Vidyartha College completed a smashing 60-15 victory over their rivals St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy in their inter school first round league rugby encounter worked off at the Trinity College grounds at Pallekele. Vidyartha maintained their rugby standard, while collecting points through six goals, three tries and one penalty to 15 one goal, one try and one penalty. At half time winners led 15-7.

Vidyartha ruggerites got into business from the kick off and virtually dominated the forward and back division play.

More importantly they were quite outstanding in the loose play and combined well in the rucks and mauls. Sylverstains who usually play good rugby did not live up to their reputation in this game.

Referee – Pradeep Indika.

In another game played at the same venue, two days before Sri Rahula College, Katugastota beat Presidents College Maharagama by 46 points (6 goals and 1 try) to 35 ( 5 goals) .

GOLD COAST: A defiant Cate Campbell has promised a return to her best form at the Commonwealth Games as the Aussie swimmer looks to exorcise the demons of her Olympic flop two years ago.

The 25-year-old is blazing the comeback trail after taking a year out from the sport, prompted by what Campbell described as the “greatest choke in Olympic history” in Rio -- her sixth-place finish in the 100 metres freestyle final.

Campbell, who is limbering up for the Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast this week, rediscovered her mojo at the national trials, where she dominated the 100m freestyle and broke Australian records in the 50m free and 50m butterfly.

“I definitely missed being part of the team,” she told reporters. “To be back in the green and gold, it really makes my heart beat a little bit faster.”

Campbell was the red-hot favourite to win the Olympic 100m title in 2016 and led at the turn before fading badly, allowing Canada's Penny Oleksiak and American Simone Manuel to come through and tie for gold. - AFP

Paris: Rafael Nadal reclaimed top spot in the men’s ATP rankings on Monday a day after Swiss rival and defending champion Roger Federer crashed out early in Miami.

Nadal, who hasn’t hit a ball in anger since pulling out of the Australian Open quarter-finals in January, saw Federer take over top spot on February 18.

The Swiss veteran, however, slipped 10 points behind his Spanish rival and into second place after a second round defeat to Thanasi Kokkinakis. Towering American John Isner leapt eight places to ninth thanks to his eventual victory Sunday in the Masters 1000 event.

Isner thus equals his previous best ranking of ninth, reached in April 2012, while beaten finalist Alexander Zverev of Germany moved up one place to fourth.

South Korea’s Hyeon Chung meanwhile continued to chip away at the rankings, the 21-year-old breaking into the top 20, to 19th, for the first time in his fledgling career thanks to his quarter-final appearance in Miami.

ATP top 10 rankings at April 2(change in ranking in brackets):

1. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 8.770 pts (+1), 2. Roger Federer (SUI) 8.670 (-1), 3. Marin Cilic (CRO) 4.985, 4. Alexander Zverev (GER) 4.925 (+1), 5. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 4.635 (-1), 6. Juan Martin Del Potro (ARG) 4.470, 7. Dominic Thiem (AUT) 3.665, 8. Kevin Anderson (RSA) 3.390, 9. John Isner (USA) 3.125 (+8), 10. David Goffin (BEL) 3.110 (-1)

After much soul searching Sri Lanka Cricket eventually found a successor to Graham Ford when they appointed former Sri Lanka cricketer Chandika Hathurusingha to take charge of the men’s national cricket team in December last year, but the same cannot be said of the Sri Lanka under 19 team and the Sri Lanka Women’s team. These two sides badly lack a proper head coach for them to make any further progress in the sport and not only be a competitive unit but able to win titles.

Our under 19 cricketers however much we boast of a strong school system have yet to win an under 19 cricket World Cup, the women are nowhere close to winning one let alone qualifying for the last four. Sri Lanka Women who once were dominant over teams like West Indies and Pakistan and now being beaten fair and square under their own conditions and pitches. The recent ODI series saw Pakistan Women whitewash our women cricketers 3-0 and also win the T20I series 2-1. Even the West Indies Women cricketers have improved in leaps and bounds that they are ranked five ahead of Pakistan (7th) and Sri Lanka (8th). Pakistan were a team that Sri Lanka could easily beat a decade or so ago, but whereas the Pakistan Women’s team have improved greatly we are still struggling to be competitive. With the exception of a one-off win here and there, our women cricketers have failed to be consistent in their performances.

