Sports

NOC SL -Crysbro join to empower next Olympic hope

Published

4 weeks ago

2021/02/2

01 February, 2021:

As part of its ongoing mission to empower and support the aspirations of young people in Sri Lanka, the country’s premier poultry producer Crysbro recently held a scholarship awarding ceremony to hand over scholarships to a select group of 20 gifted young athletes selected under the NOCSL-CRYSBRO Next Champ Initiative. The ceremony took place at the NOCSL Sri Lanka Headquarters with the presence of Suresh Subramaniam – President of the Sri Lanka Olympic Committee, Maxwell De Silva – Secretary General of NOCSL and Crysbro Senior Marketing Manager – Amores Sellar as chief guests.

The primary objective of this vital initiative is to identify and empower talented young athletes, and refine their potential to be winners in the international sporting arena. As the first phase of one of Sri Lanka’s most notable Scholarship Programmes, Crysbro together with the support of NOCSL will finance all facets of the entire journey of these young athletes to the international sporting arena – an initiative that coincides with the company’s 50th Anniversary as a leader in the poultry industry.

Additionally, this landmark partnership will see the launch of an online portal, which for the very first time in Sri Lanka will enable members of the public to financially sponsor rural athletes, school sports associations, and sports clubs and chambers. All funds collected through this portal will be fully disbursed to the entities there were contributed, a process carefully overlooked and strictly managed by NOCSL.

“As a home-grown company, our vision for over 50 years has always been to drive lasting positive change in Sri Lanka’s rural communities while bolstering the country’s food security agenda. Therefore, we are extremely honoured to join forces with the National Olympic Committee through a landmark MOU signing last year, an initiative that saw fruition today with the awarding of these life-changing scholarships intended to groom and empower the future torch bearers of Sri Lankan sports. It is our hope that these young athletes will undoubtedly go forth to bring much glory to their motherland with their representation at major international sporting events. While it is certainly rewarding to help these young athletes realize their aspirations of winning a medal at these games, our primary focus will be on supporting the journey, the strategy, and the holistic development of each athlete which involves a combination of physical, mental, and psychological training. However, at the core of this initiative, is a deep desire to elevate the experiences of many resilient Sri Lankan athletes in rural areas with big dreams but with very little financial backing to make them a reality,” stated Crysbro Senior Marketing Manager Amores Sellar.

The scholarships will cover all transportation costs, nutrition, coaching fees, accommodation, logistics such as clothing, sports gear, and medical expenses necessary for the training, grooming and development of each selected athlete for two years with prospect of extension. The programme will also give athletes access to a combination of high-value tools and world-class mentors.

The ‘NOCSL-CRYSBRO Next Champ’ scholarship programme is phase-II of Crysbro’s ‘Next Champ’ scholarship programme, which up to date has groomed and supported the dreams of 120 young athletes from the under-privileged regions of the country. The initiative has also successfully produced a collection of athletes who secured gold and silver medals at the recent South Asian Games in Nepal.

Crysbro Next Champ not only recognises and rewards young sporting talent from all corners of the country, but also budding athletes from multiple sporting disciplines with guidance from experts on aspects such as proper training methods and a suitable diet. The project’s founding vision sought to bolster Crysbro’s already significant social contribution as a key pillar of the country’s rural economy by creating sporting opportunities and promoting the message of staying physically and mentally active.

As the apex body presiding over the national sports agenda, NOCSL is solely responsible for the country’s representation at Commonwealth Games and the country’s development of high performance sport.

Established in 1972 with just 100 chicks and a deep desire to be a market leader in quality and innovation, Crysbro has emerged as Sri Lanka’s first and most sophisticated, fully vertically-integrated poultry producer. Its operations span grandparent and parent farms, hatcheries, broiler farms and feed mills. This thriving ‘Farm-to-Fork’ concept has formed the core of its success. In turn, it has yielded unprecedented benefit for numerous stakeholders including direct and indirect employees, outgrowers, domestic maize farmers and ultimately Sri Lankan consumers. These local links have immeasurably aided domestic production and led to a reduction in reliance on imported poultry products.

Sports

Haritha wins nine out of nine to clinch title

Published

20 hours ago

2021/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

CFSL Online Under 12 Chess Championship 2021

Haritha Hansana from Denipitiya Primary School beat all nine opponents to emerge as the champion of the Inaugural CFSL Online Under-12 Championship on Sunday.

Hansana beat Krithik Koneshwaran, Methan Sritharan, Asini Gamage, S. Fairooz, B.A.M. Arachchi, Sithum Pahasara, Pamok Samaranayake, Sasula Pathirana and S.S.L.N. Dandeniya to remain unbeaten throughout the tourney.

Hansana who won the National Youth Under-10 title in 2019 is one of the strongest youth chess players in Sri Lanka and has represented the country at many international events.

Thehara Galagedara of Musaeus College won the silver medal as she aggregated eight points in nine games. She too is one of the strongest youth girls’ chess players in the country. Her only blemish was the defeat at the hands of Dinith Perera in the second round.

