Sports
Laksiri, Issadeen win open men’s and women’s titles
Air Force Open PSA Satellite Squash Championship-2022
Reigning national champions Ravindu Laksiri and Fathoum Issadeen won the men’s and women’s titles of the Air Force Open PSA (Professional Squash Association) Satellite Squash Championship-2022 which concluded at the Squash Complex of Sri Lanka Air Force Base Ratmalana on Saturday.
Nine-time national champion Laksiri, who recently won his first PSA international tour, continued the good form to defeat Pakistan’s Farhan Zaman in the men’s final.
The tournament favorite, Farhan Zaman, a former world No. 47 and gold medalist at the South Asian Games 2016, was on his way to victory after taking the first two sets at scores of 11/7 and 11/9. However, Laksiri made a great effort to win the third set at 12-10 before continuing to win the next two sets at 13-11 and 11-6 to secure the Air Chief Marshal P H Mendis challenge trophy.
In the Women’s Open final, Yeheni Kuruppu from Visakha Vidyalaya battled against the three-time national champion Issadeen who could secure the Air Chief Marshal Harry Gunathilaka memorial trophy.
The finals of the Women’s Open and Men’s Open categories and the awards ceremony were live telecasted on Rupavahini Channel Eye. The occasion was graced by Commander of the Air Force, Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana as Chief Guest along with Chairman Air Force Squash, Group Captain Pujana Gunathilake, Secretary Air Force Sports Council and Vice President Sri Lanka Squash Federation as well as Organizing Committee Head of Sri Lanka Squash Tournaments, Group Captain Eranda Geegane, Secretary of Sri Lanka Squash Federation Eranga Alwis, Members of the Air Force Board of Management and other distinguished guests from Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka Squash.
Summary of results
Girls’ Under 13
1st Place –
Ifra Shasmin Booso (St. Paul’s Girls School Milagiriya)
2nd Place –
Punsara Nirushi Wickramasinghe (Anula Vidyalaya Nugegoda)
3rd Place –
Thedara Liyanage (Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya)
Boys’ Under 13
1st Place –
Manuth Sandira Dassanayake (Geteway International School)
2nd Place –
Linuka Silva (D.S Senanayake College)
3rd Place –
Thevan K Gunawardena (St Joseph College Maradana)
Girls’ Under 15
1st Place –
Punsara Nirushi Wickramasinghe (Anula Vidyalaya Nugegoda)
2nd Place –
Nethmi Wickramasinghe (Ladies College Colombo)
3rd Place –
Ifra Shasmin Booso (St. Paul’s Girls School Milagiriya)
Boys’ Under 15
1st Place –
Matheesha Wijesekara (Royal College Colombo)
2nd Place –
Bihandu Nanayakkara (Geteway International School)
3rd Place –
Tharul Pinwatta (Royal College Colombo)
Girls’ Under 17
1st Place –
Adhithi Gunasekera (Ladies College Colombo)
2nd Place –
Irudinithi Wood (Lindsay Balika Vidyalaya)
3rd Place –
Miyuni Misara Weerasinghe (Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya)
Boys’ Under 17
1st Place –
Matheesha Wijesekara (Royal College Colombo)
2nd Place –
Mohamed Rilwan (St Joseph’s College Maradana)
3rd Place –
Tharul Pinwatta (Royal College Colombo)
Girls’ Under 19
1st Place –
Chanithma Sinaly (Sirimawo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya)
2nd Place –
Irudinithi Wood (Lindsay Balika Vidyalaya)
3rd Place –
Anargi Perera (Visakha Vidyalaya)
Boys’ Under 19
1st Place –
Nevndu Lakman (D.S Senanayake College)
2nd Place –
Thinura Randina (Nalanda College Colombo)