The women’s team has gone through the hands of several coaches who were past Sri Lankan cricketers but the improvement has been rather painstakingly slow so that other countries have already moved ahead while we remain stagnant. It’s not that we don’t have any cricketers of international repute there are quite a few individuals who could get into any team - players like Chamari Atapattu, Shashikala Siriwardena, Chamari Polgampola, Dilani Manodara, Inoka Ranaweera, and Sripali Weerakkody, but as a team there are many grey areas that needs fine-tuning.

One of the key factors is that unlike men’s cricket, the women’s cricket team does not have school cricket as its nursery. As a result a Sri Lankan woman cricketer starts her career rather late in her teens or early twenties which is not the right age to teach the basics of the game when there are so many other distractions. Only recently attempts are being made by SLC to rectify that lapse by encouraging girls’ schools to undertake the sport, the campaign being spearheaded by Apsari Tillakaratne (wife of former Sri Lanka captain Hashan Tillakaratne).

Now that Sri Lanka Cricket has tried their hand at appointing local coaches to handle the women’s team and seen the results over the years why not for a change get someone from overseas? The men’s team reached the finals of six World Cups and won two of them when a foreign coach handled them. So why not our women cricketers also be given the same opportunity and see how far they improve. The only hitch with a foreign coach is the communication problem as the majority of our women cricketers’ converse mainly in the native language. If that shortcoming can be rectified SLC should not hesitate to give a shot at it and see the outcome of the results.

The same could be said of our under 19 cricketers too. Unlike the women counterparts the under 19 cricketers have a strong school base from which to select their squads.

The talent is so overflowing to the extent that Sri Lanka could field more than one team of equal strength. However there seems to be a shortcoming from the coaching part as the best of talent is not properly harnessed and used to get the maximum results. Sri Lanka’s poor showing in the recently concluded Under 19 World Cup in New Zealand was due to bad selection by the team management that saw them fail to qualify for a place in the knockout stage (quarterfinals) and end up as Plate winners in ninth place.

The team was oozing with talent and if handled properly could have even made it to the final – a feat Sri Lanka has achieved only once in 2000 when they hosted the tournament. Even in the under 19 Asia Cup, Sri Lanka has come only as far the final once again when they were the hosts in 2016.

SLC are in the process of finding a successor to Roy Dias who has handled the under 19 team since May 2016. What the SLC should look for is a coach who is familiar with the current trend of international cricket and is well versed in all three formats – Tests, ODIs and T20Is. You don’t need a coach who frowns when a batsman plays a reverse sweep, a switch hit, a Dilscoop or hits the first ball he receives for a six.

The game has changed so much in the past three decades that the coach has to let the natural talent and flair flourish instead of trying to curb it. It would not be a bad idea even for the under 19 team to be handled by a foreign coach because with them there are no strings attached when it comes to training, selections etc. They have a reputation to safeguard and will not compromise in anyway, which means that the team will benefit the most. Isn’t that what we are all looking for?

Three Lake House employees representing performed well in the 10th All Island Veterans' Athletics Championship organized by the Central Province Veterans Athletic Association and conducted at the Jayatilaka Stadium, Nawalapitiya recently.

J. A. A. S. Kumara competing in the men's over-50 age category won the men's 400m hurdles silver medal with a timing of 1.12 minutes and bagged the men's 800metres bronze medal clocking 2.30minutes.

D. K. I. P. Namasiri competing in the over-45 age category took 59.3seconds to bag the men's 400m bronze medal and won the fourth place in men's 100m event with a timing of 12seconds.

H. A. Samarawansa secured the fourth place in men's over-50 - 5000m event.

The prominent annual veterans athletic event saw Gampaha district clinching Overall Champion title and Men's Champion titles while Kandy district emerged women's champions.

Central Provincial Sports, Youth & Women Affairs, Industrial and Rural Development minister Thilina Bandara Tennakoon was the chief guest at the award ceremony.

Horana Sripalee Cricket team

The second annual 'Battle of the Raigam Pasdun' cricket big match between Sri Palee College, Horana and C. W. W. Kannangara Vidyalaya, Matugama will be worked off at Sri Palee Grounds, Horana on April 5 and 6.

The inaugural big match between these two schools ended in a tame draw but any how Sri Palee College were able to win major honours with a first innings win. This year the hosts are Sri Palee College and all the aspects of the Big Match will be carried out by the Past Pupils of Sri Palee College.

