Sports
NSSF Skeet Open Championship on January 23, 24
The National Shooting Sports Federation of Sri Lanka (NSSF) has set January 23 and 24 as dates for the NSSF Skeet Open Championship, which will be held at the National Shotgun Range in Payagala, Kalutara.
Under the leadership of Shirantha Peiris and purview of experts Mohan Gilbert as Match Director and Dinesh Lionel as Range Master, the Skeet Open 2021 is expected to herald NSSF’s intended events calendar, which consists of 11 local meets.
“We are highly thrilled to have events back after many months. All are eager to take part and we are certain that we can expect a good competition, which will be conducted as per ISSF rules and regulations. More importantly, this meet will be considered as a trial for future international meets,” stated Pradeep Edirisinghe, the General Secretary of NSSF.
An official communiqué released by the NSSF revealed that participants will be allocated slots to shoot two rounds of 25 clays for a total of 50 clays on the first day.
“On the second day participants with Top 12 scores out of the first 50 clays will be detailed to shoot three more rounds of 25 clays to shoot a total of 125 clays. The top six shooters from the total of 125 clays will then move on to shoot the finals as per current ISSF format, where any tie breaks will also be settled. The scores from the first two rounds will be considered for the Team, Masters and Ladies categories,” the release issued by NSSF said.
The NSSF General Secretary stated that entries will be accepted until January 20 with the signatures of shooters and club officials. Entries sent by participants should be sent to the NSSF only through the respective clubs in writing and with duly paid entry fees, the NSSF communiqué said.
“Clubs with preferences of when to shoot will be entertained by the NSSF until January 20, while dates and time slots for clubs will be finalised and circulated by January 21. Once all is finalised no changes will be made under any circumstances and clubs will be held responsible to ensure their competitors are present to shoot in the allocated squads,” said Edirisinghe who detailed the arrangements made to conduct a smooth event.
The overall winner of the Individual Open event will receive a gold medal and a certificate, while the next top two finishers will receive silver and bronze medals respectively with certificates. The winners of the Team event will also receive a similar set of awards. In addition to the two main events Youth, Ladies and Masters categories are also slotted to take place depending on the number of entries received.
The two-day event will be the first to be held in almost 10 months, since sports activities in Sri Lanka were forced to call off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sri Lanka Athletics has invited India, the Philippines and the Maldives for next month’s Relay Championships conducted by Sri Lanka Schools Athletics Association in a bid to provide the men’s 4×400 metres relay quartet with a chance to reach qualifying standards for the World Relays.
Currently Sri Lanka men’s 4×400 metres relay team is within the required ranking position to compete at the prestigious World Relays taking place in Guangzhou, China. The 3:04.48 seconds finish to win the gold medal of the men’s 4×400 metres at the Asian Relays in May last year has placed Sri Lanka in the 31st position in the ‘Road to Guangzhou’ rankings.
But with many competitions coming up within the next couple of months Sri Lanka Athletics wants to leave no stone unturned in their quest to keep the ranking position within the qualifying range.
The teams in the first 32 positions according to the times produced within the qualifying period (January 1, 2024 to April 13, 2025) become eligible for the World Relays taking place on May 10 and 11 in Guangzhou.
Sri Lanka’s chances of improving the current standings (31st) at this week’s World Indoor Championship in China are minimal as Olympian Aruna Dharshana, who is the fastest of the current crop of athletes will not be available for the event.
Dharshana is currently training and competing in Australia. He is looking forward to reach qualifying standards or reach the required ranking position for World Championships in the 400 metres.
The World Athletics has set a tough standard of 44.85 seconds for the men’s 400 metres. While only 17 are selected through direct qualifying standards, 31 athletes are selected through rankings for the 400 metres. Dharshana is yet yo enter rankings to be eligible for the World Championships.
Sri Lanka Athletics will field Dharshana, Kalinga Kumarage, S.B.R. Madushan and Sadew Rajakaruna for the relay event in April.
by Reemus Fernando
Defence Services Beach Volleyball Championship 2025 was held from March 12 to 14 at the SLAF beach volleyball courts, Katunayake. During the finals SLAF Men’s team defeated SL Army (2-0) while the SL Navy Women’s team defeated SLAF Women’s team (2-0). Incidentally is the seventh Defence Services Beach Volleyball title won by the SLAF Men’s Team.
Base Commander SLAF Base Katunayake AVM Dhammika Dias graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Chairman of SLAF Volleyball, Group Captain Milinda Mendis, Senior Officers from SL Army and Navy were also present for the finals.
The Central Province Badminton Association (CPBA) is now accepting entries for one of Sri Lanka’s most anticipated badminton competitions, the Summer Season All-Island Open Championships 2025, which will be staged at the Municipal Council Indoor Stadium in Nuwara Eliya from April 21 to 27.
The highly followed seven-day annual badminton tournament, held during the Nuwara Eliya April Holiday Season, is known to attract Sri Lanka’s top ranked shuttlers. The National Ranking Level 1 competition, sanctioned by Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB), is one of the key sporting attractions of Nuwara Eliya during April every year, known to generate increasing public interest.
The championship will feature a wide range of events from Under-11 to Under-19 in the Junior category and Over-30 to Over-70 in the Senior category, with an addition of three Combined Age segment of 100+. The main attraction of the competition will be the Open events comprising Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles, with an addition of a Plate Championship for the losers in Men’s and Women’s Singles.
The opening ceremony will take place on April 21st at 9:00am, followed by the preliminary rounds, leading up to the climax on April 26 with the quarter-finals and semi-finals. The excitement will continue on April 27 with the highly anticipated semi-finals and final matches, followed by the Closing Ceremony to mark the culmination of this championship.
The main draw seeding will be determined based on SLB Ranking as of April 13, followed by the draw on April 16 at 11:00am at No.2, Cambridge Terrace, Colombo 7. Entries will close on April 10 at noon. Entries can be submitted online or by contacting Sadeesha Adithya on 0761759017 and further details of the tournament are available in the prospectus published in the SLB website.
A total prize money of Rs.750,000 for all events based on the number of entries will be on offer, in addition to trophies, medals and certificates guaranteed for winners, runners-up and semi-finalists of each event of the tournament. Junior winners will receive appropriate gifts instead of prize money, according to a decision taken by the tournament organisers. The tournament is sponsored by Mobil, Li Ning, McFoil, 3M and GAC.
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