Sports
Remarkable Joes win low scoring thriller
St. Joseph’s College, Darley Road showcased their strength in schools’ basketball by securing the All-Island Under-20 basketball championship. The final was worked off at Maradana on Sunday and the Joes held on to a thrlling three-point win over arch-rivals St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya.
Joes were overwhelming favourites to win the title having beaten defending champions D.S. Senanayake College in the semi-finals of the Colombo North Zone. They overcame Ananda College in the finals of the Zonals.
Then in the ‘A’ Division, they overcame Trinity College, Kandy and Asian International School. The quarter-final was a rematch of the Zonal finals and Joes cruised to a comfortable win over Ananda.
Wesley College proved to be not much of a match in the semi-final, which St. Joseph’s won 94-57.
In the final, however, Joes were really tested. They managed a one-point lead at the end of the first quarter and at half-time extended the lead to seven points.
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- Abhaya Gajamange (St. Joseph’s), the Best Defensive Player.
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- Methika Jayasinghe, (St. Joseph’s), the Most Valauble Player.
St. Peter’s bounced back after the break scoring 12 points in the third quarter and held Joes to nine points.
It turned out to be a nail-biting encounter with St. Joseph’s winning 59-56.
Methika Jayasinghe was declared the Most Valuable Player in the final. He scored 19 points and was well backed up by Abhaya Gajamange, who finished with 17 points. He was also named the Best Defensive Player.
Joes are coached by former Sri Lanka captain Roshan Randima and he’s assisted by Shane Daniel. The same pair two days ago guided Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya to the All Island ‘A’ Division girls’ title.
Since the year 2001, St. Joseph’s have been a strong force in local basketball winning multiple titles and they have been rarely tested by rest of the teams. They have been well coached by the combination of Roshan Shane.
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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