This year the Sri Palee team will be captained by Suresh Kaushan while C. W. W. Kannangara Vidyalaya cricket team will be led by Ayesh Ranjula. In the last year's match, Ashan Priyankara of Sri Palee Vidyalaya won the Man of the Match Award.

The two principals M. D. Jayasiri of Sri Palee College and Wasantha Kulasekera of C. W. W. Kannangara Vidyalaya expect a high standard of discipline through out the two days from the players and spectators.

The Veterans' Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (VTTASL) felicitated its talented paddlers who excelled at national and international level during their recently held annual Awards Night at the Light House Gallery Hotel in Colombo. Assistant Director of Sports R. B. Wickremasinghe was the chief guest at the Awards Night while retired DIG and former SLTTA president Daya Samaraweera participated as the guest of honour. Over 150 veteran paddlers participated

The Sri Lanka Indoor cricket team will take on the visiting England counterparts in a six-match Indoor Cricket Series from April 6 to 8 at the Austasia International Stadium, Thalawathugoda.

This is the third time an English indoor cricket team is visiting Sri Lanka since their first visit in 2003 for a three-match series where Sri Lanka emerged winners 3-nil.

The second England indoor team visited Sri Lanka for the 2004 World Cup.

This year the Sri Lankan team will be coached by Asela Pathirana who captained the Lankan team on both previous occasions against England.

The team will be led by experienced Kamal Kuruppu and will have Kolitha Hapuarachchi as his deputy. The Lankan team has been training hard since February after their return from the Asia Cup in India where they became runner-up.

The six-match test series has been sanctioned by the World Indoor Cricket Federation (WICF). In addition, England will also bring a development team and a Masters’ team who will be seen in action in few friendly encounters against local teams.

Mahanama College easily won the inaugural Battle of Blooms limited-over cricket match beating Berrewarts College by 186 runs at the Police grounds yesterday. The match was over by 4 pm after Berrewarts chasing a winning target of 263 were bundled out for 76.

Mahanama batting first got off to a good start with skipper Kasun Weerasekara and Banuka Wickrematilake putting together an opening stand of 74. Ranjan Rathna contributed 52 and Pasindu Manaka 42 in their total of 262 all out in 49.3 overs.

Karndu Jayalath bowled a fine line and length to take 4 for 52 and Supun Bandara too bowled well to take 4 for 32.

Berrewarts in their turn failed to impress, due to a superb all-round performance from Mahanama who bundled them out for 76.

Mahanama’s star batsman Ranjan Rathna was awarded the man of the match.

Scores:

Mahanama College 262 in 49.3 overs (Kasun Weerasekara 38, Banuka Wickrematilake 24, Ranjan Rathna 52, Pasindu Manaka 42, Karndu Jayalath 4/52, Supun Bandara 4/32),

Berrewarts College 76 in 21.4 overs (Dilshan Kavindu 10, Narodiya Weerasekara 3/15, Chandipa Sandakelum 2/9).

JOHANNESBURG tuesday: The fall-out from Australia’s ball-tampering scandal had a major effect on the performance of the team, new captain Tim Paine said after his team were thrashed by 492 runs in the fourth Test at the Wanderers Stadium on Tuesday.

The defeat gave South Africa a 3-1 series victory, their first at home against Australia since 1969/70.

Paine admitted that South Africa had outplayed Australia after losing the first Test in Durban. “We can’t hide from the fact that purely on skill they outplayed us,” he said.

But he said he was disappointed at the lack of fight shown as Vernon Philander ripped through his team on the final morning. Philander had career-best figures of six for 21, taking all six of his wickets for three runs in 5.2 overs. He dismissed the Marsh brothers, Shaun and Mitchell, with the first and fourth balls of the morning and Australia never recovered.

They crashed from 88 for three to 119 all out in 16.4 overs.

It brought to an end a series of high-quality cricket and even greater off-field drama, culminating in a ball tampering scandal during the third Test in Cape Town which resulted in former captain Steve Smith, vice-captain David Warner and Cameron Bancroft being sent home and banned.

“There’s been enough spoken about the week we had,” said Paine.

“We’re disappointed with the way we handled it. This group had a chance to show some real fight and determination today, but unfortunately we weren’t able to.

“Mentally we weren’t quite there.

