With his dental guard still in his mouth and a slightly queasy feeling in his gut, a shirtless Thomas Cazeneuve was exuberant after checkmating his opponent during a chess boxing bout in Berlin, the world capital of the unusual sport.

Just as deft in the movement of his rooks as with his fists, Cazeneuve claimed victory against his Ukrainian challenger after seven alternating rounds of boxing and chess.

The match played out before a crowd of curious onlookers drawn to the spectacle of the so-called "Intellectual Fight Club".

Chess boxing was born 16 years ago when its founder Iepe Rubingh brought to life a seemingly far-fetched idea from a French graphic novel, "Cold Equator" by Enki Bilal.

Today, Rubingh has set his sights on introducing chess boxing to the Olympics and even looking at sending robots into battle, as the multidisciplinary sport gains popularity.

The rules of chess boxing are simple.

Three minutes of gentlemanly chess played on a board in the ring is alternated with three-minute bouts of intense boxing over 11 rounds -- six of chess, five of boxing.

The winner has to earn either a boxing knockout or a checkmate on the chessboard, but either chess boxer can be disqualified for taking too long to make a chess move or by breaking the boxing rules. AFP

CAPE TOWN, Monday: A ban for captain Steve Smith in no way eased the fury directed at the leadership of the Australia cricket team as the sports-mad nation returned to work on Monday still digesting the ball-tampering scandal which broke in Cape Town over the weekend.

The story led the front pages of all of the country’s major newspapers, the headlines mostly working around the single word “Shame”, and on radio talk shows and social media the offenders were lambasted with a vehemence unusual for even those forums.

“As this disreputable tour descended from the gutter into the sewer, the mythical line the Australians use as the yardstick for their behaviour has not only become blurred but disappeared altogether,” Andrew Wu wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald.

“The disconnect from what Steve Smith’s men deem as acceptable behaviour compared to what the majority of the public back home has become as wide as the Indian Ocean which separates them.”

There is no hyperbole involved when Australians describe the cricket captaincy as the country’s second most important job behind that of prime minister and the concept of playing “hard, but fair” has always been integral to the national identity.

For Smith, therefore, to have deliberately conspired to cheat by getting a junior member of his team to tamper with the ball during the third test against South Africa cuts to the very quick of the Australian psyche.

The players remained in their Cape Town hotel on Monday in preparation for the transfer to Johannesburg for Friday’s fourth and final test, though for many their minds must surely be already on home. There were few smiles as they chatted quietly among themselves, some enjoying family time by the pool on what would have been the fifth day of the third test had South Africa not ripped through their batting on Sunday to inflict a crushing 322-run defeat and take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Smith, David Warner and Cameron Bancroft were nowhere to be seen though, as Cricket Australia’s head of integrity Iain Roy arrived in South Africa to begin an investigation that will decide the international future of all three.

In the space of two days, top batsman Smith has gone from Australia’s cricketing golden boy to national pariah and it looks likely that he has played his last test as captain.

It has also cost him the captaincy of Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals, who announced on Monday he had agreed to step aside, to be replaced by Ajinkya Rahane.

Some of the most vehement reactions to the incident have come from his predecessors in the coveted baggy green cap, which each player is awarded on his test debut.

“Steve Smith’s time as Australia’s captain is surely up,” former fast bowler and possible future Australia coach Jason Gillespie wrote for Guardian Australia.

“It is impossible to envisage a scenario where he stays in the job. This is a train wreck.

“This was pre-planned cheating. It may have been implemented by a junior player in Cameron Bancroft but it came with the backing and knowledge of ‘the leadership group’, a core of senior guys in the Australian set-up.”

DISTANCING THEMSELVES

The identity of the leadership group that Smith admitted was responsible for Bancroft attempting to scuff up one side of the ball with a piece of tape was the subject of some conjecture, with Warner the only name definitely in the frame.

Several of the Australian correspondents in Cape Town report that some of the other supposed members of the group, pace bowlers Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, have moved swiftly to distance themselves from the incident.

Coach Darren Lehmann will also have questions to answer after clearly trying to cover up the incident once he realised the TV pictures had exposed Bancroft’s cheating, even if Smith insisted the coach had not been part of the conspiracy.

“Frankly, we believe that Steve Smith and Cameron Bancroft should have been on the first plane home yesterday,” Australian Sports Commission chairman John Wylie told ABC Radio on Monday.

