to grab France’s third try on the half-hour mark.

French playmaker Ntamack struck the post with a penalty just before the break but the pendulum swung towards Wales after Vahaamahina’s rush of blood.

Caught on camera recklessly swinging his elbow flush into Wainwright’s face, it was only ever going to result in a red card.

His dismissal came as an ironic twist as then Welsh captain Sam Warburton received an early red card for a dangerous tip tackle on Vincent Clerc in that 2011 semi-final in Auckland. Wales, who had won seven of their last eight games against France, were still made to work for it in a nail-biting finish.

But just when France looked like holding out for a famous victory, Moriarty popped up after a monster Welsh scrum.

Making up for his earlier indiscretion, the replacement forward bulldozed over six minutes from time before Biggar kicked the conversion that broke French hearts.

“I don’t dispute the red card -- he made contact with the player’s face,” shrugged Brunel, who claimed there was a knock-on in the build-up to Moriarty’s decisive try.

“But there were other decisions I didn’t agree with -- I’d like to see those images again.”

Looking ahead to the semi-finals, Wales captain Alun Wyn Jones said: “The days and weeks feel a little bit longer because of the magnitude of the occasion but we’ve been to some dark places in preparation for this.” AFP

Ranchi, Sunday: Rohit Sharma struck his maiden double Test century Sunday to put India on top of the third match against South Africa after the hosts declared on 497 for nine.

Sharma made 212 and was involved in a 267-run fourth wicket partnership with Ajinkya Rahane to pulverise South Africa’s bowling in Ranchi.

The tourists were in trouble at nine for two, with Indian fast bowlers sending the opposition openers back to the pavilion in Ranchi.

Zubayr Hamza, on nought, and skipper Faf du Plessis, on one, were at the crease when bad light stopped play for the second successive day.

Pace spearhead Mohammed Shami struck with the second ball of the innings to get the left-handed Dean Elgar caught behind for nought.

Umesh Yadav joined forces to send Quinton de Kock packing for four after the batsman tried to fend off a bouncer that caught his glove and was safely taken by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.

The day belonged to Sharma who reached 200 with a six off paceman Lungi Ngidi in the third over after lunch, to a standing ovation from the raucous home crowd.

The in-form opener hit another six off Ngidi before falling to Rabada and returned to the pavilion with handshakes from the South African side.

Sharma -- who hit twin centuries in his debut as Test opener at the start of the series -- pulled India out of early trouble with his marathon stand with Rahane, who made 115.

The senior batsman, playing his 30th Test, surpassed his previous best of 177 on his debut against the West Indies in 2013.

Sharma, who has three double centuries in his already illustrious one-day career, smashed the ball all around the park as he hit 28 fours and six sixes in his 255-ball stay.

Rahane, who started Sunday on 83, became Linde’s first Test victim and the only Indian wicket to fall in the morning session.

Linde got good turn with his left-arm spin in an extended afternoon session as he claimed Ravindra Jadeja for 51.

He returned figures of 4-133 while paceman Kagiso Rabada took three wickets.

Yadav, coming in at number nine, played a useful cameo of 31, hitting five sixes during his 10-ball blitz.

Shami, on 10, and debutant Shahbaz Nadeem, on one, were batting when skipper Virat Kohli called them back at the stroke of tea.

Earlier Rabada struck twice to reduce India to 39 for three after the hosts elected to bat first on Saturday, which also saw a large part of the final session lost to bad weather.

India are aiming for a whitewash after taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series. AFP

SYDNEY, Sunday - Former middle-order batsman Mike Hussey has been drafted in by Australian coach Justin Langer to help mentor the side during their upcoming Twenty20 series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

He is the latest great to be brought into the fold after Ricky Ponting joined the backroom staff at the one-day World Cup this year and Steve Waugh helped out during the Ashes series in England.

“I’m very excited actually. I’m really looking forward to getting back in around the Aussie team,” Hussey, who is nicknamed “Mr Cricket”, told the Sydney Daily Telegraph on Sunday.

“They are going to be trying to get strategies in place, develop a style of play and what players they want and I love all that stuff -- planning for a big event.

