Sports

Roar by ‘Kandy Lions’ deafens Sri Lions

Published

12 months ago

2024/12/18

Sahan Weerasooriya

Kandy SC went on the rampage on Sunday to down Sri Lions SC 61-14 at Nittawela.

By A Special Sports Correspondent

Kandy Sport Club started the season with a bang by beating Sri Lions SC, a new entrant to division 1 rugby, in a keenly contested encounter of the 2024/24 inter-club league tournament played on Sunday at Nittawela. The result was a thumping 61-14 win for Kandy SC which ran down eight glorious tries, out of which six were converted by that ever reliable place kicker and attacking back division player Tharinda Ratwatte.

This win was a morale booster for Kandy; give that the side is in a team building process. Also the Nittawela side underscored that there cannot be two ‘lion kings’ in one rugby jungle. In a more raw term ‘Kandy SC put the ‘decorated’ visiting team in their place’.

Sri Lions SC came for the game with medals pinned on their profile; the latest feat being the victory gained in the ‘Mens’ International Open’ of the Dubai Rugby Sevens which they won quite convincingly. Sri Lions SC, for that overseas tournament, was reinforced with the skills of foreign players. This side also has in their ranks some of the most promising Sri Lankan players who learned the rudiments of rugby here in the island; especially at their schools. Sri Lions SC, while playing in Dubai, had the opportunity to borrow muscle power from players who came from Australia, South Africa, Tonga, Fiji and USA. But that facility of propping the side with foreigners was not afforded to them when contesting the domestic league tournament here because tournament rules restricts all teams to fielding only locals. May be if the tournament allowed teams to field foreigners, then the outcome of the game played in Nittawela would have been quite different. But then such hypothetical thought would only land us all in a rugby fantasy. The reality is that Sri Lanka has to face the outside world in terms of playing in the Asian circuit with players who are eligible to represent Sri Lanka. Hence the rugby authorities here not allowing foreigners to represent domestic clubs in the league tournament and work their way towards earning national representation at rugby. Sri Lanka’s rugby selectors select the national pool taking into account the performances of the players in the Inter-club league tournament. Players born overseas can also represent clubs and make themselves eligible for national team selection if they could prove that at least one of their immediate ancestors (father/mother/grandparents) was born in Sri Lanka.

But Sri Lions SC cannot be taken lightly. They have the backing of sponsors and foreign exposure. The side is backed by a think-tank, Dr. Kelum Sujith Perera, the brainchild behind this team and the founder president of Sri Lions SC. Their next game is against Ceylonese Rugby & Football Club (CR) scheduled for next Sunday in Colombo under floodlights. Sri Lions SC is led by former Peterite and ‘stepper’ Kevin Dixon.

Kandy SC would not let any side just walk in and take their place. The side from Nittawela are smarting from last season’s defeats at the hands of CR (Kandy SC were beaten twice in the league). Kandy under the leadership of utility player Srinath Sooriyabandara resembled a bullet train; speed and power written in all their moves in the season’s opener against Sri Lions SC. Their forwards were like hungry wolves and displayed the power to ‘bite’ and wound the opposition. A set of forwards which has the weight, speed and some of them having the intelligence to know what mauls and rucks to contest is dangerous and a treat to watch. That seems to be the stuff Kandy SC is made of this season. Mention must be made here about fly half Ratwatte who contributed 19 points through his kicking boots and chipped in with a try as well. He could easily stake a claim as being the best player Sri Lanka possesses at the moment.

Havies, like Kandy SC, had a wonderful outing in the first week of domestic rugby demolishing Navy SC by 43 points to 25 at Welisara. The Park Club players, donning the pink and chocolate jerseys, came to dominate the second half and ran down six tries out of which five were converted. Navy responded with three tries, but the best of the Sailors was seen in the first half. Navy even enjoyed taking the lead for a brief period in the first session, but Havies quickly took grip of the game.

The other side to impress in week one of the tournament was Air Force Sports Club which demolished Colombo Hockey & Football Club (CH&FC) at Ratmalana. The ‘airmen’ grounded CH with a score of 36 points against 15 and ran down five tries. CH responded with two tries. Air Force finished last season as ‘Plate’ championship winners in the league tournament. This side has showed much improvement over the years. Air Force is a side that can go places this season and even upset some of the much fancied sides this season. The other two teams in the tournament are Police SC and Army SC. Their match last week was called off when poor weather conditions forced the game to be halted after an exciting first half. Army was leading 8-5 at the ‘breather’.