“If an athlete had been representing Australia in an Olympic Games and they had brought the country and the team into disrepute, that’s what would have happened to them.”

The Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), the sole authority on the laws of cricket since it was founded in 1787, called for better leadership across the global game.

“The time has come for a major shift in attitude and culture of all those with responsibility for leadership within the game, to give young players the kind of role models who will uphold standards, preserve cricket and, vitally, the Spirit of Cricket for future generations,” John Stephenson, MCC Assistant Secretary (Cricket), said in a statement.

Cricket Australia, coming off a highly damaging labour dispute last year, have also come under fire for the temerity of their initial response. – Agencies 

CAPE TOWN, Monday: Australian cricketer Cameron Bancroft may have got away with his now infamous attempt to alter the condition of the ball in the third test against South Africa at Newlands had he not panicked and stuffed the evidence down his trousers.

That is the belief of Alvin Naicker, the head of production at host broadcaster SuperSport and the man in the director’s chair who broke one of cricket’s greatest scandals.

Bancroft was caught on camera placing sticky yellow tape, which he used to pick up rough granules off the pitch, into the front of his pants when he believed his cheat had been spotted by the umpires.

The fall-out from the incident has cost captain Steve Smith and his deputy David Warner their positions, for the remainder of the match at least, and thrown both players’ future in the baggy green cap into doubt, leaving a nation seething.

“We initially just saw that he had something in his hand and he put it in his pocket, but we didn’t know what it was,” Naicker told Reuters on Monday.

“It was only when he later panicked and put it in his underpants that we got sight of the yellow tape.”

After the images of Bancroft putting something in his pocket appeared on the big screen at the ground, umpires Nigel Llong and Richard Illingworth called the player over.

He produced a black piece of cloth used to clean sunglasses from his pocket and the umpires were, at the time, satisfied.

Naicker believes that had Bancroft kept the piece of yellow tape in his pocket and still produced the black cloth for the umpires, giving him the opportunity to dispose of the tape later, nobody would be the wiser.

“The moment he tried to dispose of it in his pants, we knew that this was a major incident. Until then, we were not sure what we were looking at.”

FOLLOW THE BALL

Naicker adds they had not been tracking Bancroft specifically, but it is standard for the broadcaster to follow the ball from player to player, even when it is not in play.

“We have seven cameras that stay with the ball always, whether it is in play or not,” he revealed. “But there are a lot more cameras, we had 30 at the ground.”

Naicker says they broadcast the footage of him rubbing the ball with the then unknown object almost immediately after the incident.

“He (Bancroft) probably saw it two minutes after it happened and very smartly our cameraman focused on the coaching staff and we saw the coach (Darren Lehmann) get on the walkie-talkie to the player down on the field (Peter Handscomb), who ran on to speak with Bancroft. It was then he panicked.”

The ‘follow the ball’ policy is something Naicker says is done in every test and they were neither asked to do it, nor were driven by any other previous suspicious behaviour.

“We don’t want it to seem like we are going after the Australian team,” he said. “If that was a South African, we would have broadcast the footage for sure.

“We have a responsibility to entertain, but just like journalists we have a moral obligation to provide unbiased editorial.” – Agencies 

St. Anthony’s College Katugastota will meet St. Anne’s College Kurunegala in the semi final of the ‘Singer Trophy’ Under 19 division 11 inter schools (Two day K/O) Cricket tournament n today and tomorrow (28) at Campbell park.

St. Anthony’s Katugastota will be led by Janindu Himsara and Theeksha Gunasinghe will be his deputy skipper. St. Anne’s College Kurunegala will be led by Sri Lanka youth cap Randeera Ranasinghe and will be assisted by Pubudu Ganegama.

St. Anthony’s Katugastota advanced to the pre quarter final in division II two day tournament as champions of their ‘D’ group. St. Anthony’s beat Kalutara Vidyalaya in the pre quarter final. and Royal Colombo in the quarter final and advanced to the semi final. St. Anne’s College Kurunegala advanced to the pre quarter final in division

II two day tournament as 3rd place of their ‘D’ group. St. Anne’s beat Holy Cross Kalutara in the pre quarter final. and beat Tissa Central Kalutara in the quarter final and advanced to the semi final. St. Anthony’s College Katugastota beat St. Anne’s College Kurunegala in the first round.

