Sports

Junior squash players excel in Thailand

Published

4 years ago

2022/06/29

Sri Lanka junior squash players took part in the 29th Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship 2022 in Thailand recently.

29th Asian Junior Individual Squash Championship 2022

Sri Lankan squash players went on to better their previous record at the 29th Asian Junior Individual Squash Championships held from June 15 to 19 in Pattaya, Thailand. Sri Lanka finished with five of their players, namely Linuka Silva, Bihandu Nanayakkara, Matheesha Wijesekara, Anargi Perera and Nevindu Lakman winning their matches and being placed among the top 16 players in the Asian circuit. At the last edition only two players reached that level.

At the just concluded edition four players went on to reach the Plate semi-finals, another two players plate finals and two players eventually moving forward to winning the plate event in their respective age groups.

In the boys U-13 category Linuka Silva beat Thailand’s Chayapob Nilobol before losing to top seed Shiven Agrawal of India. Bihandu Nanayakkara beat Kuwaiti Abdulla Alkandari before losing to tournament runners up, Farkhur Razi of Malaysia.

In the boys U-15 category, Matheesha Wijesekara who was adjudged the most promising junior player at last year’s Junior Nationals went on to beat Mingi Park from Korea before losing to Pakistani Mubeen Khan in a closely contested encounter where the first set went on finish with scores reading 14-12.

In the girls U-19 category Anargi Perera went on to beat Lin Yu Chun from Chinese Taipei before losing to tournament champion Aira Azman. Current Junior National Champion Nevindu Lakman went on to beat Korean Kangin Lee but lost to Lap Man Au from Hong Kong after a hard fought four setter winning the third set in the boys U-19 category.

Yeheni Kuruppu after losing to Tournament semi-finalist Heng Wai Hong went on to beat Sonya Bajaj from Singapore and Dami Kim from Korea to win the girls U-19 plate championship. Chanithma Sinaly who lost to Indian Shameena Riaz in a tightly contested four setter winning the second set and narrowly losing the last by just two points went on to beat Sana Bahadar from Pakistan, Arichaya Chujith from Thailand and Putri Yataqi from Indonesia to win the girls U-17 plate championship. Hiruna Coralage who lost to Thailand’s Patarapam Prampai in a close five setter went on to win again with Thailand’s Natthapat Theeraslip before losing to Korean Pan Yi An in the plate final. Adithi Gunesekara who was adjudged the most promising junior player at last year’s Junior Nationals lost to tournament semi-finalist Tsz Ching Cheung from Hong Kong but beat Warisara Chujit from Thailand before losing to Waka Tachibana from Japan in the U-15 plate final.

Kaveen Kohombange, Kavithma Silva, Nethmi Wickramasinghe and Thinura Randina qualified for the semi-finals in the plate event in their respective age groups. Asian Junior Squash Championship was held after a lapse of three years (since 2019) due to the outbreak of Covid 19.

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Incessant rain washes out opening Super Eight fixture between New Zealand and Pakistan

Published

23 mins ago

2026/02/22

Priyan

Pakistan captain Salman Agha won the toss and elected to bat (Cricinfo)

New Zealand and Pakistan will share the points after rain forced a washout in Colombo. The officials waited over two hours from the official start time for an improvement in the weather conditions, but the steady drizzle that began at the toss only grew heavier and never quite relented.

With puddles forming on the covers and the overhead conditions no closer to improving, the umpires made the inevitable call.

There was a strong chance of showers as toss time approached. The previous day, Pakistan’s evening training session had to be cancelled due to rain. At the toss, which Pakistan won with Salman Agha opting to bat first, a drizzle began as the captains were speaking, and the ground staff began to move the covers into position. From thereon, the fate of the game was sealed.

Pakistan had left Khawaja Nafay out and brought in Fakhar Zaman, while New Zealand made three changes, including welcoming their captain Mitchell Santner back into the XI.

