Sports

HSBC Premier Golf winners to witness 150th Open Championship in Scotland

Published

5 years ago

2022/02/19

Dihan Dedigama Overall Winner in the A&B Division receiving his award from Mark Surgenor, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives and James Rebert, Country Head of Wealth & Personal Banking, HSBC Sri Lanka

HSBC successfully concluded two back to back golf tournaments at the Royal Colombo Golf Club recently which brought together RCGC golfers, and HSBC Premier golfers who competed for a shot at winning a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland.

This year over 180 golfers demonstrated their golf skills at the HSBC Premier Golf Tournament held for the 9th year, while over 250 golfers from RCGC played in the annual 5-Club Stableford Tournament, marking 26-years of HSBC’s title sponsorship.

Deepal Akuretiyagama was the overall winner to take home the HSBC Premier Challenge Trophy and was also winner of the Seniors & Ladies & C division with a score of 43 points. Dihan Dedigama scored 38 points on a B/B 9 and was the winner of the A&B divisions. Anouk Chitty won the Ladies division with 39 Points, while Chandana De Silva won the Senior’s division with 37 Points.

The two overall winners were each presented with a fully sponsored 4 nights, 5 days’ hospitality package each to watch the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland from 10 – 17 July 2022, which HSBC is a patron. In addition, each winner was also awarded a global health policy with benefits up to USD 800,000 courtesy of Allianz Insurance as part of HSBC’s global partnership.

Deepal Akuretiyagama sharing his thoughts, said, “As a sportsman from my younger days, my motto for any sport, has always been to work hard to improve your skills and then you play what you learnt with passion and joy. Winning is a bonus. Although this is my first commercial tournament, HSBC provided a perfect environment to apply my belief. It was a fun filled and highly professional tournament. I am grateful to HSBC for sponsoring me to the 150th Open in Scotland, which is any golfers dream. It was a privilege to be part of this. Thank you HSBC.”

“The recently concluded HSBC tournament was as well organised as a tournament could be. The professional approach from HSBC staff to look into every little matter was amazing. The entire team put on a great display of coordination and by winning gave me a once in a lifetime opportunity, first being able to attend the momentous occasion of the 150th Open Championship and the honour and privilege to visit St. Andrews. Thank you HSBC team.” said Dihan Dedigama.

Deepal Akuretiyagama Overall Winner of the HSBC Premier Golf Tournament accepting the HSBC Premier Challenge Trophy from Mark Surgenor, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Sanjeewa Wickramanayake and Adrian Perera also walked away with a Global Health Insurance plan each from Allianz Insurance offered exclusively to HSBC Premier customers during a special draw.

The overall winner at this year’s 5-Club Stableford Tournament was Manoj Algama who secured the highest score of 43 Points. The ladies champion was Fran De Mel who scored 40 points. Winning the A Division was W.A.K Fernando with 41 Points and the B Division winner was Manoj Algama with 43 Points. The winner of C division was Manjula Lanerolle scoring 42 Points, while Harendra De Silva won the Seniors division with a score of 39 Points.

HSBC is a long-term partner of some of the biggest events in global golf, including, the World Golf Championships, HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and The Open in the UK. In Sri Lanka, HSBC has helped elevate the

game through the sponsorship of HSBC Future Lions at grassroots level to increase both interest and participation in the game.

Continuing from last year, this year’s Premier Golf tournament also invited Premier Juniors to test their skills on the course with an 18-hole stroke play. Kaiyan Johnpillai won the 12 and below age group with 93 gross and Arika Wickramasinghe won the 13-18 age group scoring 75 gross.

In keeping with HSBC’s Net Zero ambitions, a key highlight this year was that every participating golfer at both tournaments received a box of recycled Bamboo tees from OCEANTEE, who will be supplying the same recycled tees to the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews, Scotland. Further, to support RCGC’s own ambition of becoming carbon neutral through Project Zero, the HSBC Premier Golf T-Shirts worn at the tournament was made from recycled pet bottles.