St. Annes’ squad: Randeera Ranasinghe (Captain), Pubudu Ganegama (Vice captain), Wanitha Wannianayake, Dineth Chandimal, Dhanajaya Bandara, Lakshika de Silva, Kavindu Ranasinghe, Ruwantha Randika, Sulakshana Madhusith, Krishantha Piyathilake, Hirusha De Silva, Lasith Warnakulasuriya, Avishka Shehan, Shashika Sandaruwan, Pasindu Chamika, Demitha Kumarage, Kavindu Gayanga, Muiz Nawas, Ahamed Shafni, Mayaz Mussamil, Chanaka Ediriweerage (Coach), N.C. Dissanayake (Master in charge), Bro. A. E. Tharusis (Principal)

St Anthony’s squad: Janindu Himsara (Captain), Theeksha Gunasinghe, Sunera Jayasinghe, Deon Stouter, Satheesh Wickremaarachchi, Mohamed Absar, Navodya Wijeykumara, Kalhara Senaratne, Thamashana Abeykoon, Mohommed Kamil, Nimnaka Jayathilake, Mohommed Rukshan, Prabujith Panditharatne, Chamika Samarasinghe, Gayan Samarasinghe, Gihan Achintha, Kevin Dhananjana, Sasith Hirduika, Savin Weerasinghe, Dyan Pankaja, Sampath Perera (Coach), Lenin Jayasinghe (Master-in-Charge), Rev. Henry Wijerathne (Rector) (YK)

Wesley College, Colombo propelled by a brilliant try scored in the dying minutes of the game by their speedy replacement, winger Kavindana Perera enable them to pull off a close 5 points (1 try) to nil win over the more fancied D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo outfit in their Singer 'A' Division inter-schools league rugby tournament first round match played at CR & FC grounds in Longden Place yesterday. The scores were nil all at the breather.

It was the Wesley forwards who paved the way for this victory. The Wesley 'eight' gave a terrific performance to outplay their opponents in the loose.

The line outs were shared between Wesley and D.S.Senanayake while in the set scrums the Wesley hooker struck a shade faster than his counterpart.

In the dying stages of the game the lads from Campbell Park snatched victory when their hero, wing three quarter Kavindana Perera picked up a loose ball and darted through for a glorious match winning try.

Fly half Murshid Zubair's conversion kick went astray much to the dismay of their supporters but Wesley College ran out worthy winners. 

After ten long years Kingswood College scored an exciting 23-21 win over Trinity College, in their inter school Division I rugby match played at the Nittawela grounds on Monday. Kingswoodians' 23 points consisted of one goal, two tries and two penalties and Trinity made their 21 points through three goals. At half time Kingswoodians led 15-7.

Kingswoodians played with determination and indulged in a superb team effort to win the tough battle. Trinity had all the chances of making it but, the much wanted team work was missing. The exciting last quarter saw the match ended in a nail biting finish.

Kingswood captain Tharindu Waligampala did a wonderful job to grab the victory leading his team with true sporting spirit.

Trinity attacked during the final minutes and on three occasions tried to go over the line but was blocked by the strong Kingswood defence.

For Kingswood, Milan Weerasinghe, Dinal Ekanaykae and Asiris Senavirthne scored the tires while the conversions were kicked by M. Hettirachchi. For Trinity, Janidu Rathnayake, Vishwa Ranaraja and Waren Weerakoona scored the tries while Mindu Jayaundara made the conversions. Referee - Priya Suranga.

The Under 16 and 18 matches were won by Trinity College.

Nuwan Tharanga took four wickets for 30 runs with his right-arm medium-pace to bowl Virtusa to a comfortable eight-wicket win over Nawaloka Group in their opening match of the Mercantile ‘E’ division cricket tournament played at Thurstan grounds on Sunday.

Nawaloka Group 89 in 20.3 overs (Tharaka Maduwantha 16, Nuwan Tharanga 4/30, Jason Rabot 2/18, Sithara Lakmal 2/19)

Virtusa 90-2 in 17.3 overs (Sadeem Thawfeeq 22, Nipuna Mudalige 17, Nuwan Tharanga 16 n.o., Thanuja Seneviratne 15 n.o., Kasun Jayanath 2/18)

A fine performance in the last few overs enabled Dharmaraja College to register a close five-run win over traditional rivals Kingswood College in the annual limited overs game played for the Winston Hoole trophy at the Pallekelle Stadium on Sunday.