“They have floated the possibility of being involved closer to the T20 World Cup (in Australia next year) as well but it’s all pretty loose at the moment.” Australia play back-to-back three-game T20 series against Sri Lanka and then Pakistan starting next Sunday in Adelaide to kick off their summer season. Langer has also made former Test speedster Ryan Harris bowling coach for the series. He told the newspaper the presence of Ponting, Waugh and now Hussey was enormous for his team.

“I can’t tell you how influential these guys can be on the group,” said Langer.

“It’s nice to have different voices and different eyes and see guys of that calibre giving us feedback on what they see.” – AFP 

TOKYO: World Cup referee Jaco Peyper has sparked anger after posing for a photo with Wales fans in which he appeared to mimic the elbow that led to Sebastien Vahaamahina’s quarter-final red card.

The South African official dismissed the hulking lock in Oita on Sunday after video replays showed him smashing his elbow into the face of Welsh flanker Aaron Wainwright early in the second half with France leading by nine points.

Vahaamahina’s rush of blood changed the course of the game and Wales hit back to win 20-19 and book their place in the last four, where they will face South Africa.

But France fans reacted with astonishment after Peyper was seen smiling for the camera alongside beer-drinking Wales fans with his right elbow raised to the chin of one of them, seeming to poke fun at the sickening incident on Sunday night.

There were howls of protests from Twitter users slamming Peyper’s judgement, with several calling it “shameful”, “disturbing” or “stupid” -- and calling for the 39-year-old to be stood down for the rest of the World Cup or even sanctioned.

Vahaamahina was distraught after the match.

Fighting back the tears, the lock told his team mates in the changing room: “I think I completely lost my head. Frankly it’s indefensible.” Earlier in the World Cup, Kiwi referee Ben O’Keeffe courted controversy after footage emerged of him offering a “low-five” hand slap during a pool game between Australia and Fiji.

After full-back Kini Murimurivalu had just scored a try to extend Fiji’s lead over the Wallabies to 21-12, O’Keeffe extended his right arm and the Fijian duly obliged. AFP

TOKYO: South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus admitted his team was “very nervous” leading only 5-3 at half-time against Japan in Sunday’s quarter-final and urged his team to show greater concentration and consistency.

After an early Makazole Mapimpi try, the Springboks went scoreless for the rest of the first period and squandered some gilt-edged opportunities to put daylight between themselves and their underdog opponents.

“We were very nervous at half-time,” said Erasmus.

“Overall, we were nervous going in to this match playing against Japan, with home support and the way they played against Ireland and Scotland.

“They were definitely building momentum,” he said in reference to two wins by the Brave Blossoms that allowed them to top Pool A.

However, he revealed that there was no shouting and screaming at his players at the break to turn the situation around.

“If guys miss tackles and there’s a lack of commitment and effort, then harsh words normally help,” he said.

“But when it is a bad pass or a missed opportunity or a skill error, then it’s more trying to get the guys’ confidence up and I guess that was the challenge at half-time,” added the coach.

Whatever he did obviously worked, as South Africa scored two quick penalties within 10 minutes of half-time to ease the nerves and then extended their lead with two more tries for a comfortable 26-3 win.

“It wasn’t really harsh words, it was more trying to calm the guys down and trying to execute,” he said.

Captain Siya Kolisi, who did most of the talking in the half-time team-talk, said the message was “be patient and trust in our plan.”

‘Be patient’

South Africa will make history if they lift the Webb Ellis Cup for a third time as the only champions to have lost a match -- after defeat in their opening Pool B game against defending champions New Zealand. Erasmus noted that two All Black tries in the space of just a few minutes had been the cause of that 23-13 defeat and warned his team that they could not switch off if they hoped to run out winners. “Be consistent. I think that’s the biggest work-on for us,” he said. He said he believed he had the players in the squad to go all the way, but only if they focused for the whole match.

“I guess we don’t have to improve in specific departments... it’s more to concentrate for the full 80 minutes. That’s where we need to improve if we want to win the World Cup,” said the coach.

Erasmus paid tribute to the Japanese team and their fans, who he said should be “proud of the way you are hosting this World Cup”. “Overall, I think Japanese rugby is in a really good space,” he said. AFP

MOTEGI : MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez won the Japan Grand Prix Sunday to notch his tenth victory of the season and third win on the circuit in four years.