Congratulating both winners Deepal Akuretiyagama and Dihan Dedigama James Rebert, Head of Wealth and Personal Banking further said, “We are happy to be able to give our customers an opportunity to not just enjoy golf locally, but to also experience world-class golf events, that connect to their international lifestyle. We hope both winners will enjoy their experience this year at the 150th Open Championship. This year also marked the second junior premier event creating an opportunity for young players to enter the tournament. Congratulations to Kaiyan Johnpillai and Arika Wickramasinghe on winning this year’s event and we wish them a bright future ahead in golf.

We will continue to create these experiences and new opportunities as part of our global Premier banking proposition to support our customer’s ambitions both locally and internationally.”

The tournament concluded with the awards ceremony held at the Club House.

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Sports

India to host inaugural Women’s Champions Trophy in February

Published

13 hours ago

2026/09/3

Priyan

The Brabourne Stadium hasn't hosted an international game since December 2022 [BCCI]

The inaugural six-team Women’s Champions Trophy has been moved from Sri Lanka to India, and will be played in Mumbai and Vadodara from February 14 to 28 next year.

The Brabourne Stadium and the Vadodara International Cricket Stadium will host the T20 tournament. Despite losing the hosting rights because of government interference in their cricket board, Sri Lanka will still be part of the tournament, having qualified after being in the top six of the T20I rankings on the July 6 qualification cut-off date. Australia, England, India, New Zealand and South Africa are the other teams.

According to a media release, the ICC assessed three candidates – Bangladesh, India and South Africa – against its established host evaluation criteria before recommending India as the replacement host on Wednesday.

The Brabourne Stadium hasn’t hosted an international game since December 2022, when India women hosted Australia for a T20I series. It hosted the first-ever season of the WPL in 2023 and also a few matches in 2025. Vadodara, meanwhile, has hosted WPL matches in 2025 and 2026.

The Champions Trophy was due to be Sri Lanka’s second ICC event in two years after they also co-hosted the 2026 men’s T20 World Cup with India. The six participating teams will compete in a round-robin league, with the top two sides advancing to the final on February 28.

The SLC is under interim administration, called the Transformation Committee, which was put in place by the Sri Lankan government and will oversee major board changes including those to its constitution. The ICC does not recognise politically appointed administrations and SLC representatives have not been at ICC board meetings since the Transformation Committee was put in place.

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Mendis, Nissanka return for England white ball series

Published

23 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

Kusal Mendis and Pathum Nissanka return to the side after missing India Tests due to injuries.

by Rex Clementine

Prolific batsman Pathum Nissanka and white-ball captain Kusal Mendis are back in the fold after being named in Sri Lanka’s ODI and T20 squads for the six-match tour of England later this month.

Both Mendis and Nissanka missed the recent Test series against India through injury. Nissanka was recovering from wrist surgery, while Mendis suffered a hamstring injury during the LPL. It was the first major injury setback for the wicketkeeper batter, who has been a fixture in the Sri Lankan side for more than a decade.

Interestingly, Charith Asalanka has returned to the leadership group as vice-captain. Asalanka was stripped of the captaincy in both white ball formats earlier this year and subsequently fell out of favour with the selectors. His elevation suggests that the experiment of grooming Kamindu Mendis as the all-format vice-captain has, for the moment at least, been shelved.

There are, however, a few concerns heading into the tour. Kusal Mendis and Dushmantha Chameera have not featured in the ongoing domestic tournament, leaving them short of competitive cricket. Chameera’s lack of preparation will be particularly concerning given the fast bowler’s lengthy history of injuries. Pathum Nissanka did turn up for NCC though during this week’s T-20 competition but didn’t make an impact.

The inclusion of 28-year-old leg-spinner Sachindu Colombage in the ODI squad has also raised a few eyebrows.

