Sports
110 Years of Boxing at Royal College
Boxing is one of the oldest sports at Royal College, Colombo. According to the “History of Royal College– 1985 – 2010”, written by a distinguished old boy, Larlasri Fernando, the school founded in 1835 by Rev. Joseph Marsh, was first known as the Hill Street Academy and housed on Wolfendall Street, Colombo and became the Colombo Academy in January 1836, when it was shifted to San Sebastian Hill. Thereafter in 1881 under Principal J.B. Cull, with the patronage of the then colonial government Colombo Academy changed its name to Royal College as it moved to the Colombo university premises Colombo 07 in 1913 and to the present location in 1917.
Boxing, the contact sport with colonial overtones was introduced to the school in 1913 by Donald Obeysekere, the father of Danton Obeysekera, a Cambridge university boxing Blue, without doubt the doyen of Boxing in Sri Lanka, who went on to coach boxers at Royal College for over 50 years and since then, Royal College has produced some reputed boxers.
Cricket is the oldest sport at Royal. Introduced in 1876 by Ashley Walker, a teacher in the school, who was a Cambridge cricket Blue. The first Royal Thomian cricket match was played in 1879.
The first Bradby Shield rugger encounter between Royal and Trinity College Kandy was in 1920. Rugger was also introduced to college about the same time boxing made its debut at Royal.
Last year marked Boxing’s 110th year of existence in the school.
The anniversary was held on Saturday the 9th of December 2023 at the Cavalry Officers’ Mess at the Sri Lanka Army Armoured Corps at Rock House Camp at Modera, Colombo 15.
The event was organized by the Royal College Boxing Advisory Council, whose chairman is former Army Commander General (Retd.) Jagath Jayasuriya. Gen. Jayasuriya’s guidance and leadership led to the 110th Anniversary celebrations becoming a reality, in the context that boxing at Royal has hit the doldrums in the recent past. The occasion was graced by the present Principal Mr. Thilak Wattuhewa, the senior Games Master and Assistant Principal Mr. Riyaz Aluher and the Master in charge of boxing Mr. T.M.R.N. Bandara.
A cute memento in the form of a porcelain mug, with the event inscribed was presented to all past boxers who attended the momentous occasion by the advisory committee.
Photographs were taken of all the past Captains present, those who represented the country in boxing and the unique photograph of boxers who had won the senior best boxers’ trophy, the T Y Wright challenge cup at the prestigious Stubbs Shield boxing championships and in this category the sole boxer to pose for the photograph with the principal was none other than General Jagath Jayasuriya, the college boxing captain in 1977, a unique singular achievement.
The Army band was in attendance and provided music to entertain the guests. A few cultural dance and song items were also performed to enthrall the audience. Many of us were surprised to learn that the army had so much aesthetic talent, both male and female.
The anniversary celebrations merits mention of some of our past outstanding boxing personalities, who stand out as glaring icons in Royal college boxing history. They were Danton Obeysekere, his father Donald Obeysekere, the founder of Boxing in college, Barney Henricus, Alex Obeysekere, Frederick Obeysekere, Eddie Gray, Metha Abeygunawardena, Rahula Silva, Saman Samaratunga, M.A. Jayalath, N.R. Tillekeratne, Jagath Jayasuriya, late Lt. Hisham Ousman, Aubrey Peiris, M. Nisthar and Abdulla Ibunu of a more contemporary era from 1970s onwards, to the present. Some of the above are no more as father time has snatched them away as the way of all living beings.
Present on this historic moment were old boy boxers from several past eras. As an act of appreciation and for fostering of boxing in their alma mater, the following were the attendees, to mark the historic occasion:
1960 – 1970: Commodore GES de Silva, Metha Abeygunawardena, Saman Samaratunga, KTP De Silva, MS Fernando,
1970 – 1980: Wazir Sourjah, Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya, YD Weerasooriya, M.A. Jayalath, Rohan Abeywardena, Nimal Jayasuriya, Shantha Kumara, Refai Buhary, Nalin Dayasagara, Rukmal Nanayakkara, DCL Ketagoda, Anura Uduwaraarchchi, Prasad Majeed, Sunanda Godawithana, Shamrath Fernando, T. Sopaka, Ajith Bopitiya,
1980-1990: Maj. Gen. Rajitha Ampemohotti, Sidath Tillakaratna, Allaam Ousman, Aubrey Peiris, Don Weerasinghe, Buddhima, Chandima Gunarathna, Herath Bandara, T.W. Herath, R.S. Kumarapperuma and Maj. R. Rajapakse.
1990 – 2000: Lakshman Amarasekera, Dhanushka Ekanayake, Muditha Cooray, Kanchana Ayantha, Sameera Deshapriya, Rasika Amarasinghe, Ranil Sanjeewa, Indika Kuruppuarchchi, Sumeda Perera and S.Manoharan.