The Honda rider finished the race in 42min 41.492sec, followed 0.870sec later by French rookie Fabio Quartararo of Yamaha-SRT and Ducati’s Andrea Dovizioso 1.325sec later.

Marquez was unassailable from the second lap in his first ever pole start at the Motegi Twin Circuit.

Quartararo managed to shoot ahead of the Spaniard for a brief moment shortly after the start, but Marquez quickly regained the lead and shot ahead with a one-second gap early in the race.

“It was not easy. I was pushing from the beginning because our strategy was clear,” Marquez said.

“This time I tried to open the gap from the beginning because I felt very strong in the warm up,” he said.

He said he lost focus during the race when he realised his bike was burning through fuel too quickly, forcing him to “play a lot with switches”. But Marquez was never directly threatened and enjoyed a two second gap ahead of Quartararo through most of the second half.

Quartararo finished with his third narrow defeat to the championship winner in recent races but was left smiling after winning the Rookie of the Year award.

“Marc was super fast today,” the Frenchman said. “I really pushed at my 100 percent to try to stay with him.” He was also fending off pressure from Dovizioso, whose late charge fell just short. “Dovi was unbelievably fast. He was riding more than a half second faster than me,” Quartararo said.

Dovizioso, marking his 100th career podium finish, said he struggled to find his form until late in the race, where he could only compete for the possible second while fending off Yamaha’s Marverick Vinales behind him.

“I was pushing so hard, but it was a bit over the limit. I wanted to (win) second, but it was not enough,” the Italian said. - AFP 

Lochana de Silva and Achini Ratnasiri emerged open men’s and women’s champions at the Nationalised Services Badminton Association (NSBA) Open Badminton tournament which ended at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium recently.

The 17 year old promising shuttler Lochana defeated second-seeded Maduka Dulanjana to clinch the Open Men’s Singles title in two straight sets 21-15, 21-12. Lochana came to the limelight in this tournament by winning both boys under-19 singles and doubles event with Thulith Palliyaguru.

Meanwhile former National champion Achini Ratnasiri outclassed young Kavindika de Silva by 21/7, 21/6 to clinch the women’s championship. Achini won her second title when she partnered Upuli Weerasinghe to beat Kavindika and Dilmi Dias 21-5, 21-12.

In the Open Mixed doubles, Hasitha Chanaka and Upuli Weerasinghe defeated Muhammad and Chandrika De Silva 21-17, 21-23, 21-18. The open men’s double was won by Chiran Sudeera and Lahiru Weerasinghe by defeating Hasitha Chanaka and Thulith Palliyaguru .Dilmi Dias won the girls under 19 title defeating Anurangi Masakorala .

More than 1,200 shuttlers took part in the five-day tournament which was conducted on ten courts at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

Reutls – Finals

Men’s Singles: Lochana de Silva (8) beat Maduka Dulanjana (2) 21-15, 21-12 *

Women’s Singles: Achini Rathnasiri (3) beat Kavindika De Silva 21-7, 21-6

Men’s Doubles: Chiran Sudeera, Lahiru Weerasinghe (6) beat Hasitha Chanaka, Thulith Palliyaguru (1) 19-21, 21-19, 21-9

Women’s Doubles: Achini Rathnasiri, Upuli Weerasinghe (1) beat Kavindika de Silva, Dilmi Dias 21-5, 21-12

Mixed Doubles: Hasitha Chanaka, Upuli Weerasinghe (3) beat Muhammad, Chandrika De Silva 21-17, 21-23, 21-18

Boys’ Singles U11: Senuth Sethmitha beat Chenal Dewshan 15-12, 15-11

Girls’ Singles U11: Sandaruvi Jayalath beat Isuri Attanayake 15-13, 15-9

Boys’ Singles U13: Akindu Jayathilake beat Ranthuka Rupathunga 15-11, 15-9

Girls’ Singles U13: Nethmi Rathnayake beat Komuthu Kumarapperuma 12-15, 15-10, 15-11

Boys’ Doubles U13: Akindu Jayathilake, Mihila Jayaweera beat Sanuda Ariyasinha, Ranthuka Rupathunga 15-12, 15-12

