Sports
Deepika, only champion retained for Asian qualifiers
Asian Beach Volleyball qualifiers for Commonwealth Games from Friday
by Reemus Fernando
Ashen Rashmika, Malintha Yapa, Chathurika Madushani, and Deepika Bandara will vie for Sri Lanka to secure slots in the Commonwealth Games Beach Volleyball competition when the Asian qualifiers of the sport are held here in Sri Lanka from Friday.
The two pairs will compete for a slot each in the men’s and women’s categories during the two-day tournament where Malaysia, Singapore, and Maldives are the other participating countries vying to grab the opportunity to take part in the quadrennial games.
However, of the four players selected for the crucial event, Deepika Bandara is the only gold medal winner retained from the Central Asian Beach Volleyball tournament held in Negombo recently.
While Deepika Bandara and Dinesha Prasadini won the women’s championship at the Central Asian Beach Volleyball championship held in February, Anjana Sandeepana and Sandun Madusanka were the runners-up to Iran in the men’s championship.
“The selections were done on players’ current form. Some of the players who won podium places at the recently held Central Asian Beach Volleyball tournament are nursing injuries. They have been replaced with players who are in form,” said A.S. Nalaka the secretary of the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation in reply to The Island queries yesterday.
Asked whether a similar procedure will be followed in the case of the country’s teams winning the Asian qualifier for the Commonwealth Games, Nalaka said that the slot will be for the country and the selectors of the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation will pick players who will be in their best form.
Beach volleyball will be competed at the Commonwealth Games for the second time following its debut at the 2018 edition. Both men’s and women’s competitions will see 12 teams competing for medals from July 30 to August 7.
While five teams are selected according to FIVB Beach Volleyball World Rankings, a team each will be selected from the regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, Americas/ Caribbean and Oceania through qualifiers. A slot is also allocated to hosts and a Bipartite Invitation. While Cyprus has secured a place each in the men’s and women’s categories from the European region other regions are set to conduct their qualifiers this month.
The tournament staring on Friday is sponsored by the National Olympic Committee and C.W. Mackie. Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation is organizing the tournament under the supervision of the Commonwealth Games Federation and the NOC.
The finals of the men’s and women’s categories will be held on Saturday.
Mikel Merino scored in the 88th minute from a rebound yielded by backup Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lammens, and Spain advanced to the World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 victory.
Merino was the late hero for the second straight match for Spain, who advanced to face tournament favourite France in the semifinals on Tuesday in Dallas.
Merino came on in the 86th minute and scored from his second touch of the match, charging into the box and pouncing after Lammens spilled a Pau Cubarsi shot from outside the area.
The Arsenal forward also scored as a substitute early in injury time to secure Spain’s 1-0 victory over Portugal in the last-16.
Lammens, the Manchester United keeper, was forced into the match in the 71st minute after longtime Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois left with an apparent thigh injury.
Belgium desperately pressed for an equaliser in the final minutes, but Aymeric Laporte volleyed their best chance out of the box.
Fabian Ruiz scored the opening goal in the 30th minute for Spain after Courtois had parried a shot from Dani Olmo from Pedro Porro’s cut-back from the right of the area, but Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere scored the first goal allowed by Spain in the entire World Cup in the 41st minute.
His header from Timothy Castagne’s cross from the right ended a record streak of 649 minutes without conceding at the World Cup.
The annual rugby encounter between Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College, played for the William Weerasinghe Memorial Trophy, is set to take place today (July 11, 2026), at 4:00 PM at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy.
The official unveiling of the trophy took place this week at the Dharmaraja College premises with the participation of the Principals of the two schools, teachers-in-charge of sports, coaches, the Rugby teams, and several distinguished guests, including Dharmaraja College Old Boys’ Association President Mahesh Wijetunga, Kingswood College Old Boys’ Association President Muditha Abeykoon,
Text and Pic by SK Samaranayake
The annual rugby encounter between Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College, played for the William Weerasinghe Memorial Trophy, is set to take place tomorrow (July 11, 2026), at 4:00 PM at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy.
The official unveiling of the trophy took place this week at the Dharmaraja College premises with the participation of the Principals of the two schools, teachers-in-charge of sports, coaches, the Rugby teams, and several distinguished guests, including Dharmaraja College Old Boys’ Association President Mahesh Wijetunga, Kingswood College Old Boys’ Association President Muditha Abeykoon,
by S K SAMARANAYAKE
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