2001 – 2010; Sanka Manamperi, Pivithuru Rathnayake, Danushka Weerakkody, Visitha Wijesekera, Chatura Kathriarachchi, Supun De Silva, Sampath Wijayanath, Sudara Suren, Charana Bandara, M. Nishthar, Champika Gunasekara, Asanka Kumarasiri, Niroshan Deddenigama, M.N. Omar, Buddika Prasasd, Dhanushka Wijekoon, Manamendra Badhraka, M. Wasim, Manijitha Fonseka and Amila Nakandala.
2011-2022: Ajith De Silva, Sanjeewa Wimalasena, Banuka Nayanajhith, Rasika Panditharathna, Nisal Sedawaththa, K Sindujan, Viswa Panapitiya, Uvindu Jayasinghe, Saiyaf Farouk and Madani Musthapha.
2023 Boxing team: U.S.M.Ahsan – present boxing captain, H.A.V. Perera, Ibunu Abdulla (Head coach), Esanda Bimsara and Rizwan Jamaldeen – coach.
The Boxing Advisory Committee under the leadership of Gen. Jagath Jayasuriya is planning to streamline the administration of boxing along with the collaboration of the Royal Boxing Club (RBC), by setting up guidelines and procedures and to familiarize, the student boxers and the boxing captain and the secretary and those senior boxers due to succeed in leadership roles in the future. In this, the areas of keeping proper records of the boxers, their achievements, the challenge trophies in the custody of the school and the conduct of the annual inter house boxing meet for the Obeysekere shield. These initiatives will give the student boxers in the school practical organizational and administrative exposure, in addition to learning boxing skills. The boxing advisory committee is also planning a much-needed fund raiser to augment financial obligations to improve the sport in the school by holding a musical show, a Singalong by Chandimal, the “Tribute to Legends” on Sunday the 3rd of March 2024 at the Bishops College auditorium. The advisory committee is hopeful that the sports fraternity of Royal College, the boxing fraternity in Sri Lanka and well-wishers would rise to the occasion to make the event a success.
Wazir Sourjah
Royal College Boxing Captain – 1973
The India and Zimbabwe women’s teams are all set to play an international fixture against each other for the first time when Zimbabwe tour India for white-ball fixtures this October.
The tour comprises three T20Is and three ODIs and will be Zimbabwe’s first visit to India; India are yet to tour Zimbabwe for bilateral fixtures.
The three T20Is will be played in Raipur on October 16, 18 and 20, and the ODIs are on October 23, 25 and 28 in Baroda.
The fixtures were announced by the BCCI on Wednesday, along with two home series for the India A women’s side against Australia A in September and England A in December. Both those series comprise three T20s, three List A games and one multi-day fixture.
The India Under-19 women’s team will also host Sri Lanka U-19 in June and July for three T20s and three 50-over games, and England U-19 in November and December for five T20 fixtures.
The Australia A men’s side will tour India for two multi-day fixtures and three one-dayers in September and October, while the Australia U-19 side will visit India for two multi-day fixtures and three one-dayers also in September and October.
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Fast bowlers to get more opportunities as new format introduced for Under-15 Division I tourney
The Inter-Schools Under-15 Division I cricket tournament will be conducted under a revamped format this year, with organisers shifting the focus back to limited-overs cricket while introducing new rules aimed at promoting fast bowling.
The tournament, organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA), will see only the top-tier Division I competition played in a 50-over format. Meanwhile, Division II and Division III matches will continue under the one-day, four-innings structure.
SLSCA Secretary Saman Hettiarachchi said the changes were made following consultations with experts from Sri Lanka Cricket, with a clear objective of providing greater opportunities for pace bowlers.
”We opted for the limited-overs format for Division I in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket. The lower divisions will copete in the innings format as we have observed matches ending early without utilizing the full quota of overs,” Hettiarachchi told ‘The Island’.
A key feature of the revised rules is the compulsory allocation of overs for fast bowlers. In a full 50-over innings, a minimum of 20 overs must be bowled by pacemen. Additionally, during the first 10 overs, at least eight overs must be delivered by fast bowlers. If an innings is reduced to 30 overs or fewer, at least six of the first eight overs must be bowled by pace.
”It was made mandatory to give more opportunities to pacemen,” Hettiarachchi explained.
Meanwhile, the official draw for the Division I tournament has been released, featuring 70 teams divided into 16 groups from Group A to Group P for the preliminary round. Each team is guaranteed multiple matches during the opening stage.
Defending champions St. Joseph’s College headline Group A, where they will meet Nalanda College, Dharmapala College, St. John’s College, Lumbini College and De La Salle College.