The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Rugby and sponsored by Mastercard.

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Ticket sales announced for 2026 T20 World Cup

Published

9 hours ago

2025/12/11

Priyan

Jasprit Bumrah with the trophy after India won the 2024 T20 World Cup [Cricinfo]

Tickets for the 2026 T20 World Cup will go on sale at 18.45 IST and Sri Lanka time (13.15 GMT) on December 11, with the tournament slated to begin on February 7 in India and Sri Lanka.

Prices for phase one of the ticket sales start at INR 100 (USD 1.1) at some venues in India and LRK 1000 (USD 3.2), the ICC said on Thursday. The dates for phase two of the ticket sales will be announced soon. Tickets can be purchased at tickets.cricketworldcup.com.

“Phase I of ticket sales is an important milestone in our journey towards delivering the most accessible and global ICC event ever staged,” ICC CEO Sanjog Gupta said. “Our vision for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 is clear: every fan, regardless of background, geography or financial means, should have the chance to access an in-stadia experience of world-class marquee cricket.

“With tickets starting from just INR 100 and LKR1000, we are putting affordability at the centre of our strategy. This is about opening the gates wide and inviting millions to be part of a global celebration of cricket, not as spectators from afar, but as active participants in the energy, emotion and magic that only a stadium can offer.”

The 2026 T20 World Cup will be contested by 20 teams and comprises 55 matches. The games start at 11am (0530 GMT), 3pm (0930 GMT) and 7pm IST (1330 GMT). The format for the tournament is the same as the previous edition in 2024, where the teams were divided into five groups of four each.

The first-round groups are as follows:

Group A: India, Pakistan, USA, Netherlands, Namibia
Group B: Sri Lanka, Australia, Ireland, Zimbabwe, Oman
Group C: England, West Indies, Bangladesh, Nepal, Italy
Group D: New Zealand, South Africa, Afghanistan, Canada, UAE

The top two teams from each of the groups progress to a Super Eight phase, where they will be further divided into two groups of four each.

The Super Eight groups are as follows, assuming these teams qualify from the first round; if another team qualifies, they will take the place of the team from their group that failed to make it:

Super Eight Group 1: X1 (India), X2 (Australia), X3 (West Indies), X4 (South Africa)
Super Eight Group 2: Y1 (England), Y2 (New Zealand), Y3 (Pakistan), Y4 (Sri Lanka)

Each team will play the other three in their Super Eight group, with the top two from each group qualifying for the semi-finals. The two semi-finals are in Kolkata – or Colombo if Pakistan qualify – on March 4, and Mumbai on March 5. The final of the tournament will be played in Ahmedabad on March 8 – if Pakistan qualify, it will be held in Colombo.

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Fifties from Conway, Hay extend New Zealand’s advantage

Published

16 hours ago

2025/12/11

Priyan

Devon Conway raises his bat after getting to his first half-century against West Indies [Cricinfo]

Despite a bright bowling performance from the West Indies seamers, half-centuries from New Zealand’s Devon Conway and Mitchell hay extended the hosts’ advantage after an absorbing second day of the Wellington Test. New Zealand secured a 73-run first-innings lead before a double-wicket burst from their quicks left West Indies still 41 behind with eight wickets in hand.

West Indies produced bursts of quality with the ball to keep pegging New Zealand back, and several home batters contributed to their own dismissals with loose shots. But the visitors also offered enough scoring opportunities for Conway and Hay to make valuable inroads.

Conway’s 60 – his first fifty against West Indies and 13th overall – anchored one end, while debutant Hay struck an enterprising 61 from No. 6. Their efforts allowed New Zealand to declare at 278 for 9, with the injured Blair Tickner not batting.

With the relatively new ball, Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields and Anderson Phillip consistently challenged the batters as the ball swung both ways and occasionally jagged off the surface. Conway, however, punished the loose deliveries, hitting eight fours – mostly cuts and flicks – to keep New Zealand moving.

From the non-striker’s end, he saw Tom Latham (11) lose his off stump to a nip-backer from Roach from around the wicket, before watching Kane Williamson (37) have his off stump pegged back by an Anderson Phillip delivery that squared him up. After lunch, Rachin Ravindra – who made 176 in Christchurch – was caught behind off Roach while chasing a wide one. Conway himself was then caught down the leg side off a poor Justin Greaves delivery, thanks to a superb diving take from Tevin Imlach. At that stage, New Zealand seemed to be wobbling at 117 for 4.