You only have to be slightly off in any game of cricket, let alone (against) a team as good as South Africa, and you get exposed.

“I thought we were going to be better than we were. It obviously had more of an effect on guys than we probably knew ourselves.” Paine said Australia would reflect on what had happened. “Now we have the opportunity to go home and start again almost.” He said the change in team culture that had been spoken about after the scandal had already started. “That will continue to happen,” he said. “We’ve obviously got a new coach coming in who will have a huge say on how that is. From my point of view we’ve got to find a fine line between being really respectful of the opposition and also being at a level that is really competitive.”

South African captain Faf du Plessis hailed what he said was South Africa’s most complete performance of a 10-Test summer during which his second-ranked team had beaten top side India and third-ranked Australia.

“This means a lot to us,” he said. “This whole series has been probably the best we have been right through a series. We’ve been winning a lot of series but there have been little holes where we could improve.

This series has been incredible the way we have put it all together.”

Du Plessis said different players had contributed at stages throughout the series.

“There are a lot of things that came together. The opening (batting) combination got us off to a good start pretty much in every game. There were five hundreds in this series which is incredible and we were bowling teams out every time, taking 80 wickets in the series. Our bowling unit was exceptional.” Du Plessis said he had never known his team to be as motivated as much as they were after a bad-tempered first Test in Durban. “They went almost from motivated to motivated slash angry and they were determined to turn it around. I could feel all 11 guys were really motivated to make a play in this series. “ AFP

AFC president Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa visited Sri Lanka on an official visit on Monday.

The private jet carrying the AFC president and his entourage landed at Bandaranaike International Airport and was warmly welcomed by FFSL president Anura de Silva, FFSL secretary general Jaswar Umar along with members of the Executive Committee.

The AFC delegation included AFC general secretary Windsor John, AFC MA International Relations Director Ravi Kumar, AFC president’s office officials – Hassan Yusuf and Abbas Marzook.

The AFC president spent time discussing about Sri Lanka’s new strategic plans and will analyze the areas of support from AFC to take the game to the next level. He also expressed his support to Sri Lanka Football.

The AFC president is driving his ambitious vision of One Asia, One Goal by supporting countries that require extra support from AFC. He has already approved several special projects such as Mini-Pitch, President’s Development Initiatives Projects and Capacity Building projects for Sri Lanka.

Shaikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa met the Executive Committee members over an official dinner yesterday.

Kayla Perera fired a magnificent 2 under par Gross score in the Qualifying round of the Junior Girls Silver Division to return the day’s best score among all participants including the Gold Division Boys and Girls.

14 year old Kayla duly earned the Top Seed status in the Junior Girls Golf Championship where the Gold and Silver players are combined to determine the Junior Girls Champion. In the Match Play segment Kayla Perera and Taniya Minel got Byes in to the Semi-Finals, seeded 1&2 respectively. Dhaliya Helshiba Herath of Vicroria Golf Club, Digana, beat Arika Wickramasinghe 4&3, to set-up a semi-final clash with Top Seed Kayla Perera. In the bottom half of the draw Sherine Balasuriya trounced Nethmi Thewarathanthri 10&8 to enter the semi finals and clash with second Seeded Taniya Minel Balasuriya her elder sister. It will be the first meeting for the sisters in a major event.

In the Boys Gold Division, scores were not that marvelous and Taniya Minel’s 77 Gross was the best, however among the Boy’s scores Dilshan Malinda’s 79, earned him the Top Seed Rank # 1 for the Match-play segment. Dhuwarshan from Nuwara Eliya Golf Club 81 and Vinod Weerasinghe 82 were seeded 2 and

3 respectively. Top Seeded Dilshan Malinda brushed aside D. Himal Randima 3&1 to reach the semi finals in the top half of the draw. S.D. S Dilshan beat W Yohan Rukman 3&2 to meet Dilshan in the 1st semi final of the Boys’ Junior Championship. Vinod Weerasinghe cruised to a 8&7 victory over P A Dimuthu to meet S. Dhuwarshan in the 2nd semi final after Dhuwarshan comfortably beat Leon Perera 7&6.

The Boy’s Silver Division seems closely contested with Nirekh Tejwani and K Danushan Ranked 1 and 2 respectively with scores of 78 and 79. Nirekh Tejwani beat Chethana Perera 5&4 to meet 2017 Bronze Division winner Yannik Kumara who battled well to overcome Haroon Aslam from (VGCR) 1 up.

