Sports
Yannik Kumara and Kaya Daluwatte win Junior Open Golf titles
Yannik Kumara and Kaya Daluwatte won the boys’ and girls’ Gold Division titles respectively at the 13th Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship concluded at the Royal Colombo Golf Course on December 21.
Yannik Kumara was fresh after winning the100th Royal Colombo Open Men’s club championship and was in no mood to let his guard down and cantered over the finish line with impressive scores of 69,69,and 69 to be six under in the Gold Division. Nirekh Tejwani was placed second. Young Tejwani, a vastly improved golfer returned a card of 72,73, and 71. The third place was secured by K. Dhanushan returning scores of 71,71, and 77.
In the girls’ category, Kaya Daluwatte, romped home easily with scores of 74,72 and 77 to win the Gold Division for girls, 16 shots ahead of her closest rival Sherin Balasuriya, who returned cards of 78,82 and 79. Third position was secured by Devinka Kanag-Iswaran 90,90 and 89.
While Reshan Algama won the Silver Division, Thejas Rathis Kanth and Revaan Amarasinghe were the winners of the Bronze and Copper Divisions respectively.
The 13th Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championships organized by Sri Lanka Golf Union and sponsored by Prima Sunrise Bread was conducted at Royal Colombo Golf Course over three days. “Despite the setback of junior golfers being unable to practice due to Covid 19, the golf dished out was of a high standard,” the Sri Lanka Golf Union said in a statement.
Prima Sunrise Bread has sponsored the Junior Golf Open for the 13th consecutive year underscoring their commitment and importance in promoting golf amongst juniors in Sri Lanka. “Sri Lanka Golf owes a great deal to Prima Sunrise Bread for supporting Junior Golf in Sri Lanka through the years. Young golfers continue to rise- up to the challenge and lift their game as evidenced over the past 13 years. We thank Shan Tien Shing, General Manager of Prima who has been a tower of strength to us as well as Sajith Gunaratne, Dep. General Manager of Ceylon Agro Industries (Prima Group) for his unstinted assistance,” Niloo Jayatilleke, Chairperson of Sri Lanka Golf Junior Sub Committee was quoted as having said.
“Golf in Sri Lanka is on an upward trend as seen by the performances of the juniors. The future tournaments culminating with the Junior Olympics in 2026 is a milestone for these young golfers to have in mind. I am confident that our golfers will continue to do well. Our thanks go out to Prima Group,” Michael Perera Magala, President Sri Lanka Golf Union was quoted as having said.
Shan Tien Shing, Michael Perera Magala, Ranil Peiris and Lal Wickrematunge gave away the awards.
Sai Kasturiratne and Brig. Nanda Hathurusinghe (retd), were the referees in attendance.
The BCB has said that they will rely on the Bangladesh government’s directive before finalising their tour to Pakistan later this month. Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play five T20Is there from May 25 to June 3, but the PSLs schedule was revised following cross-border tensions between Pakistan and India.
According to the revised fixtures, the PSL final will now be held on May 25, when Pakistan and Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play the first T20I.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that the PCB has sent a new schedule for the T20Is between Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the first match now slotted for May 27, and the last on June 5.
BCB’s media committee chairman Iftekhar Rahman said they will rely on information from government security agencies and the Bangladesh high commission in Islamabad to take the final decision.
“Once we receive official communication about the dates and venues [of the tour], we will forward it to the government,” Rahman said. “The BCB is not the decision-maker in this matter. If the government agencies and our embassy declare Pakistan safe for travel, only then will we proceed.
“In our previous meeting, we agreed that any such situation would be referred to the foreign and home ministries. Once we get clearance from all relevant bodies, we will finalise the tour. Security concerns were more significant in the past, but Pakistan has proven it can ensure safety. Still, given the current circumstances, we need to assess whether the situation across the country is stable before sending the team.”
Before playing Pakistan, Bangladesh are scheduled to play two T20Is against UAE in Sharjah on May 17 and 19. They were then supposed to fly to Lahore on May 21.
[Cricinfo]
Apna Perera won his third title of the 110th Colombo Championships as he partnered Dhilvan Herath to beat Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando in the open men’s doubles final.
Apna and Dhilvan registered 6-2, 6-2 win in the final.
Apna, the open men’s singles champion, was also the winner of the mixed doubles which was played according to round robin method. In the mixed doubles Apna partnered Inuki Jayaweera.
Results
Men’s doubles semi-finals
Apna Perera and Dhilvan Herath beat Ashen Silva and Lithum Jayabandu 6-1, 6-2
Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando beat Methika Wickramasinghe and Vichinthya Nilaweera 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) recently carried out a Fast Bowling Talent Search program in the Polonnaruwa District as part of its ongoing efforts to identify and nurture emerging cricketing talent across the country.
The program, held at the Royal College Ground, Polonnaruwa, attracted over 60 promising young players—both boys and girls—including school cricketers of the district. Each participant underwent skill assessments to evaluate their fast bowling potential.
Following the evaluations, 20 talented bowlers were selected for further development.
The selected players will now receive structured training under the guidance of Provincial coaches of Sri Lanka Cricket, with a focus on refining their techniques and enhancing their overall performance.
Those who continue to demonstrate consistent improvement will be given the opportunity to join SLC’s district squads, thereby becoming part of the official National Pathway Program.
This initiative is a part of SLC’s ‘Cricket Gamata’, program which aims to find talent from rural areas across Sri Lanka.
The talent assessments were conducted by Lasantha Lakmin, SLC Talent Scout for the North Central and North Western Provinces; Lakshitha Herath, North Central Provincial Women’s Coach; and Saman Senanayake, North Central Provincial Fast Bowling Coach.
The event was organized by the North Central Provincial Cricket Association under the guidance of Sri Lanka Cricket. It was managed by Krishan Anandakumar, Manager of the Center of Excellence, Dambulla.
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