Sports

Royalist becomes the youngest champ in sailing history, Navy dominates Nationals

Published

4 years ago

2021/12/20

Sri Lanka Sailing Nationals

The Sri Lanka Sailing Nationals 2021 concluded on December 11 after two days of sailors of all ages battling it out on the clear waters of the Bolgoda Lake.

With a record number of 117 sailors fighting for the coveted titles under clear skies on December 10 and 11 at this year’s nationals, the races concluded with clear wins as well as close shaves.

The Sri Lanka Navy emerged as winners in five of the seven classes including the GP14, Enterprise, Laser Standard, Laser Radial and Windsurfing.

This year’s races also saw the emergence of 13-year-old Yusef Hazari, the youngest sailor ever to win the nationals. Racing in the Optimist class, Hazari, a grade eight student of Royal College, Colombo, raced to clear victory in the back-to-back races that lasted six hours on Friday. Hazari came in first in five of the six races, claiming victory, with Tharen Nanayakkara and Nikhil Nanayakkara of S. Thomas’ College coming in second and third places.

With low and sudden pockets of winds, this year’s nationals tested the skill of sailors. “Sailing is like chess on water. This time it was about catching the wind at the right moment working with it. It was pretty intense, and we had to sail without a break for six hours because of this reason,” said Hazari. “Everyone did well, despite so many challenges. I’m happy to win the nationals, thanks to my school and our coaches.”

The Laser Radial saw J.M.P.L Jayasuriya and P.N.P.K Dissanayake of the Navy battling for first place, with Jayasuriya winning by a margin. Dhanika Nanayakkara of S. Thomas’ College came in first in the Laser 4.7 class with Jehan de Silva and Niveyn Nanayakkara, also of S. Thomas’ College coming in first and second runners up respectively.

W.M.C Marambe and GPP Karunaratne of the Sri Lanka Navy won the GP 14, while N.G.M.U Ghanawardene and ASK de Soyza of the Navy and Devin Goonawardene and Kaif Sally racing for the Ceylon Motor Yacht Club came in a close second and third respectively.

In windsurfing Priyantha Gunawardene of the Sri Lanka Navy beat reigning champ Chaminda Silva of the Bentota Windsurf Club in a close contest to emerge as the winner.

“It’s great to have the nationals back again after a lapse of almost two years,” said Sarath Kuragama, the Chief Operating Officer of the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka. “All the younger sailors did well despite their lack of practice. We have great coaches, perfect sailing waters and a lot of talent in sailing in Sri Lanka, we just need more of the right equipment,” he said.

Despite the record number of entrants this year, many competitors belonging to schools could not participate in the races due to the shortage of sails in some senior classes.

“We need to rectify this,” said National Coach W.P. Krishan Janaka, who coaches both the Navy as well as the national pool. “In sailing fifty percent is skill and the other fifty percent depends on the boat, and we need better boats, sails and equipment.”

The 2021 Nationals, organised by the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka and the National Olympic Committee, resumed after a year’s break due to the Covid-19 pandemic. All sailing events including the Nationals and the International Optimist Dingy Association (IODA) Championship, scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka last year were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Although the Navy continued to sail in protective bubbles, others, including students have come back to sailing after almost two years.

Sri Lanka has produced many international class sailors through the years.

J.M.P.L Jayasuriya, who won both the Laser Radial and the Enterprise class says he owes his win purely to “skill and experience.” Jayasuriya won silver at the South Asian Games in 2006 in the Enterprise class.

“The winds were bad on Saturday, the salmonella on the water didn’t help and with our battered sails, it came down to skill and experience,” he said.

WMC Marambe of the Navy who won the JP14 class called the 2021 Nationals, “one of the best.” Marambe has won many international events and has been sailing for the Navy for 20 years.

Chairman of the National Olympic Committee Suresh Subramanium was present as chief guest of the event.

Currently, the sailors are getting ready for trials for the Asian Games scheduled to be held in September 2022 in China.

Optimist Class

Winner –

Yusef Hazari – Royal College

1st Runner Up –

Tharen Nanayakkara – S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia

2nd Runner Up –

Nikhil Nanayakkara – S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia

Laser Radial

Winner –

JMPL Jayasuriya – Sri Lanka Navy

1st Runner Up –

PNPK Dissanayake – Sri Lanka Navy

2nd Runner Up –

Dhanika Nanayakkara – S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia

Laser Standard

Winner –

KGCUS Bandara – Sri Lanka Navy

1st Runner Up –

UD Rajapaksa – Sri Lanka Navy

2nd Runner Up –

JS Senaviratne – Sri Lanka Navy

GP14

Winner –

WMC Marambe and GPP Karunaratne – Sri Lanka Navy

1st Runner Up –

NGMU Ghanawardene and ASK De Soyza – Sri Lanka Navy

2nd Runner Up –

Devin Goonawardene and Kaif Sally – Ceylon Motor Yacht Club

Enterprise

Winner –

JMPL Jayasuriya and TDS Perera – Sri Lanka Navy

KC De Soyza and JPS De Silva – Sri Lanka Navy

JHMPI Jayapadma and SPPN Kumara – Sri Lanka Navy

Laser 4.7 Class

Winner –

Dhanika Nanayakkara – S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia

1st Runner Up –

Jehan De Silva – S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia

2nd Runner Up –

Niveyn Nanayakkara – S. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia

Windsurfing

Winner –

Priyantha Gunawardene – Sri Lanka Navy

1st Runner Up –

Chaminda Silva – Bentota Windsurf Club

2nd Runner Up –

Chameera Gunawardana – Bentota Windsurf Club.