Danushan beat Abinav Basha on the 19 th hole to meet S D M Hirushan a comfortable winner over T Vikash at 6&5, in the bottom half of the Silver Division Match play Category.

Reshan Algama 69 over 14 holes Ranked # 1 in the Bronze Division will play N W G Shanal Binuksha, who beat L. Lidurshan(NEGC) in the top half of the Semi-Final. M S Sanjay also of NEGC, Ranked # 2 will meet Pranav Muralidaran in the second semi-final.

The Copper Division over 9 holes saw Kaya Daluwaate top seeded reaching the semi final defeating Kanindrra Samarasekera 4&3 whilst Khvan Tejwani beat Shenuk Fernando also 4&3. Thejas Rathis Kanth probably created a minor upset when he beat the more fancied Kian Kiyarepola 2&1 to meet C. Dharaniyan of NEGC in the second semi final. The Sri Lanka Junior Golf Championships Sponsored by Perera & Sons Bakers for the 5th consecutive year created a great atmosphere at the RCGC with over 60 Junior Golfers Teeing-off in 04 Age Categories and 05 Championship divisions.

The Match Play segment continues and the finals will be worked-off tomorrow (April 5).

The XXIst Commonwealth Games is set to get off the mark today with the opening ceremony scheduled for 7.00 p.m. Australian time (2.30 pm Sri Lanka time).

Gold Coast Games will become the biggest ever Commonwealth Games as it has 6600 athletes and over 400 officials participating. Prince Charles will be the chief guest in the absence of the Head of the Commonwealth countries the Queen of England Elizabeth II.

Seventy countries are competing in nine disciplines at the Games with over 1000 journalists from 70 countries due to cover the event.

Sri Lanka’s last contingent of six competitors arrived on Monday morning along with their coaches and managers and joined the Lankan group at the Games Village. Weight Lifter Chinthana Vidanage, the captain will be the flag bearer at the Opening Ceremony along with sportsmen/women and officials.

Sri Lanka’s Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera who arrived in Gold Coast on Monday evening to attend the Commonwealth Countries 9th Sports Ministers meeting left Gold Coast yesterday.

The Minister speaking to the Daily News soon after the meeting said that all those present were of the view that sports is the one that brings people of all countries together which helps develop peace and harmony. This point was unanimously agreed by all Ministers present at the meeting the Minister said.

On the first day of competition Sri Lankan sportsmen and women are billed to compete in six disciplines. The preliminaries of Swimming, Boxing and Badminton are the main events and the Lankans are expected to perform well. In Swimming the two Abeysinghe brothers will be competing in different formats and are the country’s medal hopes according to swimming officials.

In Badminton too the Karunaratne’s Niluka and Dinuka will compete on day one and the women’s team too will be seen in action. Niluka who has won many international championships is expected to make use of his experience to move into second round, while his brother Dinuka will also be aiming to emulate him.

An official of the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee said that Sri Lanka’s leading woman gymnast Ondaatje who was a champion in Gymnastic Championship in Canada will represent Sri Lanka for the first time. She is in good form and is a good medal prospect for the country.

The construction of the headwork for the the proposed Lower Malwathu Oya Project, had been planned to be commissioned in mid-2019. This was disclosed at the Lower Malwathu Oya Reservoir Project progress review committee meeting that was recently held at the Anuradhapura Kachcheri Auditorium with the participation of Anuradhapura Government Agent R. M. Wanninayake.

Senior officers representing the government and irrigation, survey, wildlife, forest conservation, archaeology and assessor departments, were present at the meeting.

It was disclosed that around 40,000 acres of land in both the Mannar and Anuradhapura districts, would be provided with adequate irrigation water throughout the year, once the proposed reservoir has been completed by 2021.Project Director Engineer T. P. Alwis said that currently, surveying of the demarcation of high flood-level areas had been completed and the surveying of the estimated 4,000 hectares of land that would be submerged due to the proposed reservoir, was scheduled to be carried out in May. Subsequently, a socio-economic survey in relation to resettlement would be carried out as well.

"The Malwathu Oya basin of which the capacity is 3,246 square-kilometres, is the second largest river basin in the country. The reservoir was built having constructed a 3.6-km long main dam across the Mahaweli river at the Bogoda village in the Thanthirimale area. Around 35,000 acres of existing paddy lands will receive sufficient water for cultivation activities related to both the Yala and Maha Seasons," Alwis said.

"The two sluices of the proposed reservoir would permit a continuous flow of 35 cubic-feet of water per second and of that, a volume of 18 cubic-feet of water would be supplied to the Malwathu Oya. The maximum height of the main dam is 72.9 feet, whereas the water capacity is 169,000 acre-feet. The estimated cost for the completion of the project is Rs. 12.5 billion," Alwis added.

Project Land Officer M. A. M. Wimal said that already, a landscape spanning 528 acres had been identified for the resettlement of families being evacuated, while lands spanning to a total of 1,200 acres in the Sooriya Thenna and Handapangoda divisions, had been selected as alternative paddy lands.

Hence, the Wildlife and the Forest Conservation Departments had been requested to release the said lands. The land officer said President Maithripala Sirisena had given instructions to finalise the resettlement arrangements, with housing and relevant infrastructural facilities provided before the construction work of the reservoir project commences. Meanwhile, wildlife authorities said at the committee meeting, that since new settlement colonies are currently emerging near the Wilpattu area, it was likely that elephant corridors would be affected as wild elephants frequent the areas between Mahakanadarawa and the Wilpattu National Park.

It was revealed that there were 36 monuments of archaeological and historic value within the project site and that the moveable monuments would be handed over to museums within the Thanthirimale area.

It was also learnt that there is a current lack of funds to complete the prerequisites of the project and hence, additional funds had been requested. So far, only Rs. 50 million had been allocated for the ongoing work. In addition, investigations are currently underway to scrutinise whether any portion of the proposed landscapes selected for resettlement, would fall under the category of High Conservation Value Areas (HCVAs).

Sri Lanka will wake this April Saturday with a new sense of rugby perspective..depending on loyalty and ability to understand the fundamental factors ...life is about to step up beyond predictable and conventional.

For those who hesitate...it’s tough to imagine, but we will try to be as understanding as is legally permissive.

At home it’s all on Joseph’s to confront Royal and find a way to brush away their rapidly increasing self belief, and finishing power.

Coach Lewke, quietly nursing his confidence in forward power and solid finishing.

The Reid Avenue force has not been challenged so far this season, and managed to stamp their class, all over the Singer league.

Joseph’s on the other side of this coin have been growing in performance and look likely contenders for the title.

Friday promises a lung buster....with the alphabet of rugby experience, from start to finish.

Armchair experts within our island shores, will be hard pushed to dangle any scoreline predictions for the two halves?

For what it’s worth, and as a genuine rugby fan ...I think the 1st half will be under 30 points, with both teams itching for a big platform finale in the 2nd half.

Naturally that finish is all on how hard the battle upfront, and how much the Maradana marauders can absorb.

Assuming they front up for 75% of the game…Royal will bite that bullet and use the last quarter...to maximum gain.

I believe it’s all down to those vital stats and unforced errors in the dying 15minutes that will decide the billing.

Patana v Peter’s on Saturday is also at Havies, not under lights, unfortunately...but will set the park stadium alight with furious pace, relentless tackling and an unforgiving attitude, that will grab the oxygen gills Max.

Coach Martis is conscientious about breaking the opposition, before you beat them.

In addition Peter’s have an uncanny knack of pleasing on these top billboard matchups.

But missing out on home advantage for the Bamba brigade might be a telling factor with the green machine just getting into their stride.... Costa’s confidence bound to tested to the hilt and a real litmus test of how either side will shape up as real title contenders.

Wonder if there is a means test to gauge the level of nervous energy with both sets of old boys committees…?

Hope all that pressure is handled...and none imposed on the dressing room pre match protocol?

All told ...a fascinating start April weekend to warm the parts and keep us rugby hearts, utterly hooked!

In Australia, the Gold Coast all dressed up to host the 21st Commonwealth Games starting this weekend...4 to 15.

Sri islanders play 7s this weekend...opening our international quest in Australia vs Olympic champions Fiji.

I can only imagine the pressure keg tournament that defending Games champions South Africa will be hard pressed to protect that title.

Fiji England, New Zealand, Wales, Scotland, Canada and hosts Australia shaping up as holier than most, for the hallowed title.

My goodness, my boots what an energy-efficient 7s line up ...it’s beyond mouth watering and promises those with strong constitutions...pure voltage through their calm brains.

Sri Lanka 7s play Fiji, Wales and Uganda in the league starter ...can Muthuthanthri add magic to these games with Danushka Ranjan, Sooriyabandara, Ratwatte, Ritchie ...build our response and come home with more than the shield....?

All told, not an unreasonable or unrealistic expectation, given the quality of this young warriors unit...My mind racing ...years of travelling around the known green earth, playing 7s for my country...around 14 in total, give me an extra sense of belonging and more pain just considering the task and the pressure.

Blessings to our islanders and may the ocean force be with them.Bula Bula Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games 7s.

Pride, respect and belief...always!

M.D.H. Jayawardana Vidyalaya
The 3rd Battle of the Maroon and Blue cricket encounter between Mahamathya Vidyalaya, Athurugiriya and M.D.H. Jayawardana Vidyalaya, Koswatta will be played at the G.H. Buddhadasa Grounds, Pelawatta today (April 5). M.D.H. Jayawardana Vidyalaya will be led by Lahiru Dilshan and Kavindu Piyumal will play a key role as the vice captain. Mahamathya team led by Hasthika Udayanath while Tharindu Adithya will be his deputy.

Mahanama will have a slight edged over their opponents as the defending champions, but will receive a tough challenge from the Jayawardana Vidyalaya this year. As a prelude to the big match Mahamathya Walk was successfully conducted on April 3.

Runner-up Super Eleven team with their trophies
The 'Lion Heart Team' representing the minor staff under the captaincy of Pradeep Prasanga beat their fellow minor staff counterparts 'Super Eleven Team' and clinched the Colombo North Teaching Hospital (Ragama hospital) Inter Department Cricket crown when the two teams battled it out in the final at the Boys’ Town, Esplanade, Ragama recently.

The tournament was organized by the 'Friendly Nurse Association' of the Ragama hospital and the hospital Director Dr. Shelton Perera participated as the chief guest while the Deputy Directors of the hospital, Dr. Sarath Premasiri and Dr. Mrs. Vajira Dasanayake being the guests of honour along with Miss Kumudu Kumari, the Chief Special Grade Nursing officer.

Though the opening ceremony of the XXIst Commonwealth Games was delayed by four hours it was held on a grand scale and attended by a huge crowd which packed the whole stadium. Prince Charles along with his wife Camelia was greeted by the President of the Commonwealth Games Federation Louise Martin and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. A thunderous ovation was given by the crowd to the chief guests.

The organizers of the Games has done a great Job to the cultural values of the Cold Coast people who are considered as people whose community has a long history of their culture. This was depicted in a great manner for the people to get a real knowledge of their culture which still exists.

Sri Lankan competitors at the XXI Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast will come out on the first to day of the Games competing in six sports disciplines at different venues. The sports our Lankans will compete are Badminton, Gymnastics, Swimming, Table Tennis, Weight Lifting Diving and Wrestling.

All Lankan weight lifters - seven men and four women were hard at training under National Coach R. B. Wickramasinghe at the Indoor Stadium last morning. The men’s team is led by Gold medalist at the last Commonwealth Games and Olympian Chinthana Geetal Vidanage. Chinthana is also the overall captain of the Sri Lankan team. Last night Chinthana was the flag bearer at the opening ceremony.

Chinthana who spoke to the Daily News soon after his training session said that it was a great pleasure for him to be the leader of the national team.

“The leadership was given to me for my achievements displayed during my career and also for bringing glory to my country by winning medals on many International competitions,” said Vidanage.

Vidanage further said, “At the last Commonwealth Games I won the Gold medal and my sole intention is to repeat the same here in Gold Coast 2018.”

Speaking about his team mates he stated the all lifters were in fine form and he is sure of winning many medals to beat the previous medals record. “Our team will definitely bring in good results at this Games to make our country the best in the Commonwealth as the leader in this particular sport.

The four women lifters too are sure of winning medals. C. Priyanthi Balage who is set to compete in the 75 kg category said that she will go flat out to achieve her best. “At present I am in peak form physically and mentally with all in good shape I am sure that I could win here.”

The other female lifters in competition today are Dinushi Hansini B. Gomes (48 kg) and W. Chamari Mendis (53 kg), and R.M.N. Sandamali Rajapaksa.

