Sports
School teams ready to throw everything at ‘gladiator style’ rugby challenge
By A Special Sports Correspondent
The inter-school league rugby tournament is expected to draw the crowds for yet another season as the sport of ‘rugby union’ is set to prove that it’s the most popular discipline practised here in the island next to cricket.
The Division 1 Segment A of the league rugby tournament will be worked off this season with 16 teams instead of the14-team line-up adopted last season. The tournament is expected to commence on June 10 and conclude on August 18; according to the rugby calendar released by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA). So far the school’s section of Sri Lanka Rugby (SLR) has not indicated of any changes to the starting date of this tournament.
The SLSRFA increasing the teams contesting the Division 1 segment of the tournament to 16 teams-eight in each group- is a bold move. But it has its pros and cons. The two teams that ended at the bottom of the group last season don’t see themselves being relegated. This type of decision by the school rugby authorities doesn’t force teams to be on the edge of their seats when the chips are down and they have not fared well. This means teams performing poorly can hang in there without being forced to drop to the bottom of the ‘league’ tournament. Instead the SLSRFA has promoted two teams from the Division 1 Segment B to contest the Division 1 Segment A of the tournament. These two teams which have earned promotions are Thurstan and Sri Sumangala Kandy. Both these teams did well last season in the Division 1 Segment A of the tournament. Thurstan has a long history in the sport of rugby and it would be a welcome return to Segment A; where the cream of the teams fight for the school rugby plum. However all eyes would be on new entrant Sri Sumangala which has to settle itself among the giants of school rugby.
The Division 1 Segment A of the schools tournament is hotly contested and players are forced to think and play the game like semi-professionals. It would be interesting to see how these two teams survive the big knocks in this segment where only the very best will survive. But luckily for the game all teams have taken this school rugby ‘challenge’ very seriously and have employed the best of coaches and support staff. Like its big brother, club rugby, school rugby also attracts massive media attention with games being telecast ‘live’ on a website dedicated to this sport. Most schools have more than one sponsor to back them and last year the main sponsor of the tournament-Dialog-pumped in much money to keep school rugby running like a Swiss made wristwatch.
Reigning champions St. Peter’s are grouped along with Isipatana, D.S Senanayake, St. Anthony’s, Trinity, S.Thomas’, Dharmaraja, Science and Sri Sumangala in Segment A while the other group (Segment B) comprises St. Peter’s, Royal, Zahira, St. Joseph’s, Vidyartha, Wesley, Kingwood and Thurstan.
Reigning champions St. Peter’s stared this season (2024) with two impressive performances. One was winning the Zahira International Invitations Sevens and the other was the School Elite Sevens. The Peterites were in a class of their own and gave enough signs that they will continue from where they stopped last season. Last season the lads from Bambalapitiya bagged the ‘league tournament’ and later the president’s trophy knockout tournament. The only team that posed a threat to St. Peter’s was Isipatana, which was breathing down their backs during the entire season. The two schools initially met in the super round of the league tournament where the Peterites beat the Green Shirts 22-17. The two teams then met again in the school’s knockout final where St. Peter’s ran away winners with a score of 25 against 16. Clearly St. Peter’s was the better side compared to Isipatana; this is despite the crowds wanting to witness an upset towards the end of the league tournament and during the knockouts.
Bradby ‘boys’ Royal and Trinity have already announced the dates for their annual encounter which is played as a home and away two-legged series. The first leg of the encounter will be played on August 24 in Colombo while the return will be played up in Pallakele on September 7. Last year Royal won the ‘Shield’ with an aggregate of 37 points against 30 by Trinity. Royal were led last year by lock forward Randul Senanayake. Trinity had a season of mixed fortunes and even won the first leg of the Bradby Shield, but the side led by Atab Manzil just couldn’t maintain the sharpness on the field need to produce a champion side. Trinity’s last glorious season in school rugby was recorded in 2014 under Tharinda Ratwatte. Trinity last won the Bradby Shield that year.
