Sports
Isipatana bury Kingswood 32-8 with a powerful display of rugby
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Last year’s schools’ rugby champions Isipatana College opened their campaign for the league title contesting in the Division 1 Segment A Group 1 against Kingswood with a smashing 32 points to 8 win in a keenly contested match at Bogambara Stadium on Sunday (June 18).
The winners collected their points through five tries, two conversions and a penalty while the host team could only manage to respond with an unconverted try and a penalty. Isipatana led 20-0 at half time.
Skipper Naveen Kanishka was in the thick of things and not only marshalled the Isipatana College players well, but also handled the wet ball well and the slippery conditions on the field to set up the victory.
His try in the first half was a beauty and his line kicking was accurate and intelligent. Isipatana earned three tries in the first half apart from a conversion and a penalty, which came off the boot of Rinesh Silva.Kingswood came into the game with a purpose in the second half and earned a try off prop Ishara and a penalty off the boot of Imanka Ishara.
Isipatana drove the nail into the Kingsood ‘coffin’ with the final try of the match late in the second half when playmaker Shaheed Zumri chased a kick deep into the Kingswood territory and fell on the loose ball.
Kingswood’s Ishan Inoor played like a warrior but lacked support.Rajans produced magic to down Trinity
In a crucial match of the Division 1 Segment A Group 2 match played on Saturday at Bogambara Dharmaraja College produced a memorable win against Trinity College. Dharmaraja edged out Trinity 17 points to 15.
St. Peter’s College started with a bang this season in their Division 1 Segment A Group 2 match when they downed their opponents by 11 points to 5 with the Peterites prevailing in this game with extra two penalties apart from the try each scored by the two teams.
S. Thomas’ won the Sir Oliver Goonatilake Shield when they beat Wesley by 19 points to 13 in a closely fought out encounter played at Mount Lavinia.On Friday, Vidyartha got the better of Science College at Bogambara when they recorded an exciting 26 points to 19 win. The winners ran in four tries as against Science who managed to cross the line only thrice in this game.
Delhi Capitals’ (DC) signing of Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizure Rahman for the remainder of IPL 2025 has hit a snag, with the BCB stating that it hasn’t been approached for a no-objection certificate (NOC).
Usually, the IPL only announces signings after a player has received an NOC from his home board. According to its CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury, however, the BCB had yet to receive a request for one.
“Mustafizur is supposed to go with the team to the UAE according to the schedule,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday. “We have not received any communication from IPL officials. I have also not received any such official communication from Mustafizur either.”
Mustafizur is part of the Bangladesh T20I squad that is due to play back-to-back away T20I series against UAE and Pakistan, both of which clash with the IPL. On Wednesday, hours after the IPL announced his signing as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mustafizur flew out to Dubai with the rest of Bangladesh’s squad.
Bangladesh are due to play two T20Is in the UAE on May 17 and 19, followed by five in Pakistan on May 25, 27 and 30, and June 1 and 3. Those two series are in conflict with the IPL; DC are set to play their last three league matches on May 18, 21 and 24, followed by the playoffs should they get there.
ESPNcricinfo has sought a response from DC on this development.
[Cricinfo]
Sprinter Aruna Dharshana who is undergoing treatments for an injury he sustained during the World Relays, is racing against time to recover for the Asian Athletics Championships which will be held in South Korea later this month.
The 400 metres specialist is one of the two sprinters slated to compete in the one lap race. He is also a key member of the men’s 4×400 metres and 4×400 metres mixed relays alongside Kalinga Kumarage.
“Currently Dharshana is undergoing treatments. We are hopeful that he will recover in time for the Asian Championships,” Dharshana’s coach Asanka Rajakaruna told ‘The Island’.
“Sri Lanka Athletics will conduct a fitness test before the Asian Championships. Hopefully he will be ready by that time,” said Rajakaruna.
Sri Lanka Athletics earlier said that a fitness test will be held to assess the strength of the 20 strong team selected for the biennial event.
Sri Lanka fielded only a mixed relay team for the recently held World Relays in Guangzhou, China where an injury to Dharshana cost them a chance to achieve a top performance and a probable ticket to the World Championships in Tokyo later this year.
Sri Lanka won a historic gold medal in the men’s 4×400 metres at the last edition of the Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok Thailand where the team inclusive of Dharshana beat India to the second place with a new championship record time of 03:01.56 seconds.
Kalinga Kumarage who did the anchor leg and Dharshana are the only members from that gold winning team selected for the upcoming event.
Dharshana is the only Sri Lankan athlete to have clocked sub 45 seconds in the 400 metres after legendary Sugath Thilakaratne.
Dharshana and Kumarage hold the second and third places respectively in the list of fastest times achieved in the 400 metres by Sri Lankan athletes. Dharshana has a personal best of 44.99 seconds achieved during the last Olympic games.
by Reemus Fernando
110th Colombo Championships
Dinara de Silva bagged her second title of the Colombo Championships as she partnered Inuki Jayaweera to record straight sets victory in the women’s doubles final played at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Wednesday.
Dinara and Inuki beat Venuli Jayasinghe and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi 6-2, 6-3 in the doubles final.
Incidentally, it was the second title of the tournament for both Dinara and Inuki.
While Dinara won the women’s singles and doubles titles, Inuki was the winner of the mixed doubles and the women’s doubles.
Women’s doubles results
Semi-finals
Dinara de Silva and Inuki Jayaweera beat Dulkini Ranasinghe and Tania Doloswala 6-3, 6-2
Venuli Jayasinghe and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi beat Bovindee Imihamy and Siyara Devappriya 6-3, 6-0.
Quarter-finals
Venuli Jayasinghe and S. Usgodaarachchi beat Tuvini de Alwis and Hasali Gajaba 6-4, 5-7, 10-3.
Dinara de Silva and Inuki Jayaweera beat Nimasha Shehara and Arushi Thomas 6-1, 6-3.
Dulkini Ranasinghe and Tania Doloswala beat Diyansa de Silva and Lihini Jayakody 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Bovindee Imihamy and Siyara Devappriya received a walkover from Gehansa Methnadi and Akeesha Silva.
Second lot of luxury and decommissioned vehicles owned by the Presidential Secretariat sold
President approves establishment of Anti-Corruption Investigation Units in Provincial Councils and LG Institutions
Seven new envoys to Sri Lanka present credentials to the President
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