Girls’ Doubles U13: Thiseja Herath, Ranumi Manage beat Dilshi Dissanayake, Lorani Weerasinghe 15-9, 21-19

Boys’ Singles U15: Aashinsa Herath (4) beat Luwin Kodippili (5) 21-17, 23-21

Girls’ Singles U15: Varangana Jayawardana (6) beat Pravina Wijesundara (1) 21-15, 22-20

Boys’ Doubles U15: Manthuka Rupathunga, Santhosh Tharaneesparan (1) beat Luwin Kodippili, Vidush Sumanadasa (3) 23-21, 18-21, 21-11

Girls’ Doubles U15: Irushi Amandi, Nethanga Palliyaguru (1) beat Dinethya Jayindi, Dewni Ubesiriwardhana (8) 21-7, 21-15

Boys’ Singles U17: Savinaka Weerasekara (2) beat Kavindu Salgadu 11-21, 21-7, 21-8

Girls’ Singles U17: Sasini Hansamali (3) beat Chanushi Jayodha 21-7, 21-10

Boys’ Doubles U17: Thenuka De Silva, Viren Nettasinghe (2) beat Jason Homer, Manuth Pelawatta (6) 21-18, 21-19

Girls’ Doubles U17: Panchali Adhikari, Manudi Mithara (1) beat Chanushi Jayodha, Pankajee Wickramasinghe (3) 21-12, 21-16

Boys’ Singles U19 Lochana de Silva (4) beat Venura Pelawatte (13) 21-12, 21-12

Girls’ Singles U19: Dilmi Dias (2) beat Anurangi Masakorala (1) 21-8, 21-12

Boys’ Doubles U19: Lochana de Silva, Thulith Palliyaguru (2) beat Deegayu Kahatapitiya, Lakindu Ranaweera (1) 21-19, 22-20 Girls’ Doubles U19: Dilmi Dias, Anurangi Masakorala

Men’s Singles Over 35: Muhammad beat Amila Yatapana (3) 21-13, 21-19

Men’s Singles Over 40: Hiruna Dissanayake (5) beat Conrad De Silva (8) 21-19, 19-21, 21-19

Women’s Singles Over 40: Vipuli Abeysekara

Men’s Doubles Over 40: Clarence Homer, Upendra Jayawardena (1) beat Randika Peiris, Nihan Ranasinghe (2) 21-10, 21-18

Women’s Doubles Over 40: Vipuli Abeysekara, Kaushali Dissanayake (1) beat K.D.A.U. Gamage, Ramani Gunasekara 21-9, 21-10 Men’s Singles Over 50: Darshana Senarathna (1) beat Tyronne Peiris 21-15, 21-19

Men’s Doubles Over 50: R. Pathirane, Niroshana Wijekoon (1) beat Mangala Gamage, Kamal Gamlath (2) 21-19, 21-14

Men’s Singles Over 60: W.M. Ariyasena (1) beat Parakrama Basnayake (2) 21-9, 21-10

Men’s Doubles Over 60: Rohan De Silva, Louie Karunarathne (2) beat W.M. Ariyasena, Parakrama Basnayake (1) 21-13, 19-21, 21-11 

All matches were drawn in Monday’s ‘Singer Trophy’ Under 19 inter schools cricket tournament.

* At Campbel park: St. Benedict’s Kotahena: 156 (56.2) (Thenuka Nandalal 42, Ashen De Zoysa 31, Kaviru Perera 29, Shehan Fernando 27, Shemila Liyanage 4/38, S. Zahaijrthan 3/43, Thenuka Perera 2/17) and 59/2 (18.2) (Shehan Fernando 34 n.o.)