Last season the schools’ rugby segment continued smoothly without any hiccups; thanks to a sporting attitude displayed by all teams. There was a heart-warming incident last season when an Isipatana College player chose to make himself available for his school’s First XV rugby team despite there being a bereavement in the family. Back division player Heshan Randimal chose to wear the school jersey and play for his team while his loved ones were moaning the death of his mother at home. It later came to light that the player’s mother was one person who nurtured the dream of Heshan reaching great heights in rugby. Isipatana played against St. Joseph’s that evening and the Green Shirts won the encounter with a score of 28 against 18 by the Joes. And after the match, members of the Josephian team visited the funeral house where the remains of Heshan’s mother were kept. Rugby is a brutal game which demands one to be heartless; especially when the tempo in a game is high and no quarter is asked nor given. But rugby produces moments to remember when players show the softer side of human beings.
The Sri Lanka Air Force [SLAF] Men’s Judo Team emerged overall champions in the Men’s Category at the 62nd National Judo Championship organized by the Sri Lanka Judo Association, reclaiming the prestigious title for the first time since 2014.
The championship was held from 30 January to 01 February 2026 at the Indoor Stadium of the Ministry of Sports, Sri Lanka, with the awards ceremony conducted at the same venue on 01 February 2026.
The awards ceremony was graced by Air Commodore Manoj Galappaththi, Chairman of SLAF Judo, Group Captain MADCI Gunasinghe, Secretary of SLAF Judo, and Wing Commander HDTNS Hettiarachchi, Assistant Secretary of SLAF Judo, along with several senior officers representing the tri-services.
The SLAF Men’s Judo Team secured the overall championship in the Men’s Category with a medal tally of six gold medals, three silver medals and six bronze medals.
Meanwhile, the SLAF Women’s Judo Team delivered a commendable performance to secure the Overall Runners-up position in the Women’s Category, winning four gold medals, four silver medals and six bronze medals.
Further highlighting the SLAF’s success, Sergeant Chamara Dharmawardana was adjudged the ‘Best Male Judo Player’ for the ninth consecutive year, continuing a notable record in Sri Lankan Judo. In recognition of emerging talent, Mr. Wipulaweera was awarded the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ in the Men’s Category, while Leading Aircraftwoman Yapa YMMM received the ‘Emerging Player of the Year’ in the Women’s Category award. In addition, Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST was recognized as the ‘Best Ippon Player’ of the championship.
Summary of results
Gold Medalists
Mr. Wipulaweera (66 Kg)
Sergeant Darmawardana RCN (73 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST (81 kg)
Leading Aircraftman Osman MI (Over 70 kg)
Sergeant Darmawardana RCN (Open Event-Men )
Leading Aircraftwoman Yapa YMMM (57 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Samaraweera HVPCSD (63 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Wickramasinghe RMSP (Over 78 Kg)
Team Event (Mix)
Sergeant Darmawardana RCN
Leading Aircraftman Osman MI
Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST
Leading Aircraftwoman Upamali IR
Leading Aircraftwoman Bandara BGNK
Sergeant Lakshani MGU
Silver Medalists
Leading Aircraftman Arachchi WAASW (73 Kg)
Corporal Mahesh TP (90 Kg)
Leading Aircraftman Hansamal KST (Open Event -Men)
Leading Aircraftman Premalal UKGAN (44 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Bandara BGNK (52 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Upamali IR (70 Kg)
Sergeant Lakshani MGU (Over 78 Kg)
Bronze Medalists
Leading Aircraftman Madushanka RMSL (50 kg)
Leading Aircraftman Weerasinghe RSN (55 Kg)
Mr. Wipulaweera (60 kg)
Corporal Kumara SD (81 kg)
Corporal Abesinghe KGCK (Under 100kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Priyanthi S (48 Kg)
Aircraftwoman Rupasinghe DGITS (48 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Senarathna JASS (52 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Chathurangani BAI (63 kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Deumini TML (78 Kg)
Leading Aircraftwoman Upamali IR (Open Event- Women)
Corporal Kumara SD (Open Event – Men)
A home series against England was meant to be the ideal dress rehearsal, a chance for Sri Lanka to oil the wheels and gather momentum ahead of the World Cup starting later this week. Instead, the campaign has gone awfully wrong. Plenty of promise, precious little substance. Bar the lone victory in the opening ODI, the hosts have spent the white-ball leg chasing shadows, the ODI series defeat a bitter pill and the T20I whitewash a full-blown reality check. Sri Lanka’s frailties against spin were already an open secret; this series merely put them under a brighter spotlight, throwing up more questions than answers.