Kingswood buckled under pressure after being in a position to win when they required just five runs to win with 11 balls remaining to be dismissed for 209 chasing 215 for victory.

Rajans won the toss and electing to bat first ran up a score of 214-7 in 50 overs. Openers Sachinhta Senanayake and Kasun Gunawardene gave them a good start with an opening stand of 41 after which one down batsman Dulaj Bandara contributed a valuable 67 with seven fours. Opening bowler Uthpala Jayalath bowled a good line and length to take three wickets.

Kingwood in their turn started slowly and were well in control of the chase until the final overs when they lost their way.

Dharmaraja College 214-7 in 50 overs (Sachinhta Senanayake 26, Dulaj Bandara 67, Isuru Dayananda 20, Bhawantha Udangamuwa 23, Mithila Gayashan 31, Uthpala Jayalath 3/40, Saumiya Piyasena 2/47)

Kingswood College 209 in 48.1 overs (Duminda Damishka 30, Hashika Gamage 29, Dhananjaya Maduranga 21, Ganindu Kamburugamuwa 33, Saumya Piyasena 24, Deeghayu Bandara 25 n.o., Navindra Dilshan 2/32, Yasitha Samararatne 2/13, Upendera Warnakulasooriya 2/35).

New Delhi:Indian Premier League side Rajasthan Royals on Monday replaced Australia's Steve Smith as captain over his role in a ball-tampering controversy.

Smith, who is on a $1.9-million contract with the Royals, will be replaced by India's Ajinkya Rahane as skipper for the IPL season starting next month.

"Steve believes given the current circumstances it's in the best interest of the Rajasthan Royals that he steps down as captain so the team can get ready for the start of the IPL without the ongoing distractions," the club said.

Australia captain Smith, 28, was banned for one Test and fined by the International Cricket Council after admitting that he and leading players planned ball tampering during the third Test against South Africa. AFP 

MIAMI March 25: Three-time winner Venus Williams saved three match points in a three-set victory over Kiki Bertens on Sunday, lining up a fourth-round clash with reigning champion Johanna Konta at the Miami Open.

Williams, ranked eighth in the world, labored nearly three hours to beat 29th-ranked Bertens 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

The 37-year-old American was cruising with a 5-0 lead in the opening set, but she squandered three set points as Bertens reeled off seven straight games to snatch it.

The second set was another streaky affair, but Williams gained a decisive break for a 5-3 lead and fought off a break point in the next game to force the decider. The seven-time Grand Slam champion would have to dig deep when she fell 1-4 down to her Dutch opponent in the third. AFP

Man of the Match Jehan Daniel from St. Joseph’s College, receiving the trophy from Trinesh Fernando - Vice President,
Group Legal and Regulatory, Dialog Axiata PLC.

Australia has been renowned over the years as a great sporting nation and many countries have made them the benchmark to emulate if they want to become successful in sports.

Cricket is a game that Australia has reached zenith heights. It is a game they play with a lot of passion with no quarters asked or given. Australia is also well-known for their sledging of opponents and for trying to put them off by making false accusations to distract them from their main priority that is to try and compete and beat them.

The ball tampering incident during the third Test against South Africa at Cape Town, involving Australian captain Steve Smith and team mate Peter Handscombe that has shaken taken the entire cricket and sports world is nothing new to a nation like Australia who have been getting away with almost similar kinds of tactics in the past.

Sri Lanka has been the victim of three such incidents starting with the cunningly devised plan to get legendary off-spinner Muthiah Muralitharan banned from international cricket. The cricketing world knew that Muralitharan with his unique bowling action was going to be a threat to any cricket nation and that he would end up with a pile of wickets if he is allowed to continue playing. The Aussies tried to nip it in the bud by having one of their umpires call Muralitharan for chucking during the Boxing Day Test match in Melbourne in front of a large audience. From that point onwards it was a battle for Muralitharan as well as Sri Lanka Cricket to try and defend his bowling action. Having failed in their first attempt the Aussies again got their umpires to call him when Sri Lanka made a tour there four years later in 1999. Many years later, one of the Australian umpires who called Muralitharan for throwing, Ross Emerson admitted that he did it on the instructions of a Cricket Australia official whom he did not name. Muralitharan however with his conscious quite clear that he was not resorting to any methods of cheating to obtain his wickets fought against all odds carrying the stigma of being branded a “chucker” throughout his career to eventually succeed and become the most successful bowler in the history of Test and One-Day International cricket.

