Ratnayake Central Walala won the boys’ and girls’ overall championships at the Central Province Schools Athletics Championship held at Bogambara recently.

‎Ratnayake Central aggregated 202 points to edge out Trinity College by two points to win the boys title.

‎Kingswood were a distant third with 81 points.

‎In the girls category, Ratnayake Central dominated a majority of events to win the title with 245 points.

‎Girls High School Kandy finished second with 165 points, while Ambagamuwa Central were third with 114 points.

‎The dominance of Ratnayake Central was evident throughout the event as they accounted for ten of the 32 new meet records established.

‎Akash Dhananjaya Senavirathne of Theldebiya National School who clocked 48.4 seconds to win the 400 metres won the best athlete award in the boys’ category.

‎U.M.S. Himashani of Ambagamuwa Central was adjudged the best athlete in the girls category for the outstanding performance in the 800 metres (2:13.3 seconds).

When my good friend Nimal Welgama requested me to pen a few lines about Sir Gary Sobers as I had the privilege of playing for Sri Lanka against the mighty West Indies as they were known then, I was wondering whether I can do justice to this awesome cricketing all rounder.

In this particular game Sir Gary fell short of scoring his usual hundred. Sir Gary had a flair for unique stylishness which no other cricketer matched and it came naturally to him. He wore his shirt open all the way down to the navel perhaps to keep himself cool from the hot weather one encounters when playing cricket.He walked into bat leaning forward slightly with a gait that that had confidence written all over it.I had the good fortune of viewing on a video clip of an innings of 230 plus he made in a Match against Australia against a formidable attack headed by fearsome Dennis Lillee where he tore the the bowling to shreds.This innings was described by probably the greatest batters of all time Sir Donald Bradman as the best innings he has witnessed live.A tribute difficult to ignore. I wish to conclude by saying that Sir Garfield Sobers was an all rounder of exceptional ability which void will be hard to fill.

by Anura Tennekoon ✍️

Ferran Torres scored ‌in the 106th minute to lift Spain to their second World Cup title with ⁠a 1-0 win im extra time over 10-man Argentina in the final.

Torres’s deserved winner on Sunday came 16 years and eight days after Andres Iniesta also scored in extra time ⁠to lift the Spaniards to their first World Championship with a 1-0 victory over the Netherlands.

It came on La Roja’s 20th shot in the contest against defending champions Argentina ⁠that failed to manage any to that point and struggled to wrest possession away from their superior Iberian opponents.

That was true at even strength and became more difficult when La Albiceleste’s numbers were reduced when Enzo Fernandez’s late challenge on Pau Cubarsi left referee Slavko Vincic no ‌choice but to produce a second caution just before the end of normal time.

Spain remain the only nation ever to win a European Championship and World Cup in successive tournaments, having now done so a second time. They are also the first World Cup champions ever to concede only once across an entire tournament.

Lionel Messi’s Argentina failed to earn a title for the first time in three major tournaments, having also captured the ⁠2021 and 2024 Copa Americas either side of their 2022 World ⁠Cup triumph.

The 39-year-old eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi finished the competition with eight goals and four assists, but had little time on the ball in the final until Spain finally took the lead. And he never seriously looked like he would lift his ⁠side to another great moment as he has so many times in the last two World Cup cycles.