While Sri Lanka’s T20 game remains a work in progress, their ODI fortunes have taken a significant turn for the better. The side has found consistency and made rapid strides, underlined by automatic qualification for next year’s World Cup in South Africa. It is a marked contrast to the build-up to the 2023 edition, when Sri Lanka were forced to travel to Zimbabwe and negotiate the qualifying tournament to earn their place at the World Cup.

Sri Lanka will begin the tour with the T20 series, with Southampton hosting the opener on September 15. The teams then travel to Cardiff and Manchester before the ODI leg gets underway at Chester-le-Street. Headingley will stage the second ODI, with the tour concluding at The Oval.

The Sri Lankan squad will leave for London on Saturday, September 5, giving them ten days to prepare for the six-match white-ball assignment.

ODI squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Kusal Mendis (captain), Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka, Wanindu Hasaranga, Dunith Wellalage, Maheesh Theekshana, Sachindu Colombage, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Asitha Fernando and Dilshan Madushanka.

T20 squad: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Lahiru Udara, Kusal Mendis (captain), Kamindu Mendis, Charith Asalanka (vice-captain), Janith Liyanage, Dasun Shanaka, Dunith Wellalage, Wanindu Hasaranga, Maheesh Theekshana, Tharindu Rathnayake, Dushmantha Chameera, Eshan Malinga, Nuwan Thushara and Binura Fernando.

Sports

Sampath, bowlers steer Golden Green Plantations to title

Published

23 hours ago

2026/09/3

Sahan Weerasooriya

MCA Premier League Champions 2026 Golden Green Plantations

MCA – ABANS PREMIER LEAGUE 2026

A skipper’s innings of 70 runs off 89 balls by T M Sampath and a four fer by Hesham Madushanaka and two wickets by Upul Hettiarachchi helped new comers to the MCA cricket arena Golden Green Plantations defeat David Pieris Group of Companies by four wickets in the final of the MCA-Abans Premier League 2026 and become the first winners of the ‘Abans Challenge Trophy’.

Electing to bat first David Pieris Group of Companies were restricted to 147 runs in 39.3 overs. Santhush Gunathilake who opened innings topped the score card with a fluent 53 off 50 balls with seven fours and a six. Asitha Wanninayake chipped in with 31 off 59 balls. Heshan Madushanka captured four wickets for 11 runs.

Chasing 148 to win, skipper T M Sampath scored 70 runs off 89 balls with seven boundaries and two sixes before being stumped off the bowling of Dilanka Auwardt, with score on 122/5. Shammu Ashan and Mohamed Shamaz shared a 25 run partnership to equal the scores at 147/6 and Shammu Ashan scored the winning runs with a four.

The Golden Green Plantation Team led by T M Samapth comprised, Heshn Madushanka, Malith Mihiranga, Mohamed Shamaz, Randika Mihiranga, Upul Httiarachchi, Dhanuja Induwara, Gimadu Malkam, Sammu Ashan , Vikum Sanjaya and Johan Pathirana

With only four teams entering the prestigious MCA Premier Leaguethis year, DFCC Bank secured third spot having a slightly better run rate over Nawaloka Hospitals and were unlucky that the opportunity for securing a spot in the final was washed away as qualifier 2 was abandoned on two consuecutive days due to rain.

Player of the Final T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations receives his trophy from Sajith Athapaththu Chairman of the MCA Social, Bar and Restaurant Committee

Special Awards:

Best fielder of the Final :

Dhanuja Induwara of Golden Green Plantations [3 catches and 1 runout]

Best bowler of the Final:

Heshan Madushanka of Golden Green Plantations [4 wickets for 11 runs]

Best batsman of the Final:

Santhush Gunathilake of David Pieris Group of Companies [53 runs off 50 balls]

Player of the Final ;

T M Sampath of Golden Green Plantations [70 runs and 1 wicket]

Best bowler of the Tournament:

Tharinda Nirmal of David Pieris Group of Companies [13 wickets in 4 innings]

Best batsman of the Tournament: