Sports

WPBA Novices Team Badminton Championship from 13-21 June

Published

2 months ago

2026/05/21

Brian Gomez (Director Sales Elite Shuttler) hands over the sponsorship to Mohan Wijesinghe (President WPBA, Vice President SLB) and Gamini de Silva ( Vice President WPBA and Chairman Tournament Committee). Also in the picture are (from left) Amanda Weerasinghe (Vice Patron WPBA), Niluka Karunarathna (Vice President WPBA, Chairman Sport Development and Funding, Former Olympic/National Player), Roshan Gunawardana (President SLB), Rajpal Salgado (Secretary WPBA), Lalith Perera (Vice President WPBA, Chairman Coaching and Development WPBA), Ajith Fernando (Tournament Secretary WPBA), Rakitha Jayathilaka (Gampaha District Coordinator WPBA)

The Western Province Badminton Association (WPBA) will conduct an all-island school age Novices (non top10 rank) Team Championship, for boys and girls in the under 13, under 15 and under 17 age categories at the St. Thomas Indoor Stadium, Mount Lavinia and Mercantile Badminton Trust Badminton Stadium at Malalasekera Mawatha from 13th to 21st June 2026.

The championship will be a great opportunity for new players forming teams who have yet to play beyond a quarter final match in a ranking tournament.

The championship is open to teams from other provinces as well and the entry fee per team is Rs. 10,000. All participants will receive certificates while the winners will receive cash awards, trophies and medals.

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Taskin Ahmed withdraws from LPL to prepare for Australia tour

Published

5 hours ago

2026/07/23

Priyan

Taskin was supposed to play for Jaffna Kings [Cricbuzz]

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed said on Wednesday (July 22) that he has withdrawn from the Lanka Premier League (LPL) to prepare for the upcoming Test tour of Australia. Taskin, who arrived in Dhaka with the team from Zimbabwe, was supposed to head to Sri Lanka due to play for Jaffna Kings in the tournament.

Bangladesh are scheduled to depart in August for the all-important Australia tour where they will play a two-Test series down under for the first time since 2003.

Taskin had initially obtained a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) to feature in the tournament and was expected to skip the T20I series against Zimbabwe. However, he stayed back in Zimbabwe for the series after Mustafizur Rahman was ruled out due to injury.

“Yeah, I had withdrawn myself from LPL and it is mainly for Australia Test series preparation,” Taskin told Cricbuzz. “We played six back-to-back matches in Zimbabwe, maybe I would have got four matches there (in LPL). After my stint there (in LPL) if I return home and immediately go to Australia my Test match preparation would be hampered,” he said.

“Despite a little loss I thought it’s okay as Australia series won’t come around often.That’s why I took the decision and so I pulled out from the LPL even after having the NOC,” he added.

The Bangladesh team management are also waiting anxiously on Nahid Rana after he sustained a left side strain during the second T20I against Zimbabwe. The young fast bowler was unable to complete his spell. Rana, who arrived earlier in the day, will undergo scans to determine the extent of the injury.

Meanwhile, left-arm pacer Shoriful Islam is undergoing rehabilitation after suffering a hamstring injury during the Zimbabwe tour. If his rehabilitation progresses as planned, he will be in contention for the opening Test as a standard recovery period for such an injury is around three weeks.

The two Test matches, part of the ongoing World Test Championship cycle, will be played in Darwin (August 13-17) and Mackay (August 22-26).

[Cricbuzzz]

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Sri Lanka edge Qatar in Davis Cup opener

Published

10 hours ago

2026/07/23

Priyan

Thehan Wijemanne ( Pix by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

Hosts Sri Lanka made a winning start to their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV campaign, edging out Qatar 2-1 in a closely contested opening-day tie at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts in Colombo on Wednesday.

The visitors struck first when Mubarak Alharrasi defeated Sri Lanka’s Apna Perera 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in a hard-fought opening singles encounter, giving Qatar an early 1-0 lead.

Sri Lanka bounced back in the second singles as Thehan Wijemanne produced a spirited comeback to overcome Mossa Alharrasi 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. After dropping the opening set, Wijemanne showed great composure to win the next two sets and level the tie at 1-1.

The decisive doubles match proved to be a tense affair, with Apna Perera returning to partner Saha Kapilasena. The Sri Lankan duo held their nerve in two tie-breaks to defeat Jabar Al Mutawan and Mossa Alharrasi 7-6, 7-6, sealing the tie 2-1 for the hosts.

Sri Lanka’s ability to recover from the opening singles defeat highlighted the team’s resilience as Wijemanne’s comeback victory and the doubles pair’s clutch performance ensured a successful start to their campaign. The hosts will now look to build on the opening-day victory as they continue their quest for promotion in the Asia/Oceania Group IV competition.

Apna Perera and Saha Kapilasena

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Dambulla Sixers hand Galle Gallants first defeat in LPL 2026

Published

12 hours ago

2026/07/23

Priyan

The Dambulla Sixers bowlers kept Galle Gallants to 178 [Cricinfo]

Dambulla Sixers powered by an all-round performance from Marques Ackerman [2-27 and 35] and an unbeaten 64 off 37 balls from Reeza Hendricks handed the Galle Gallants their first defeat in LPL 2026. The match, the 8th game in LPL 2026 was played on Wednesday [22nd July] at Dambulla. The Gallants used nine bowlers but were unable to restraint the Dambulla batsmen who won with six wickets in hand 23 balls remaining.

Scores:
Galle Gallants 178/8 in 20 overs [Lasith Croospulle 12, Sam Harper 40, Charith Asalanka 25, Chamika Karunarathne 45, Dasun Shanaka 20, Mehidy Hasan Miraz 16; Vishwa Lahiru 1-20, Fazalhaq Farooki 3-39, Maheesh Theekshan 1-29, Gulbadin Naib 1-23, Marques Ackerman 2-27]
Dambulla Sixers 180/4 in 16.1 overs [Niroshan Dickwella 14, Shaibzada Farhan 13, Reeza Hendricks 64*, Pavan Rathnayake 29, Marqes Ackerman 35, Gulbadin Naib 20*; Dasun Shanaka 1-18, Mohammad Nawaz 1-40, Eshan Malinga 1-35, Chamika karunarathne 1-07]