Both teams got off the mark in the Super Eight, but are left with little room for error. Pakistan will play England next on Tuesday and Sri Lanka a week from today, while New Zealand take on Sri Lanka on Wednesday and England on Friday. All games in this group take place in Sri Lanka.

(Cricinfo)

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Ranaweera’s four-for leads Sri Lanka to tense win over West Indies

Published

16 hours ago

2026/02/21

Priyan

Inoka Ranaweera returned figures of 4 for 44 [Cricinfo]

Sri Lanka took a 1-0 lead in the ODI series with a tense ten-run win over West Indies, thanks largely to a match-defining performance from Inoka Ranaweera.

After being asked to bat, Sri Lanka posted 240 for 6, built on half-centuries from Hasini Perera (61 off 86) and Harshitha Samarawickrema (66 off 105). Captain Chamari Athapaththu made 27, while useful middle-order contributions from Nilakshika Silva and Kavisha Dilhari kept the innings moving at a controlled rate. A late cameo from Dewmi Vihanga, who struck 14 off six balls, ensured Sri Lanka pushed towards a competitive total in St George’s in Grenada.

But it was Ranaweera who tilted the contest. The experienced left-arm spinner returned figures of 4 for 44 from her ten overs. She removed the No. 3 Shemaine Campbelle cheaply, dismissed Chinelle Henry soon after, and then returned to break the dangerous stand of 89 between Stefanie Taylor and Jannillea Glasgow in the 40th over, just as West Indies were threatening to surge ahead. Ranaweera also accounted for Shawnisha Hector at the death.

Taylor’s 66 off 83 balls and Glasgow’s 50 off 67 had revived West Indies from early setbacks, and with Aaliyah Alleyne in the middle, the chase remained alive deep into the game. West Indies needed 18 from the last two overs, and 12 from the last six balls. However, Sri Lanka’s spinners held firm, with Dilhari finishing with three wickets, including two in the final over, to complement Ranaweera’s starring role.

West Indies were eventually bowled out for 230 in 49.4 overs. Sri Lanka have now won four of their last five ODIs against West Indies since 2017.

Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 240 for 6 in 50 overs (Harshitha Samarawickrama 66, Hasini Perera 61; Hayley Matthews 2-46, Karishma Ramharak 2-57) beat West Indies Women 230 in 49.4 overs (Stefanie Taylor 66, Jannillea Glasgow 50; Inoka Ranaweera 4-44, Kavish Dilhari 3-49) by ten runs

[Cricinfo]

Sports

Sharada, Kithma join to trouble Richmond

Published

22 hours ago

2026/02/21

Thilina Walpola

Left arm spinner Sharada Jayaratne took bowling honours of the day’s Under 19 cricket encounters as he took six wickets for Ananda to restrict Richmond to 168 runs in the traditional match at Ananda Mawatha.

‎Richmond were strongly placed at one stage with Risinu Rupasinghe (40) and Senuk Dulneth adding 91 runs for the first wicket. But when skipper Kithma Widanapathirana broke the stand, Richmond collapsed. Kithma and Sharada shared all ten wickets to fall.

‎In response the home team were 37 for three wickets at stumps with Vihanga Mihiranga inflicting early dammage.

‎At Darley Road, Wesley had a promising start with openers Shamma Fernando and Rasheed Nahyan putting on 58 runs for the first wicket before Nushan Perera and Sri Lanka Under 19 spinner Vigneswaran Akash shared seven wickets between them to restrict the Campbell Park team to 161 runs.

‎In reply St. Joseph’s reached 74 for no loss at stumps. The Joes amassed those runs in just 12.1 overs with Aveesha Samash hammering an unbeaten 53 in 38 balls (6x4s, 4x6s).

‎At De Soysa Stadium, Moratuwa, Mahanama posted 350 for nine wickets declared against Prince of Wales as Dulnith Sigera (74), Eshan Withanage (71n.o.) and Sineth Veerarathne (59) made half centuries.

‎For the Cambrians Nethul Anuhas took five wickets.

by Reemus Fernando