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Daren Sammy issues plea as West Indies remain stuck in Kolkata hotel

Published

6 mins ago

2026/03/5

Priyan

The Dubai airport, among other airports in the Gulf region, were affected by the crisis in West Asia [Cricinfo]

As West Indies continue to remain stuck in Kolkata four days after being eliminated from the 2026 T20 World Cup, their head coach Daren Sammy has put out a post on X, saying “I just wanna go home”.

He followed it up with another post a little later, saying, “At least an update, tell us something. Today, tmw, next week. It’s been five days.”

West Indies are one of the teams stranded in India in the wake of the crisis in West Asia. ESPNcricinfo has learned that initially, the ICC had informed West Indies that attempts were being made for the squad to return home to the Caribbean via a charter flight to London. The plan, it is believed, was for West Indies to fly out of India mid-week, though no specific date was given. However, West Indies continue to remain in Kolkata where they lost to India in the final match of the Super Eight on March 1.

With the usual airspace corridors closed owing to the crisis, which began last weekend, the ICC has been confronted with a severe logistical challenge of arranging return flights for teams.

On Wednesday, though, there was good news for Zimbabwe, with the first batch of their squad members leaving for home from Delhi after the ICC reworked their travel arrangements.

Like West Indies, Zimbabwe played their last match at the T20 World Cup on March 1, losing to South Africa in Delhi. Zimbabwe were originally scheduled to depart on March 2, but that plan was cancelled.

There is no official word on the travel plans for the rest of their squad members.

“Zimbabwe Cricket confirms that the Zimbabwe senior men’s team participating in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 are on their way home from India after the International Cricket Council secured alternative travel arrangements following recent transit disruptions,” Zimbabwe Cricket said in a statement on Wednesday. “Due to flight availability and revised routing, the squad will return to Harare in batches.

“Zimbabwe’s original travel route was via Dubai on an Emirates flight but it had to be altered. It has been learnt that Zimbabwe are now travelling to Harare via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.”

South Africa were eliminated in the semi-final by New Zealand on Wednesday night, and will now wait to know their schedule for getting back home. In case England lose to India in the second semi-final on Thursday, their travel plans back will also have to be worked out.

[Cricinfo]

Latest News

India’s momentum meets Wankhede’s memory in big semifinal bout

Published

2 hours ago

2026/03/5

Priyan

India have a bunch of players who call the Wankhede Stadium 'home' during domestic cricket or the IPL [Cricbuzz]

A World Cup semifinal at the Wankhede Stadium has, historically, not been kind on India, the 2023 game against New Zealand aside. They’ve lost two of their three ICC knockout games at this venue, one of them to England in 1987, the very opponents awaiting them tonight. If there is any equilibrium to be found, it lies in the present: Harry Brook’s England have appeared just as fragile in this tournament as Suryakumar Yadav’s India, making this less a clash of invincibles and more a test of which side can steady itself under the heaviest lights.

India have leaned heavily on individual brilliance rather than collective cohesion to reach the last-four stage. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav (vs USA), Ishan Kishan (vs Namibia and Pakistan), Shivam Dube (vs Netherlands and South Africa), the Abhishek Sharma-Hardik Pandya combine (vs Zimbabwe), and most recently Sanju Samson (vs West Indies) have each stepped in to rescue the side at different moments. As a unit, however, India have not quite lived up to their ‘favourites’ tag.

India’s struggles have largely been down to some key players blowing hot and cold – Abhishek Sharma with the bat and Varun Chakaravarthy with the ball. Even skipper Suryakumar, barring the opening game, has not delivered in the manner expected of him. More gallingly, fielding – particularly catching – has been awful.

Jasprit Bumrah’s mastery has often come to India’s aid when the situations were seemingly slipping away. At times, Arshdeep Singh with his wide yorkers and Hardik Pandya with his slower bouncers have delivered in crunch moments, but their effectiveness with the ball has been rather sporadic. India will be hoping for a more collective output – shared heroics rather than individual brilliance – to administer the coup de grace against England and book the March 8 date at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

“That is something we haven’t really spoken about, about the perfect game. I think the quality of this team has been shown that, on the day somebody can put their hand up and put up a performance. And then hopefully now in the last two games, especially now tomorrow night, we can put that special performance in,” Morne Morkel, India bowling coach, said on the eve of the match.

“Unfortunately we all know how the game goes, that success is never guaranteed. But if we can give ourselves the best chance to go out and perform. That is what we strive for. And a big occasion tomorrow night here, semifinal, a great stadium to play a great game of cricket. So hopefully the boys can rock up tomorrow and just be calm and execute those skills.”

