South Africa showed ’em all how it is done – with the papare band blaring at the Dubai International Stadium in front of a sparse crowd.

All Island Schools Games

by Reemus Fernando

The All-Island Schools Games Athletics Championship will commence with a card of eight field event finals but sprinters are likely to steal the show in the heats and semi-finals scheduled for day one at the Sugathadasa Stadium today.

The All-Island Schools Games is the final major track and field competition for school athletes for the year 2024. Most of the top athletes who skipped the recently held Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championship due to various reasons are set to return to represent their schools today.

Ananda College, Colombo sprinter Merone Wijesinghe who won the 100 metres gold at the recently held South Asian Junior Athletics Championship, Leeds International sprinter Induwara Weeraratne, Anandian Indusara Vidushan are among the fastest sprinters to watch when they take part in heats and semi-finals.

In field events, young prodigy Dilni Rajapaksha of Lyceum International Wattala is expected to start from where she left at the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championship.

She has made headlines for her impressive feats at the top-level competitions this year. If she strikes form, she will be among the athletes to break records on day one in field events.

By Reemus Fernando

The hockey players of the Eastern University are crying foul over the decision of the Director of Physical Education of the University to not approve their entry forms to participate in the Inter University Hockey Tournament which was scheduled to commence at Rajarata University yesterday.

The higher-ups have requested to drop two selected players from the team for the said tournament to make way for two senior players who had not trained alongside the team.

The director of physical education at the Eastern University has not approved the entry form after team officials decided to continue with the originally picked team.

“The players have been preparing for the tournament for months. They were looking forward to compete at the Inter University Hockey Tournament. Now their hopes are shattered and they are really disappointed,” a source close to the team told ‘The Island’.

Of the 23 sports taken part by the Eastern University, hockey is the only sport trained at the Trinco Campus. Athletes at the Trinco Campus go to the Campus in Batticaloa for training for the other 22 sports. The men’s and women’s hockey teams consisting of players from both Trinco and Batticaloa campuses had trained for months for the tournament according to sources. But the controversial players whom the authorities have requested to include in the team have not taken part in a single training session.

“It is not fair to drop players who have trained for months and are selected on merit,” the source said.

The president of the Sub Sports Council of the Trinco Campus has raised concerns regarding the matter. The Sub Sports Council of Trinco has also requested president Anura Kumara Dissanayake to intervene to resolve what he called unfair treatment to students of Trinco Campus. In a letter addressed to the president the Sports Council urge to give equal opportunities to the scholar sportsmen and women of Trinco Campus.

Following are excerpts from the letter to the president.

“The Director of the Physical Education Unit of Eastern University refused to approve the men’s hockey team unless two students from the main campus, who did not attend a single practice session, were included. This last-minute demand, made without consideration for merit or fairness, ultimately led to the exclusion of the entire hockey team from the competition. By this demand made by the director of the Physical Education Unit and other responsible authorities of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka has violated the rights of the players and this has finally led the players to lose their opportunity to participate in the Inter University Games.

This unfortunate incident is not isolated to the hockey team. Athletes from our campus across several sports have faced similar barriers, with Trincomalee Campus students being unfairly overlooked for participation. This systemic bias is disheartening and contradicts the values of equal opportunity and fair representation in university-level sports.

Your Excellency, the students of Trincomalee Campus, like those from any other campus in the country, deserve the chance to represent their university and showcase their abilities. The exclusion of these talented athletes is not only unjust but also detrimental to the morale and spirit of our students. In this regard, we humbly request you to take necessary actions.”