Sports
Passed Pawn Chess Club on top after first stage
CFSL Online Women Team Chess Championships 2022
The Passed Pawn Chess Club inclusive of Women’s International Master (WIM) Sachini Ranasinghe (Captain), WIM Nelunika Metmani, WIM from India B. Shri Savitha, WFM Dasuni Hansika Mendis and WCM Sanudula Dahamdi claimed the top position at the end of the first stage of the CFSL online Women Team Chess Championships on Sunday.
Passed Pawn team scored 14 match points out of possible 14, winning all seven matches convincingly. They beat Negambo Chess Academy (4-0), SABRA Women’s CC(4-0), Castle Siege CC (4-0), Mayor’s Chess Club (3 ½ – ½ ), Black Knight Chess Club (3-1), Kriegspiel Chess Academy (4-0) and Super Fighters CC (2 ½ -1 ½ ) convincingly.
Mayor’s Chess Club with Kaveesha Indrajith, HMMD Herath, WIM from India Michelle Catherine, BSMT Cooray and DADT Srilal played well to reach the second position with 12 match points out of 14. They lost to Passed Pawns (½ – 3 ½ ) but beat all other teams they met. , Black Knight Chess Club- Ruby (4-0) (2 ½ -1 ½ ), Kriegspiel Chess Academy (4-0), Black Knight Chess Club (2 ½ -1 ½ ), Castle Siege CC(3-1), Zugzwang Queen (4-0) and Queen Star Chess Academy A (4 -0) to score 12 points.
Kriegspiel Chess Academy from Ambalangoda were in the third position. The team inclusive of Minethma Wickramasinghe, Esandi Newansa, Sayumi Gamage and Kaveeshwari de Silva scored 10 points out of 14. The lost to Passed Pawns and Mayor’s Chess Club but beat all other teams they met.
Black Knight Black Knight Chess Club and Castle Siege Chess Club were tied for the fourth place with nine points each but Black Knight CC were placed above the latter on better tie breaking points which is the total of the individual points scored by the players. Black Knight had 19 points while Castle Siege had 17 only.
The second stage, which is the semi-final stage, will be between the top four teams.
The Lineup
Semi Final 1 – No. 1, Passed Pawn CC Vs No. 4, Black Knight CC
Semi Final 2 – No. 2, Mayor’s CC Vs No. 3, Kriegspiel Chess Academi
The Finals – Winner 1 Vs Winner 2
The Consolation Finals – Loser 1 Vs. Loser 2
The Semi Finals will be played today while the finals and the consolation finals will be played on Wednesday starting at 6.00 p.m.
The remainder of PSL 2025 has been postponed indefinitely. The PCB cited the “worsening of the situation” at the Pakistan-India border as the reason, saying the board had acted on advice from the Pakistan prime minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The board said it had “sincere regard for the mental well-being of participating players and the sentiments of our foreign players, and we respect the concerns of their families who want to see them back home” and that was considered when making the decision.
The development came less than 24 hours after the PCB had announced that the remaining eight games of the PSL would be played in the UAE, without specifying the dates or the venues, with the expectation that it would take about a week to resume.
Overseas players as well as Pakistani players who currently hold visas to the UAE were scheduled to leave on Friday night, with the remaining visas being applied for over the weekend. That, however, has changed, and the teams have begun disbanding with immediate effect, with travel back home being arranged for foreign players.
There is no word yet on when, or if, the remaining games will be played. The postponement came hours after the IPL was temporarily suspended owing to the tensions between the two countries.
The PSL held an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, and involved the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi meeting with foreign players, who overwhelmingly expressed a desire to relocate the league to the UAE.
“The PCB recognises the efforts and support of its partners, franchises, participating players, broadcasters, sponsors, and organisers in having ensured the smooth conduct of the tournament thus far, however; cricket while being a unifying force and a source of joy, must take a respectful pause…” the PCB statement said.
[Cricinfo]
World Relays 2025
A ‘full strength Sri Lanka 4×400 metres mixed relay team’ will compete against formidable European powerhouses when they take part in the first heat of the relay on day one of the World Relays in Guangzhou, China on Saturday.
“We will field our best four for the heats,” said W.M.G. Thushara, the mamager cum coach of the Sri Lanka team in an interview with The Island after reaching Guangzhou yesterday.
There is one junior athlete in the six member team but Sri Lankan authorities have decided to field the full strength team in the heats.
“It will be Nadeesha Ramanayake, Nishendra Fernando, Kalinga Kumarage and Aruna Dharshana as we are planning to produce our best performace,” Thushara said.
Ramanayake, Kumarage and Dharshana were part of the team that established a new national record in the mixed relay at the Asian Athletics Championship in 2023. Only missing member from that team is Tharushi Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka team will compete in the first heat where Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and hosts China are the others. The first two from the heats will directly qualify for the World Relays and also the World Championships to be held in Tokyo.
Sri Lanka fielded only the mixed relay team for the World Relays despite the men’s 4×400 team qualifying for the event. The World Relays starting today is the main qualifying competition for relay events at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
by Reemus Fernando
(Cricbuzz)
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