Five years later in 2004 during the third Test between Sri Lanka and Australia at the SSC grounds Justin Langer committed some very questionable sportsmanship and got away scot free with only a warning from ICC match referee Chris Broad whose judgment of incidents on the field varies like the English weather.

Langer appeared to knock one of the bails off the stumps as he walked past when changing his fielding position in mid over. After the next delivery the Aussie team en mass made a hit wicket appeal against batsman Hashan Tillakaratne after one of the bails was spotted on the floor by captain Ricky Pointing. It was turned down after TV replays appeared to show Langer knocking it off as he walked past the stumps. There was a lengthy hold-up while the third umpire scrutinised footage of the incident and gave Tillakaratne rightly not out. Langer insisted he had "no idea" the bail had fallen off, saying: "I'm glad common sense has prevailed." He added: "It goes without saying that had I known, I would have picked it up and put it back on straight away." However a few questions remained unanswered. Why was Langer running so close to the stumps when moving to a different fielding position? As anyone who has played cricket at any level knows, you shouldn't go anywhere near the wicket if you are not batting, bowling or fielding the ball. Why didn't wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist notice one of the bails was missing as he focused on the delivery after Langer had 'accidentally' dislodged it? Isn't it the job of the wicketkeeper to stand behind the stumps and follow the flight of the ball and to watch the movement of the batsman? Surely he should have known Tillakaratne had not dislodged the bail. Finally and most importantly, would another team apart from Langer's Aussies get away with such a crude act of gamesmanship? Langer was charged under level one, clause two of the ICC Code of Conduct that states that players should not "engage in conduct unbecoming to their status which could bring them or the game of cricket into disrepute". He could have been fined up to 50% of his match fee if found guilty. But match referee Chris Broad said Langer had given an "honest and succinct" explanation and had been "reminded" to avoid any such incidents in future.

The third incident involves Gilchrist himself when he slaughtered the Lankan bowlers for 149 off 103 balls to win the Cricket World Cup for Australia in 2007 in the Caribbean aided by a squash ball in his left glove to help him with his grip.

Gilchrist’s stupendous innings left the cricket pundits wondering how legal was his innings and how authentic was Australia’s World Cup triumph? Can a batsman carry an object - in this case, a squash ball - not connected with cricket to help him on the field? Did he secure the prior permission of the umpires? Was the fielding side captain aware of the use of the squash ball and did he approve of its use?

And, above all, did Gilchrist’s “hidden ball” give him an unfair advantage in knocking the daylights out of the Lankan bowlers? Hypothetical questions that left cricket haters plainly mystified but keeps cricket lovers breathlessly debating the whys and wherefores till kingdom come.

Law 3 (6) (c) (i) specifically prohibits a player from using equipment other than that permitted which is a helmet, leg guards (pads), hand gloves and, if visible, forearm guards. Gilchrist’s squash ball was, therefore, neither a piece of protective equipment, nor a clothing item, and was most certainly not visible to either side or the umpires. And nowhere in cricket’s 42 laws is there a mention of a squash ball as a permitted item. But MCC who are the final authority on matters to do with the Laws ruled that: "It is no different to wearing inners, etc." The matter ended right there and Gilchrist got away with it.

Having got out of so many escapades of this nature the past finally caught up with the Australians with the ball tampering affair that has left the entire nation humiliated and ashamed.

The words of Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on the incident speaks for itself: "We are usually the nation that fights against corruption in sport, but here we have the captain of the Australian cricket team involved in cheating. We see ourselves as a great sporting nation and this has really tarnished that image. It is a big shock when our heroes do something wrong."

The bigger they come, the harder they fall.

Kegalu Vidyalaya team: First row from left: W. S. M. Ranasinghe (captain), G. J. S. Fernando (Assit. Principa), P. S. R. Desmond (MIC), G. A. M.S. Sarathchandra (Principal), W.H.G.H.Weerasinghe (Deputy Principal), Supri A. Wahid (coach), W.P.M.Gunasinghe (vice captain). 2nd row from left: Viraj Disanayake, Chamod Kalhara, Nimesh Siriwardena, Chavindu Piyasara, Pasindu Basnayake, Pulasthi Atapattu, Supun Bandara. 3rd row from left: Tharindu Sandaruwan, Peshala Prabath, Chamath Bandara, Ruchira Chamara, Sanuda Bandara, Sachin Nimesh, Lochana Charith and Dulan Jayaweera 