The Sri Lanka men’s weight lifters competing today are J.A. Chathuranga Lakmal (56 kg), D.K.T.W. Kumara Palangasinghe (62 kg), D.M.I. Chathuranga Dissanayake (69 kg), S. Madusanka Peters (94 kg), A.G. Saman Abeywickrama (105 kg) and W.P. Ushan Charaka (+105 kg).

Sri Lanka’s shuttlers comprising four men and four women too can be considered as a medal winning combination with Karunaratne brothers Niluka and Dinuka in the men’s category. They will get the support from the other shuttlers Buwaneka Tharindu Dullewa, Sachin Premashan Dias are capable of doing their best to keep Sri Lanka flag flying high on day one.

Swimming is another sport Sri Lanka can keep hopes of winning medals. From qualifying rounds which is set to start off today Lanka men and women swimmers will have to come out with their best to qualify for the next round. Julian Bolling with vast experience of Swimming and coaching is handling the swimmers. He is confident that our girls and boys would produce results.

In swimming events Mathew and Kyle Abeysinghe’s presence in the team can be considered as an asset to other members. Their achievements today could be a morale booster for others swimmers.

In gymnastics too Sri Lanka will get on to the floor today. Three women gymnasts who are to take part today are Aana-Marie Ondaatje, Samanali Gunatilleke and Amaya Sithumini Kalukottage and K.C. Gunasinghe Gamage. The coach for Rhythmic Gymnastics is Svetlana Joukova who is confident that Anna-Marie could bring in good results for her to reach the podium in this event.

Anna-Marie who was trained in Canada a few years ago won the Canadian Championship. After winning this title she returned to Sri Lanka and got involved in the sport and qualified to represent Sri Lanka.

The other three Gymnasts competing in Artistic Class are Samanmali, Amaya and Gamage whoare under the guidance of Ranjan T. Welandage.

D.S.Senanayake College will go out as firm favourites when they lock horns against Dharmaraja College Kandy in their first round Singer ‘A’ division inter-schools league rugby encounter at Navy grounds in Welisara today at 4.00pm.

DSS after their sensational display against Isipathana in their first game of the season, where they narrowly lost 24-25, lost again to Zahira (17-19) and to Wesley College by (0-5) last week.

They were really unlucky not to win all three games due to sheer bad luck going against them. Against Pathana and Zahira they lost due to missing a last minute conversion and a penalty and against Wesley the opponents scored in the dying stages of the game to pull off a win after the scores were deadlock at nil-all.

DSS are packed with some outstanding players in their ranks, such as their captain cum hardy second row forward Chamuka Sheshan, Vishal Wijesiri, Dinusha Hemasiri, Harshula Perera and Kaveesha Rambukwella, all of whom are match winners. But they should get their act together if they are to pull off their first win for the season against an unpredictable Dharmaraja outfit. This year the D.S. Senanayake are coached by veteran rugby coach Mothilal Jayathilake.

Meanwhile the Rajans under the watchful eyes of their head coach Kapila Silva, who is the manager of the Kandy Sports Club at present are captained by experienced player and number eight Bhawantha Udangamuwa (who is also this year’s Dharmaraja College 1st XI cricket captain and brother of Kandy SC number eight Buwaneka Udangamuwa).

The Rajans will know that losing their third game could also mean a setback for them in the league tournament and most probably demotion to the “B” Division as they had previously lost to Isipathana College (14-42) and St.Peter’s College by 5 points to 42 in their last outing. Hence they will come out with their best outfit for this game, with players of the calibre of skipper Bawantha Udangamuwa, Supun Wijesiri, Malintha Rajapakse, Harsha Rodrigo, Chanidu Abeyratna, Adeesha Dissanayake, Jatila Kapuwatta and Rahal Wanigasekara.

Rajans will go out with all guns blazing to try and topple D.S.Senanayake and try to avoid demotion.

Minister of Sports Dayasiri Jayasekera hands over a souvenir to AFC president Shaikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al Khalifa when he met him at the Ministry of Sports yesterday. Jaswar Umar, General Secretary of FFSL, Anura de Silva, president of FFSL, Jayantha Wijeratne, secretary Ministry of Sports and Windsor John, AFC Secretary General are also present. Picture by Herbert Perera