With traditional cricketing powerhouses spread across the groups, it will be interesting to see how the first round pans out in the new-look tournament.
Under 15 Division I Tournament First Round Groups
GROUP A
St. Joseph’s College, Colombo
Nalanda College, Colombo
Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya
St. John’s College, Nugegoda
Lumbini College, Colombo
De La Salle College, Colombo
GROUP B
D.S. Senanayake College, Colombo
S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia
Presidents’ College, Kotte
Wesley College, Colombo
Carey College, Colombo
Sri Dharmaloka College, Kelaniya
GROUP C
St. Anthony’s College, Wattala
St. Sebastian’s College, Moratuwa
Dharmapala Vidyalaya, Kottawa
St. Peter’s College, Colombo
C.W.W. Kannangara MV, Colombo
Ashoka College, Colombo
GROUP D
St. Benedict’s College, Colombo
Royal College, Colombo
Gurukula College, Kelaniya
Lyceum International School, Wattala
Bandaranayake MMV, Gampaha
St. John’s College, Panadura
GROUP E
De Mazenod College, Kandana
Isipathana College, Colombo
Christ King College, Ja-Ela
Thurstan College, Colombo
Ananda Shastralaya NS, Kotte
St. Joseph Vaz College, Vennappuwa
GROUP F
Mahanama College, Colombo
Piliyandala MMV, Piliyandala
Ananda College, Colombo
Sri Jayawardenapura NS, Kotte
Presidents College, Maharagama
St. Thomas’ College, Kotte
GROUP G
Wadduwa MMV, Wadduwa
Sri Sumangala College, Panadura
Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa
Moratu Vidyalaya, Moratuwa
Revatha College, Balapitiya
Royal College, Panadura
GROUP H
Dharmaraja College, Kandy
St. Mary’s College, Kegalle
Kegalu Vidyalaya, Kegalle
Kingswood College, Kandy
Vidyartha College, Kandy
Ibbagamuwa MMV, Ibbagamuwa
GROUP J
Maris Stella College, Negombo
Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala
Harischandra College, Negombo
Maliyadeva Adarsha MV, Kurunegala
Galahitiyawa MMV, Ganemulla
Sandalankawa MMV, Sandalankawa
GROUP K
St. Anthony’s College, Kandy
St. Sylvester’s College, Kandy
Trinity College, Kandy
Royal College, Polonnaruwa
St. Thomas’ College, Matale
Jaffna Hindu College, Jaffna
GROUP L
Sri Pangnananda MMV, Raddoluwa
St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala
St. Mary’s College, Chilaw
Sri Sumangala NS, Wariyapola
St. Peter’s College, Negombo
St. Xavier’s College, Marawila
GROUP M
Devapathiraja College, Rathgama
St. Aloysius College, Galle
Holy Cross College, Kalutara
Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda
Kalutara Vidyalaya, Kalutara
Vidyaloka College, Galle
GROUP N
Mahinda College, Galle
Tissa MV, Kalutara
Rahula College, Matara
Debarawewa NS, Debarawewa
St. Thomas’ College, Matara
Meepawala Amarasuriya MV
GROUP P
St. Servatius’ College, Matara
Richmond College, Galle
Sri Devananda College, Ambalangoda
Karandeniya MMV, Karandeniya
P. De S. Kularathna MV, Ambalangoda
President’s College, Embilipitiya.
by Reemus Fernando
With the success the seven MCA men’s cricket tournaments have achieved, the Executive Committee of Mercantile Cricket Association (MCA) have decided to give Women’s Cricket in Sri Lanka a boost by introducing a hard ball Women’s Cricket Tournament for the corporate sector.
With the international recognition women’s cricket has gained at present, it is no secret that there still are many talented lasses aspiring to reach the zenith of the game.
Even with the measures Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) the game’s governing body through the Schools Cricket Association (SLSCA) have taken to promote girls cricket in schools, a considerable number of talented players, specially in the provinces do not have an opportunity to be recognized.
It is the MCA’s belief that with the introduction of a MCA Women’s Cricket Tournament, the corporate sector will be encouraged to field teams, and in doing so will give a hand to talented lasses and school leavers by providing them with employment as well as the opportunity to realise their aspirations in the Women’s Cricket arena.
At present in addition to the seven major Men’s tournaments the MCA organise the
Mercantile Six-a-Side tournament, the Over-40 Sixes competition, the 20×20 league, and the esteemed MCA Inter Academy Invitational tournament,
As an initial step, the MCA will be conducting a Women’s six and side soft ball cricket tournament for the corporate sector teams on Saturday 23rd May 2026 at the Mercantile Cricket Association grounds.
For further information please contact Chamara on 0759592488 or Prasad 0759809777.
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