The 38th annual cricket big match, 'Kegalu Maha Ran Satana' between St. Mary's College, Kegalle and Kegalu Vidyalaya will be played at the Welegedara Stadium, Kurunegala on March 28 and 29. The big match encounter started in 1963 as a limited over match during the tenures of former St. Mary's Principal Piyasiri Liyanage and former Kegalu Vidyalaya Principal T. B. Karunaratne. The two schools are the prominent cricket playing schools in the Kegalle district and Kegalle Marians boast for a proud cricket history producing two national players in Tharanga Paranawithana and Chaminda Bandara. Kegalle Marians will host the big match this year too and determined to retain the title they won last year. Marians celebrated their 150th anniversary in 2017 and bagged the big match victory with a thumping innings win against the opponents last year.

Over the 37-year big match history Marians have won the battle most of the times while the remaining encounters were ended in tame draws. Kegalu Vidyalaya is yet to savour a victory in nearly four decades of big match history. Kegalle Marians will have Gajitha Kotuwegoda as their skipper while Thimbira Supun will be his deputy this year. Kegalu Vidyala will be captained by W. S. M. Ranasinghe and W.P.M.Gunasinghe is the vice captain. The big match will be conducted under the guidance of present school Principals, Hema Wickremaratne (St. Mary's College) and G. A. M.S. Sarathchandra (Kegalu Vidyalaya). Marians were trained under the watchful eyes of their coach S. Ekanayaka while Supri A. Wahid is the Kegalu Vidyalaya coach.

Special awards will be presented to Man Of the Match, Best All-rounder, Best Batsman and Best Bowler, courtesy of St. Mary's College OBA 1999 batch.

It will be an interesting battle this year where Kegalu Vidyalaya will fight to turn the tables over more fancied Kegalle Marians.

Nelka Shiromala, a women Inspector of Police attached to Kollupitiya Police station will create history by becoming the first Sri Lankan boxing referee to officiate at a Commonwealth Games when the big event commences in Gold Coast, Australia next April. She represented the Police boxing team in 2002 as the first woman Police boxing team member. She is also the first lady Police officer to represent Sri Lanka in boxing at international level.

In 2009 she took up to the refereeing and in 2011 became the first Sri Lankan women referee to officiate at an international event when she was invited to officiate 2011 London Olympic test event where she was awarded with a two star qualification just within six months of international refereeing.

Later she advanced as a 3 star referee and World Series Boxing (WSB) referee affiliated to the world boxing governing body, Association Internationale de Boxe Amateur (AIBA).

She also has the honor of being the first WSB women referee in the South East Asia. She has referred in four World Championships, four Asian Championships, Asian Olympic Qualifying event, six Professional Boxing events, Youth Commonwealth Games and many more international events during the last six years. She won the Best Referee in Asia award for 2017 becoming the first lady referee to win the prestigious award in Asian boxing history.

Her credentials have brought honour to Sri Lanka in the international scene, but sadly not appreciated with due recognition by the local sports fraternity and the Police Department.

Veteran sports journalist Sunil Abeywardena passed away after a brief illness at the age of 69. Abeywardena's journalistic career spanned over nearly 40 years in both print and electronic media. He started his journalistic career as the Wattala Provincial correspondent for the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation in early 60s before serving at the Lankadeepa and Divaina as a sports reporter.

Later Abeywardena joined Lake House and completed a 30-year stint and retired as the Deputy Editor of the Kreeda Magazin. After leaving Lake House he worked as a Sub Editor at Rivira Group and Lakbima as a senior sports reporter.

Abeywardena was a versatile sports writer and an announcer with his forte being athletics, netball, cycling and carrom, having covered many international events including the Commonwealth Games in 2004 and the netball World Cup in Jamaica. He worked as an announcer at the Rangiri Dambulla radio station at the time of his demise. Abeywardena was a very gentle personalty loved by media colleagues.

His remains lie at his residence, No. 200/4, Mathagoda Road, Kerawalapitiya, Wattala. The funeral will take place on March 29 (Thursday) at Hendala cemetery.

The Gajaba Regiment felicitated their sporting talent during the 2nd Colours Awarding Ceremony at the Bishop’s College Auditorium, Colombo on March 20. The Commander of the Army, Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake graced the occasion as the chief guest and accompanied by the president of the Sri Lanka Army Seva Vanitha Unit, Chandrika Senanayake.