3rd Place – Seniya Jayatilleke (Royal College Colombo)
Men’s Over 35
1st Place –
Leading Aircraftman DE Silva HAS (Sri Lanka Air Force)
2nd Place –
Staff Sergeant KG Prabath (Sri Lanka Army)
3rd Place –
Corporal Dissanayake DMR (Sri Lanka Army)
Men’s Over 40
1st Place –
Group Captain Eranda Geeganage (Sri Lanka Air Force)
2nd Place –
Fleet Chief Petty Officer ACC Kumara (Sri Lanka Navy)
3rd Place –
Commander WJS Fenando (Sri Lanka Navy)
Men’s Over 45
1st Place –
Abdul Cader
2nd Place –
Group Captain Duleep Hewavitharana (Sri Lanka Air Force)
3rd Place –
Colonel Kaminda Silva (Sri Lanka Army)
Veteran Over 50
1st Place –
Abdul Cader
2nd Place –
Mevan Rajeeve
3rd Place –
Air Commodore Upali Wijeweera (Retd – Sri Lanka Air Force)
Women’s Novices
1st Place –
Senuji Jayarathne (Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya)
2nd Place –
Dahami Peiris (Kotelawala Defence University)
3rd Place –
Sadini Rathnayake (Kotelawala Defence University)
Men’s Novices
1st Place –
Private Dilan AJAI (Sri Lanka Army)
2nd Place –
Private Rathnayaka RMSVP (Sri Lanka Army)
3rd Place –
Private T Supun Jayanath (Sri Lanka Army)
Men’s Plate
1st Place –
Lance Corporal Ekanayaka RMSLK (Sri Lanka Army)
2nd Place –
Leading Aircraftman Edirisinghe EAHM (Sri Lanka Air Force)
Womens’ Open
1st Place –
Fathoum Issadeen
2nd Place –
Yeheni Kuruppu
3rd Place –
Chanithma Sinaly (Sirimawo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya)
Men’s Open
1st Place –
Ravindu Laksiri
2nd Place –
Farhan Zaman (Pakistan Air Force)
3rd Place –
Shamil Wakeel
Sports
Harmanpreet fires as India complete 5-0 sweep over Sri Lanka
India were pushed more than they had been at any point in this series but still ran home victors in the final T20I at Trivandrum to complete a 5-0 series win over Sri Lanka – the first time they have swept a bilateral T20I series of this length at home. Besides a stronger performance from their opponents, the hosts faced sterner challenges – the rare failure of their top order, a dewy ball in defence but managed to overcome them all as they ran home winners by 15 runs.
The win was set up by the skipper Harmanpreet Kaur, who hadn’t crossed 21 in the four previous innings of this series but come a tricky situation, she stepped up with a 43-ball 68. After being put in to bat, India found themselves in early trouble at 27 for 2, with debutant G Kamalini, coming in for the rested Smriti Mandhana, following the in-form Shafali Verma back to the hut. Inside the 10th over, India also lost Harleen Deol and Richa Ghosh and were struggling for any kind of momentum.
But Harmanpreet rose to the moment with a commanding knock that mixed caution with aggression. She hit nine fours and a six and was particularly effective playing the field against the left-arm spinners. Even with Harmanpreet providing the backbone of the innings, India needed a late push from Arundhati Reddy and Amanjot Kaur, who scored a pair of useful 20s to push the score forward. Arundhati, in particular, smashed 27 off 11 balls as India found 66 runs in the final five overs to get to 175.
Chasing 176, Sri Lanka produced their best batting performance of the series, built around an excellent 79-run partnership off just 56 balls between Hasini Perera and Imesha Dulani for the second wicket. Perera, playing her 81st T20I, finally brought up her maiden half-century in the format, while Dulani also reached the milestone as the visitors raced to stay within touching distance of the target.