Aloka Hettiarachchi of Nalanda College also scored eight points in nine games to share the second place with Thehara but had to be satisfied with the bronze medal after the tie breaker. He was unbeaten throughout the event and drew with Sethum Manuwaruna (in the first round) and Ashad Mohammed (in the seventh round) and scored seven wins.

The Online Under-12 Championship conducted by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka was taken part by more than 230 chess players. The event was held on the chess.com platform over the weekend according to the Swiss system in nine rounds. The time control was 15 minutes per player and 10 seconds increment per each move.

According to CFSL the event was conducted under strict anti-cheating guidelines according to FIDE laws. CFSL said that only laptops were allowed to play games and all players were observed through a Zoom meeting.

Sports

Ransath joins top seeds in semis

Published

20 hours ago

2021/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

SSC Open Ranking Tennis

Ransath Peiris beat Thilina Dissanayake to complete the semi-final line up inclusive of top seeds Zaidh Zihar and Wenuka Kithnula in the Under-16 boys’ singles at the SSC Open Ranking Tennis tournament on Monday.

Peiris, who earlier edged out number three seed Hesara Kuruppu in the last 16 round, scored a 6-4, 6-2 win over Dissanayake yesterday. Peiris will now meet second seed Wenuka Kithnula.

Kithnula, who was eliminated by eventual champion Kiran Viravanathan in the quarter-finals of the Colombo Championships last month, made a strong comeback to oust Matheesha Nettasinghe 6-2, 6-2 in his match.

Number one seed Zaidh Zihar, who was the Under-16 boys’ singles runners up at last month’s Colombo Championships edged out Harieshwar Parameshwaran 6-4, 7-6 to book his semi-final place. He is set to meet number four seed Hasal Ahangama in the semi-final.

In his quarter-final match, Ahangama scored a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Anujaya Abeywickrama.

Under-12 boys’ semi-finalists found

In the Under-12 boys’ singles, Tyee Kapilasena and Jayin de Saram eliminated the top two seeds Methika Wickramasinghe and Kenula Rathnayake respectively to advance to semi-finals.

Tyee Kapilasena scored 7-5, 6-2 to oust the number one seed Wickramasinghe, while de Saram beat number two seed Rathnayake 6-0, 6-0.

In the top semi-final, Tyee Kapilasena will meet his brother Saha, who beat Sasen Premarathne 6-0, 6-1 yesterday.

Jayin de Saram will encounter Aahil Kaleel. Kaleel beat Ajesh Kajan in a three set thriller scoring 6-4, 1-6, 10-6.

Results

Under-16 boys’ quarter-finals

Zaidh Zihar beat Harieshwar Parameshwaran 6-4, 7-6

Hasal Ahangama beat Anujaya Abeywickrama 6-4, 6-3

Wenuka Kithnula beat Matheesha Nettasinghe 6-2, 6-2

Ransath Peiris beat Thilina Dissanayake 6-4, 6-2

Under-12 boys’ quarter-final

Tyee Kapilasena beat Methika Wickramasinghe 7-5, 6-2

Saha Kapilasena beat Sasen Premarathne 6-0, 6-1

Aahil Kaleel beat Ajesh Kajan 6-4, 1-6, 10-6

Jayin de Saram beat Kenula Rathnayake 6-0, 6-0 (RF)

Sports

Chaminda Vaas

Published

20 hours ago

2021/03/2

Sahan Weerasooriya

– A role model par excellence

By Hemaka Amarasuriya

When David Sakar, a professional bowling coach and a state player in Sheffield Shield for Victoria of the past decades, who could not quite make it to his national side, decamped at the 11th hour from Sri Lanka’s tour to West Indies, the team was left high and dry. As the team was without a bowling coach, veteran Chaminda Vaas, who has represtned the country in over 100 Test matches, was co -opted to fill the role hurriedly, sans any negotiations.

Chaminda is the best left-arm pace bowler of our times with 761 internatioanl wickets to his name and easily the most successful fast bowler the country has produced. Having ended his playing career with an exemplary record of achievements and discipline, he is an ideal role model for our youth. Since retirement, his services have been highly sought after as he had worked with the New Zealand cricket team as a Consultant Fast Bowling Coach.

Perhaps his boyhood desire to join the clergy may have served the community and himself better than to b e a professional cricketer, vilified in the twilight of an outstanding career for no fault of his own, other than what he stood for.

I see this as a principled decision to turn down an offer on behalf of all our home born coaches. Just because you are emerging from our own national grid should our coaches monetary value be only 37 percent of those who are employed from overseas? I do not agree with that.

I appeal to our cricket authorities to treat our home grown coaches with the same value proposition and respect as an overseas coach. If they do not see the writing on the wall, strongly emerging countries such as Ireland and USA with the best expertise and investment behind them will soon oust us from the top ten.

(This writer is a former Chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket. He was also the Chairman of Singer for several years and generously sponsored the national cricket team in 1990s when support for the game was few and rare. Singer were sponsors when Sri Lanka won the ICC Cricket World Cup in 1996. It was also during Amarasuriya’s tenure as country’s cricket chief, Sri Lanka successfully conducted their first ever global sports event – the inaugural ICC Champions Trophy in 2002.)