Wesley Colombo: 138 (51/1 o/n) (63) (Saheel Dias 71, Onila Pathirana 5/32, Malinda Perera 3/54)

* At Maradana: St. Anthony’s Wattala: 131 (43) (Dilip Niroshan 28, Amitha Sandeepa 26, Imitiaz Slaza 6/38, Mohommed Dilhan 2/28, Mohammed Mahdhi 2/36) and 161/2 (26.3) (Gihan Sathmika 96 n.o., Kanishka Gimhan 55, Imitiaz Slaza 2/64)

Zahira Colombo: 123 (22/3 0/n) (66.4) (Rizwan Rahidi 34, Museeth 28, Mohommed Adhil 25 n.o., Amitha Sandeepa 4/27, Romesh Suranga 3/23, Gihan Sathmika 2/8)

* At Katugastota: St. Anthony’s Katugastota: 122 (42.1) (Mohommed Kamil 50, Sasith Tennakoon 22, Shasika Perera 4/23, Supun Fernando 3/13, Nadeera Lakshan 2/15) vs

St. Sebastian’s Moratuwa

* At Rathgama: Rahula Matara: 196 (118/2 o/n) (61.2) (Sulakshana Ashan 61, Binara Sanketh 47, Bhagya Ediriweera 37, Tharusha Jayasekara 21, Kaveesh Sathsara 6/69, Ravishan Nethsara 2/50)

P. De S. Kularathne MV Ambalangoda: 11/3 (7) (Chamod Pushpa 2/9)

* At Jaffna:St. Patrick’s Jaffna: 99 (37.2) (E. Dilaxshan 25, Ravindu Wishmith 20, Dhanuka Tennakoon 5/24, Yohan Dewapriya 2/20, Hirusha Satharasinghe 2/21)

Sandalanka Central: 116 (104/7 o/n) (55.4) (Yunesh Harshana 40, Chalitha Senarathne 23, P. Castro 4/30, K. Remington 3/8). YK

All Matches were drawn in the Major Emerging Inter Club tournament played at Maggona and Galle yesterday.

Not a ball was bowled on day two at Galle ICS between Galle CC and Navy SC. Only 23 overs played at Maggona on day two.

At Maggona: Badureliya CC: 170 (65.2) (Sachin Fernando 77, Ravindu Rathnayake 20, Pavan De Silva 3/19, Umayanga Suwaris 2/17, Dinan Fernando 2/39)

Negombo CC: 99/3 (23.1) (Wageesha Madushan 27 n.o., Umayanga Suwaris 23 n.o., Malinda Jayod 3/31)

At Galle: Navy SC: 140/6 (42) (Navod Samarakoon 45, Salith Fernando 41, Savindu Peiris 24, Kavindu Dilhara 3/29, Ravishka Wijesiri 3/40) Vs

Galle CC. YK

STOCKHOLM: Rising Canadian star Denis Shapovalov lifted his first ATP title on Sunday after a 6-4, 6-4 win over Filip Krajinovic in the Stockholm Open final.

Shapovalov, 20, did not drop a single set throughout the week in Stockholm and blasted 16 aces to see off the 60th-ranked Krajinovic.

World number 34 Shapovalov became the first Canadian ATP singles champion since Milos Raonic won at Brisbane in January 2016.

Serbia’s Krajinovic, a runner-up at the 2017 Paris Masters, fell short in his bid for a first career title after losing his third ATP final. - AFP

India’s Mohammed Shami (C) celebrates after dismissing South Africa’s cricket team captain Faf du Plessis (L) during the third day of the third and final test match between India and South Africa at Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA) in Ranchi on October 21. AFP

Ranchi, Monday: Pace duo Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav claimed five wickets between them Monday to put India on the brink of a series whitewash after South Africa crumbled while following-on in the third Test.

At the end of the third day in Ranchi, the tourists were on 132-8, trailing India by 203 runs, with replacement batsman Theunis de Bruyn on 30 and Anrich Nortje, on five.

De Bruyn came in under the new concussion sub rule after Dean Elgar took a nasty hit on the helmet from a short delivery by Yadav and had to retire hurt on 16.

The impact left the opener shaken as he lay on the ground getting physio assistance, and officials called for early tea with the Proteas reeling on 26-4.

Events did not improve for South Africa as Shami claimed three wickets, including South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis for four, while Yadav struck twice.

South Africa’s first innings ended on 162 earlier as they chased India’s 497-9 declared.

The hosts made them bat again, and Yadav drew first blood, getting left-hander Quinton de Kock -- who was promoted to open the innings -- bowled for five.

Shami took over to get first innings half-centurion Zubayr Hamza for nought with a delivery that rattled his off stump.