Thursday’s face-off may be India’s first designated knockout match for them, but they have already overcome two knockouts situations – against Zimbabwe and West Indies in the Super Eights. On both occasions, they raised the bar, momentum they’ll hope to carry into this high-stakes contest.

Another advantage for the hosts is their familiarity with the Wankhede Stadium, which serves as a home ground for several Indian players, starting with Suryakumar himself. Hardik Pandya, Jasprit Bumrah, Shivam Dube and Ishan Kishan have all represented Mumbai, Mumbai Indians, or both here.

If India have struggled into semifinals, England have been no showstoppers, although Harry Brook oozed extreme confidence on the eve of the contest. “We don’t feel like we’re ever out of a game so far. All it takes is one of the top seven to get a decent score or one of our five or six bowlers to have an amazing day out there. And all of a sudden you’re walking away with a victory and that’s what we’ve done so well so far,” the England skipper said.

England needed an extraordinary century from the skipper himself to get over the line against Pakistan and were on the ropes against New Zealand before being bailed out by a superb cameo from Rehan Ahmed. They won a low-scoring thriller against Sri Lanka and were nearly upset by Nepal before West Indies humbled them here in Mumbai, incidentally on the same pitch that will be used today.

The pitch carries a tinge of grass, but Morne Morkel anticipates a high-scoring contest. It was against this very opposition, at this very venue, that Abhishek Sharma blazed a stunning century a year ago. India will hope for a similar explosion from their opener, although this World Cup has already reinforced a familiar truth – ICC tournament games are a different beast altogether from bilateral contests.

Having comfortably beaten West Indies in their last outing, India are unlikely to tinker with their XI, despite murmurs advocating for Rinku Singh to replace Abhishek Sharma

England drafted in an extra spinner in Rehan Ahmed last time and he repaid the call with a decisive all-round performance against New Zealand last Friday. But that was at the R Premadasa Stadium, a surface that offered significant grip and turn. Conditions this time are unlikely to demand a second leg spinner, especially against a batting line-up stacked with left-handers.

England already possess three contrasting spin options – a leg spinner in Adil Rashid, a left-arm orthodox bowler in Liam Dawson, and an offspinner in Will Jacks, the latter particularly handy against an out-of-form Abhishek Sharma at the top and as a tactical match-up option through the line-up. All of which is set to open the door for the return of Jamie Overton.

India Probable XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy

England Probable XI:Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (wk), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid

[Cricbuzz]

Sports

Wankhede braced for India–England semi-final blockbuster

Published

11 hours ago

2026/03/5

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wankhede that hosted the 2011 World Cup final between Sri Lanka and India will host this evening’s T20 World Cup semi-final between India and England.

The second T20 World Cup semi-final gets underway at the iconic Wankhede Stadium today (Thursday) with England and India locking horns for a place in the final. Both sides are two-time champions and boast well-balanced outfits, setting the stage for a contest where there is little to separate.

India in particular have had to roll up their sleeves and graft their way through the Super Eight stage. Having stumbled in their opener against South Africa, they were forced into two must win encounters inside a week and came through with flying colours. Those victories have hardened their resolve and ensured the defending champions arrive at the business end battle ready.

England, meanwhile, began the tournament on shaky ground. They were given a scare by Nepal and later tasted defeat against West Indies, leaving them with little room for error. But like seasoned campaigners, the Englishmen have steadied the ship and found their rhythm when it matters most.

One of England’s biggest strengths has been their ability to play spin with confidence in recent months. Their bowling attack too has evolved. No longer overly reliant on pace and swing, England have shown the nous to mix things up, calling on a variety of spin options when conditions demand it.

There is, however, one blot on their scorecard. In the last five games, their opener Jos Buttler has struggled for runs, repeatedly departing for single digit scores. But his glovework behind the stumps has been impeccable and with several of England’s batters firing on all cylinders, they can afford to carry one misfiring gun in the line-up.

Still nursing the wounds of a painful Ashes defeat, reaching the World Cup final would go a long way in restoring pride in the England camp and perhaps even saving a few careers that are currently on the line.

India, meanwhile, carry the weight of expectation that only cricket in this country can generate. As defending champions, they have the backing of a cricket mad nation and Wankhede will be a cauldron of noise when the two sides take the field.

For Sri Lankan fans, the venue also stirs bittersweet memories. It was here at Wankhede that Sri Lanka’s dreams were shattered in the 2011 World Cup final, when India lifted the trophy.

One concern for India ahead of the big clash will be their catching. They have been sloppy in the field, grassing several chances and recording a worrying catching percentage. Their overall strength has masked those lapses so far, but dropped catches at this stage of the tournament can come back to haunt even the strongest of sides.

Earlier, South Africa and New Zealand were set to square off in the first semi-final in Calcutta on Wednesday. The winners will head to Ahmedabad where they will await the victors of the Bombay clash for Sunday’s grand finale.

Rex Clementine in Bombay