Former Test cricket captain and coach Mahela Jayawardena participated as the guest of honour on the invitation of the Colonel of the Regiment, Maj Gen Shavendra Silva.

Altogether 101 Keterians awarded with Gajaba Colours during the event. Former Colonels of the Regiment, Military Secretory - Maj Gen Priyantha Jayasundara, Council Members, Director General - Sports - Maj Gen Anura Sudasinghe, Director Personnel Administration - Brig Devinda Perera, Director Media - Brig Sumith Athapattu, senior officers of the Gajaba Regiment, officers, other ranks and family members of the colours recipients participated.

The Commander of the Army, Lt Gen Mahesh Senanayake presented the 'Silver Keteri'awards to Keterians who made best achievements in the field of sports at National and international level.

Zahira College, Colombo beat Hameed Al Husseinie College Colombo 4/3 in a penalty shootout after a score-less full time final at the Race Course grounds on Sunday and walked away with the President's Cup soccer shield.

Hameed Al Husseinie College Colombo Group of 80’s organized the tournament. champion Zahirans were captained by Mohamed Murushid. Parliamentarian Mujeebur Rahuman was the chief guest at the final and presented the main awards.

Top goal scorer of the tournament, M.A.J.M. Rizan of Hameed Al Husseinie College was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the Tournament while M. Hamadh of Zahira College was awarded the Best Player award. M. Shakir of Zahira college won the Best Goal Keeper award.

Hameed Al Husseinie College Principal A.K.T. Adahan, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Football Federation N.S.B. Dissnayake, representatives from the main sponsors, Oxford Group (Chairman - Imtiaz Farook, Directors Roshan Farook, Shameel Farook and Hifaz Farook), Deputy Mayor of Colombo M.T.M. Iqbal distributed certificates, medals and awards to the winning and runner-up teams.

Runners-up, Citizens Development Business Finance captain Duminda Saman Ambilmeegama  (right) receiving the Trophy from the President MCA - Roshan Iddamalgoda.

The seventh Prestige Automobile (Pvt) Ltd., 'BMW- Hyundai' Trophy, MCA 'C' division 50-Over League Tournament 2018 came to a conclusion with Kanrich Finance 'B' emerged winners beating Citizens Development Business Finance (CDB) by 23 runs on the D&L method in the final at the MCA grounds recently.

After ten long years Kingswood College scored an exciting 23-21 win over Trinity College, in their inter school Division I rugby match played at the Nittawela grounds on Monday. Kingswoodians' 23 points consisted of one goal, two tries and two penalties and Trinity made their 21 points through three goals. At half time Kingswoodians led 15-7.

Kingswoodians played with determination and indulged in a superb team effort to win the tough battle. Trinity had all the chances of making it but, the much wanted team work was missing. The exciting last quarter saw the match ended in a nail biting finish.

Kingswood captain Tharindu Waligampala did a wonderful job to grab the victory leading his team with true sporting spirit.

Trinity attacked during the final minutes and on three occasions tried to go over the line but was blocked by the strong Kingswood defence.

For Kingswood, Milan Weerasinghe, Dinal Ekanaykae and Asiris Senavirthne scored the tires while the conversions were kicked by M. Hettirachchi. For Trinity, Janidu Rathnayake, Vishwa Ranaraja and Waren Weerakoona scored the tries while Mindu Jayaundara made the conversions. Referee - Priya Suranga. The Under 16 and 18 matches were won by Trinity College.

Wesley College, Colombo propelled by a brilliant try scored in the dying minutes of the game by their speedy replacement, winger Kavindana Perera enable them to pull off a close 5 points (1 try) to nil win over the more fancied D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo outfit in their Singer 'A' Division inter-schools league rugby tournament first round match played at CR & FC grounds in Longden Place on Monday. The scores were nil all at the breather.

It was the Wesley forwards who paved the way for this victory. The Wesley 'eight' gave a terrific performance to outplay their opponents in the loose.

The line outs were shared between Wesley and D.S.Senanayake while in the set scrums the Wesley hooker struck a shade faster than his counterpart.

In the dying stages of the game the lads from Campbell Park snatched victory when their hero, wing three quarter Kavindana Perera picked up a loose ball and darted through for a glorious match winning try.

Fly half Murshid Zubair's conversion kick went astray much to the dismay of their supporters but Wesley College ran out worthy winners.