The pace spearhead then got du Plessis’ prized scalp and Temba Bavuma caught behind for nought. Spinners Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin also took a wicket each to force an extension of the final session but de Bruyn and Nortje survived the final few overs.

India’s wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha suffered a finger injury in the final session and Rishabh Pant took over.

According to new rules, a team is also allowed to replace a wicket keeper.

The South African batting fell flat after starting the day on nine for two in their first innings with Yadav and Shami sharing five wickets between them. Hamza, playing just his second Test, scored a battling 62 to offer some resistance during his 91-run fourth-wicket stand with Temba Bavuma, who made 32.

Opening batsman Rohit Sharma put India in command of the final Test with his maiden double century in the five-day format on Sunday. He made 212. India won the first two Tests by big margins in Visakhapatnam and Pune.AFP 

Ranchi, Monday: South African batsman Dean Elgar withdrew injured from the third Test against India after being hit on the helmet by a short pitched delivery Monday.

The impact off the ball from pace bowler Umesh Yadav left the opener on the ground, shaken.

A physio was called for and the umpires announced an early tea. Elgar eventually retired hurt on 16 and Theunis de Bruyn was brought in as a concussion sub.

Cricket South Africa later announced that Elgar “will not take any further part in this Test match”.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) approved the use of concussion substitutes for all internationals from August with de Bryun becoming the third sub to be used.

Australia’s Marnus Labuschagne came in for Steve Smith in the second Ashes Test. West Indies brought in Jermaine Blackwood after Darren Bravo retired hurt in the Jamaica Test against India last Month. AFP

Lahore, Monday: Pakistan dropped former skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed from the country’s Twenty20 and Test squads for their upcoming Australian tour Monday, while experienced players Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Hafeez were also given the axe in the shorter format.

Sarfraz, 32, was stripped last week of his Twenty20 international and Test captaincy, just days after Pakistan were routed 3-0 by Sri Lanka at home in the short format.

His place in both squads was taken by 27-year-old Mohammad Rizwan, whose only Test was in New Zealand in 2016.

The exit from Twenty20 internationals means curtains for Malik who had already announced retirement from Tests and one-day internationals.

Hafeez was part of Pakistan’s Twenty20 squad in South Africa earlier this year but was not played. At 39, he has little hope of competing in international cricket again.

Pakistan will play three Twenty20 internationals in Sydney (November 3), Canberra (November 5) and Perth (November 8).

The two Tests will be in Brisbane (Nov 21-25) and Adelaide (Nov 29-Dec 03).

Head coach and chief selector Misbah-ul-Haq said Pakistan need to do well in Australia following a disappointing summer.

“We need to play aggressive cricket to achieve better results there,” said Misbah. “We have some exciting youngsters in the pace squad who could be surprise packages.”

The Test pace attack -- hampered by the untimely retirement of Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz earlier this year -- includes 16-year-old Nasim Shah and 19-year-old Musa Khan who have played just five and seven first-class matches respectively.

Imran Khan senior, 32, returns to the Test squad after playing his last Test during the Australian tour in 2017.

Prolific leg-spinner Yasir Shah will be assisted by 33-year-old left-arm spinner Kashif Bhatti in Tests.

And leg-spinner Usman Qadir -- son of the late legendary leggie Abdul Qadir -- will be part of the Twenty20 squad, with Misbah citing his experience playing in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 league earlier this year.

The lanky 37-year-old Mohammad Irfan, who played the last of his 20 Twenty20 internationals in the Twenty20 World Cup in India three years ago, is also part of the shorter format.

Squads:

Twenty20: Babar Azam (captain), Asif Ali, Fakhar Zaman, Haris Sohail, Iftikhar Ahmed, Imad Wasim, Imam-ul-Haq, Khusdil Shah, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Hasnain, Mohammad Irfan, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Musa Khan, Wahab Riaz, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir

Test: Azhar Ali (captain), Abid Ali, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Haris Sohail, Imam-ul-Haq, Imran Khan senior, Iftikhar Ahmed, Kashid Bhatti, Mohammad Abbas, Mohammad Rizwan (wicketkeeper), Nusa Khan, Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Shan Masood, Yasir Shah. AFP