Handing three wickets in an over to a part-timer like Jacob Bethell is the sort of generosity normally reserved for charity matches. Failing to hunt down 129 on surfaces the batting unit has been reared on, rank turners that should feel like home cooking, tells its own grim tale.
The malaise is rooted in mindset. Too many batters are reaching for the glory shot, swinging from the heels when the situation demands nudges into gaps, hard yards between the wickets and a willingness to play the waiting game.
Cricket, after all, is not always about clearing the ropes; sometimes it is about milking the bowling and letting the scoreboard tick over. Unless these rough edges are sanded down, Sri Lanka risk walking into the World Cup with the same old cracks papered over.
Recent T20 World Cups have been a sobering reminder of how far the side has drifted. A meek first-round exit last time and the indignity of qualifying rounds before that should have set alarm bells ringing. Yet, carrying largely the same cast into a fourth successive global event, the team continues to tread water, repeating errors like a stuck record rather than turning the page.
One positive has been the improved handling of injuries that once felled key players at the worst moments, but elsewhere the repair job remains half-finished.
The biggest question mark hovers over captain Dasun Shanaka. A skipper struggling to read the wrong’un, let alone steer a chase, can quickly become dead weight. His elevation came out of the blue and the warning signs were there from day one, but they were waved away. Cricket, like life, has a habit of punishing stubbornness, and Sri Lanka are discovering that harsh truth the hard way.
Rex Clementine at Pallekele
India’s explosive batting juggernaut rolled on to the doorstep of the men’s T20 World Cup 2026, helping them beat South Africa by 30 runs in the warm-up fixture at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. The margin of defeat only reduced because of two overs of 22 and 20 against Shivam Dube at the death.
Opting to bat at a ground which saw teams preferring to chase in the first leg of WPL 2026, Ishan Kishan got India off to an explosive start. He rollicked to a 20-ball 53, which included a sequence of 6, 6, 4, 6 in the fifth over from Anrich Nortje, before retiring out as India finished the powerplay on 83 for 1. Tilak Varma, who played the warm-up for India A a couple of nights ago at the same venue and linked up with the Indian squad just before this warm-up game, looked fluent from get-go in his 19-ball 45.
Suryakumar Yadav as well as Hardik Pandya later freed their arm without inhibition as India posted a mammoth 240 for 5. Nortje, who has played just one international since the last T20 World Cup, conceded 57 in his three overs on the night, after his comeback game against West Indies last week also gave him figures of 3-0-59-0. Kagiso Rabada, too, was expensive, going for 44 off his three overs.
For South Africa, Aiden Markram and Ryan Rickelton added 65 in just five overs in the powerplay. Markram hit four sixes in his 19-ball 38 while Rickelton, batting at No. 3, made 44 off 21. But they kept losing wickets regularly and had lost half their side by the 11th over.
Jason Smith, Tristan Stubbs and Marco Jansen kept peppering the boundaries to punish Abhishek Sharma and then Dube but the challenge was too steep by then.
Brief scores:
India 240 for 5 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 53, Tilak Varma 45, Axar Patel 35*; Marco Jansen 1-18) beat South Africa 210 for 7 in 20 overs (Tristan Stubbs 45*, Ryan Rickelton 44, Aiden Markram 38, Jason Smith 35; Abhishek Sharma 2-32) by 30 runs
[Cricinfo]
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