The momentum shifted dramatically when Amanjot Kaur struck with her very first delivery to dismiss Dulani, breaking the dangerous stand. Perera continued to fight, threatening to pull off an unlikely heist. But after clubbing a four and a six off Sree Charani, she was cleaned up by the left-arm spinner with a full delivery that slipped under Perera’s bat to knock out the stumps. Between that, Deepti Sharma trapped Nilakshi Silva to pass Megan Schutt as the format’s leading wicket-taker.
Those late wickets meant, Sri Lanka were left needing 34 runs from the final two overs. They got close, but ultimately not close enough to cause India enough jitters on the night.
Brief scores:
India Women 175 for 7 in 20 overs
(Gunalan Kamalini 12, Harleen Deol 13, Harmanpreet Kaur 68, Amanjot Kaur 21, Arundhati Reddy 27*; Nimasha Meepage 1-25, Kavisha Dilhari 2-11, Rashmika Sewwandi 2-42, Chamari Athapaththu 2-21) beat Sri Lanka Women 160 for 7 in 20 overs (Hasini Perera 65, Imesha Dulani 50, Rashmika Sewwamdi 14*; Deepti Sharma 1-28, Arundhati Reddy 1-16, Sneh Rana 1-31, Vaishnavi Sharma 1-33, Shree Charani 1-31, Amanjot Kaur 1-17 ) by 15 runs
[Cricbuzz]
Sports
Former Sri Lanka Under-19 player Akshu Fernando dies after being in coma for years
Former Sri Lanka Under-19 cricketer Akshu Fernando has died on December 30, after having been in a coma for several years.
Fernando had been crossing an unprotected railway track in the southern Colombo suburb of Mount Lavinia following a training session on the beach, when he was struck by a train on December 28, 2018. Having been critically injured in the accident, he had been on life support for much of the time since.
A bright right-handed batter, Fernando’s domestic career seemed to just be taking off when he was hit by the train at age 27. He had scored his maiden first-class hundred for Ragama Cricket Club in the weeks before the accident, and had also been developing his offspin at the time. All told, he had seven 50-plus scores at the senior level. In a nine-year domestic career, he had played for Colts Cricket Club, Panadura Sports Club, and Chilaw Marians Sports Club, among others.
International commentator and one of Ragama Cricket Club’s most senior administrators Roshan Abeysinghe paid tribute to Fernando following the news of his death.
“He was truly a wonderful young man whose promising career was cut short by a cruel accident,” Abeysinghe said. “A quality player for his school and his final club Ragama, it’s a sad day for all of us who knew him. A cheerful, friendly and thorough gentleman was he. We will miss you Akshu and remember you for the rest of our life. Rest in peace sweet prince.”
[Cricinfo]
Latest News
Lasith Malinga to work with the Sri Lanka Team in lead up to T20 World Cup
Lasith Malinga has once more been retained as consultant bowling coach for Sri Lanka’s men’s team, as they prepare for the T20 World Cup they are due to co-host from early February.
Although this is only a 40-day appointment, running from December 15 to January 25, it is essentially a continuation of Malinga’s work with key bowlers in the national set-up. Malinga has worked officially as a fast-bowling consultant at least twice before, but has also worked unofficially with top bowlers over the years, and has been advising the coaching team led by Sanath Jayasuriya, over the past two years.
With round-arm bowlers Matheesha Pathirana and Nuwan Thushara both in Sri Lanka’s preliminary squad for the T20 World Cup, and likely to make the final 15, Malinga will be especially well-placed to assist.
“Sri Lanka Cricket aims to leverage Malinga’s vast international experience and renowned expertise in death bowling, particularly in the shortest format of the game to strengthen Sri Lanka’s preparations for the upcoming World Cup,” the board release said.
Sri Lanka are set to co-host their first men’s global tournament since 2012, from February 7. Three Sri Lankan venues will be used – Khettarama and SSC in Colombo, and Pallekele.
The T20 World Cup will run from February 7 to March 8. Sri Lanka are in Group B along with Australia, Ireland, Oman and Zimbabwe.
[Cricinfo]
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