A fifth-wicket stand of 73 between Daryl Mitchell (25) and Hay – the latter playing in place of the injured Tom Blundell – brought New Zealand closer to West Indies’ first-innings score of 205. Mitchell was conservative, while Hay leaned on his white-ball instincts to score his runs, producing strong cuts through the off side and, when tested with short balls, pulling confidently over the leg side.

Mitchell, like Conway, was eventually strangled down the leg side off Phillip. Hay later fell to the short-ball tactic: after striking back-to-back fours behind square leg, he miscued a pull off Shields straight to Roach at deep-backward square and walked back bitterly disappointed. At 213 for 6, New Zealand then leaned on Glenn Phillips (18) and the lower order to extend their lead.

West Indies continued to pepper Phillips with short balls in a cat-and-mouse exchange that brought body blows and top-edges over the keeper. Seeking a change, captain Roston Chase turned to spin for the first time in the innings, and needed only four deliveries to tempt Phillips into a slog that failed to clear deep midwicket.

Zak Foulkes then batted 43 balls and frustrated West Indies with deflections off the seamers’ through the gully region on his way to an unbeaten 23. Jacob Duffy added further runs with boundaries to long-off and long-on, and No. 10 Michael Rae joined a rare group of batters to begin their Test careers with five runs off an overthrow boundary. Rae reached 13 before the expensive Seales finally claimed his first wicket of the match, knocking back the debutant’s leg stump.

New Zealand’s batting may have been patchy, but their bowlers restored control with a sharp ten-over burst late in the day. John Campbell fell in the seventh over, beaten by a Rae delivery that zipped in to hit off stump. Next over, nightwatcher Phillip initially survived a DRS review for caught behind off Duffy, but a second look confirmed he was lbw instead. Brandon King (15*) and Kavem Hodge (3*) saw out the final few minutes, but West Indies still face a steep challenge when play resumes on Friday.

Brief scores:
West Indies 205 and 32 for 2 (Brandon King 15*; Michael Rae 1-4, Jacob Duffy 1-8) trail New Zealand 278 for 9 dec (Mitchell Hay 61, Devon Conway 60; Andeson Phillip 3-70) by 41 runs

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

Olympics decision on gender eligibility to come in early 2026

Published

20 hours ago

2025/12/11

Priyan

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry says a decision about eligibility criteria for transgender athletes will come in the early months of 2026 [Aljazeera]

The International Olympic Committee says it will announce eligibility criteria for transgender athletes early next year, after months of deliberation as it seeks to find a consensus on how to protect the female category.

The issue has been a source of controversy, with no universal rule in place for the participation of transgender athletes at the Olympic Games.

The IOC, under its new President Kirsty Coventry, did a U-turn in June, deciding to take the lead in setting eligibility criteria for Olympic participation, having previously handed responsibility to the individual sports federations, leading to a confusing patchwork of different approaches.

In September, Coventry set up the “Protection of the Female Category” working group, made up of experts as well as representatives of international federations, to look into how best to protect the female category in sports.

“We will find ways to find a consensus that has all aspects covered,” Coventry told a press conference on Wednesday following an IOC executive board meeting. “Maybe it is not the easiest thing to do, but we will try our best, so when we talk about the female category, we are protecting the female category.”

Coventry said a decision would come in the first months of 2026.

“We want to make sure we have spoken to all stakeholders, taken adequate time to cross the Ts and dot the Is,” she said.

“The group is working extremely well. I don’t want to try to constrain the working group by saying they need to have a specific deadline, but I am hopeful in the next couple of months and definitely within the first quarter of next year we will have a clear decision and way forward, which I think we are all looking forward to,” said Coventry, a former Olympic swimming champion.

Before Coventry’s decision in June, the IOC had long refused to apply any universal rule on transgender participation for the Games, instructing international federations in 2021 to come up with their own guidelines. Under current rules, still in force, transgender athletes are eligible to take part in the Olympics.

Only a handful of openly transgender athletes have taken part in the Games. New Zealand’s Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender athlete to compete in a different gender category to that assigned at birth when the weightlifter took part in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Currently, some international federations have rules in place, but others have not yet reached that stage.

US President Donald Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in sports in schools in the United States, which civil society groups say infringes on the rights of trans people, as Los Angeles prepares to host the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Trump, who signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” order in February, has said he would not allow transgender athletes to compete at the LA Games.

[Aljazeera]