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Goonethilleka & Nettasinghe finish third in the Maldives

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Sri Lanka’s star shuttlers Buwaneka Goonethilleka and Viren Nettasinghe put up commendable performances against top opponents to clinch the bronze medal in the men’s doubles at the LI-NING Maldives International Challenge 2023 in Male, over the weekend.

After eliminating some of the best pairs in the tournament in the Maldivian capital, the duo lost to the formidable Malaysian pair of Low Hang Yee and Masng Eng Cheong. Despite their best efforts, Goonethilleka and Nettasinghe were outmatched by their Malaysian opponents in the semi-final which ended with a scoreline of 11-21, 10-21, favouring Yee and Cheong. The Malaysian World No. 98 pair eventually fell to Thailand’s Pharanyu Kaosamaang and Thaworrapol Thongsa-Nga who went on to clinch the doubles title with a 21-19, 21-16 win.

Earlier, in the opening round of the tournament, Goonethilleka and Nettasinghe faced a formidable Indian pair, Deep Rambhiya and Akshan Shetty, and displayed great resilience and determination, eventually securing a hard-fought victory with a scoreline of 21-15, 13-21, 21-17.

Building on their initial success, Goonethilleka and Nettasinghe faced the Thai pair Pongsakorn Thongkham and Wongsathorn Thongkham in a nail-biting Round 2 encounter. The match went down to the wire, with both teams displaying incredible skill and tenacity, but the Sri Lankan pair eventually emerged triumphant with a close scoreline of 21-19, 17-21, 21-19.

Advancing to the quarter-finals, they faced the Canadian top seeds Kevin Lee and Ty Alexander Lindeman. The match proved to be an intense battle, with each pair fighting tooth and nail for every point. After an exhilarating three-game contest, the Sri Lankan pair emerged victorious with a final score of 15-21, 21-15, 21-19, securing their spot in the semifinals.

Although they fell short in the semifinals, Goonethilleka and Nettasinghe’s performances throughout the LI-NING Maldives International Badminton Challenge 2023 were highly commendable as they displayed exceptional skill, determination, and sportsmanship.

ගුණතිලක සහ නෙත්තසිංහ මාලදිවයිනේදි තෙවැනි ස්ථානයට පත්වේ

ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සුපිරි බැඩ්මින්ටන් ක්‍රීඩකයින් වන බුවනෙක ගුණතිලක සහ විරේන් නෙත්තසිංහ සති අන්තයේ මාලේ හි පැවති LI-NING මාලදිවයිනේ ජාත්‍යන්තර අභියෝගතා 2023 පිරිමි යුගල ඉසව්වේ ලෝකඩ පදක්කම දිනා ගැනීමට ඉහළම ප්‍රතිවාදීන්ට එරෙහිව ප්‍රශංසනීය දස්කම් දැක්වීමට සමත් වූහ.

මාලදිවයිනේ අගනුවර පැවති තරගාවලියේ දක්ෂ යුගල කිහිපයක් පැරදවීමෙන් පසුව, ඔවුන් දෙදෙනා මැලේසියානු ප්‍රබල යුගල වන Low Hang Yee සහ Masng Eng Cheong හමුවේ පරාජයට පත් වූහ. ඔවුන්ගේ ප්‍රහාරය නොතකා, ගුණතිලක සහ නෙත්තසිංහ අවසන් පූර්ව තරගයේදී ඔවුන්ගේ මැලේසියානු ප්‍රතිවාදී ක්‍රීඩකයින් අභිබවා යමින් 11-21, 10-21ක් ලෙස ලකුණු ලබා ගත්හ . ලෝක ශ්‍රේණිගත කිරීම් හී 98 වන මැලේසියානු යුගලය අවසානයේ තායිලන්තයේ Pharanyu Kaosamaang සහ Thaworrapol Thongsa-Nga හමුවේ පරාජයට පත් වූ අතර ඔවුන් යුගල ශූරතාව දිනා ගැනීමට 21-19, 21-16 ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලබා ගත්හ.

මීට පෙර තරගාවලියේ ආරම්භක වටයේ දී ගුණතිලක සහ නෙත්තසිංහ ප්‍රබල ඉන්දීය යුගලයක් වන දීප් රම්භියා සහ අක්ෂාන් ෂෙට්ටි හමුවේ ලකුණු 21-15, 13-21, 21-17 ක් ලෙස තියුණු ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලබා ගත්හ.

ඔවුන්ගේ ආරම්භක සාර්ථකත්වය මත ගොඩනැගුණු ගුණතිලක සහ නෙත්තසිංහ, තායිලන්ත යුගලය වන පොන්සාකෝන් තොන්කාම් සහ වොන්ග්සතෝර්න් තොංකාම් සමඟ 2 වටයේ තරගයකදී මුහුණ දුන්හ. කණ්ඩායම් දෙකම ඇදහිය නොහැකි දස්කම් සහ දස්කම් දැක්වීමත් සමඟ අවසානයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුගලය 21-19, 17-21, 21-19ක් ලෙසින් ජයග්‍රහණය කළේය.

අර්ධ අවසන් පූර්ව වටයට පිවිසීමට ඔවුන් මුහුණ දුන්නේ කැනේඩියානු ප්‍රමුඛ පෙළේ කෙවින් ලී සහ ටයි ඇලෙක්සැන්ඩර් ලින්ඩමන් සමඟ ය. තරගය තියුණු සටනක් බව ඔප්පු වූ අතර, සෑම යුගලයක්ම සෑම ලකුණු සඳහාම සටන් කළහ. උද්වේගකර තරග තුනකින් අනතුරුව අවසන් පූර්ව වටයේ ස්ථානය තහවුරු කර ගනිමින් ශ්‍රී ලංකා යුගලය අවසන් ලකුණු සංඛ්‍යාව 15-21, 21-15, 21-19ක් ලෙසින් ජයග්‍රහණය කිරීමට සමත් විය.

ඔවුන් අවසන් පූර්ව වටයේදී අඩුවෙන් ඉවත් වුවද, LI-NING මාලදිවයිනේ ජාත්‍යන්තර බැඩ්මින්ටන් අභියෝගතා 2023 පුරාවටම ගුණතිලක සහ නෙත්තසිංහගේ දස්කම් ඉතා පැසසුමට ලක්විය හැකි වූයේ ඔවුන් සුවිශේෂී දක්ෂතා, අධිෂ්ඨානය සහ ක්‍රීඩාශීලිත්වය ප්‍රදර්ශනය කළ බැවිනි.

மாலத்தீவில் குணதிலகா மற்றும் நெட்டசிங்க மூன்றாவது இடத்தில் உள்ளனர்

மாலேயில் வார இறுதியில் நடைபெற்ற LI-NING மாலத்தீவுகள் சர்வதேச சவால் 2023 ஆடவர் இரட்டையர் போட்டியில், இலங்கையின் பேட்மிண்டன் சூப்பர் ஸ்டார்களான புவனேகா குணதிலகா மற்றும் வீரேன் நெட்டசிங்க ஆகியோர், சிறந்த எதிர்ப்பை எதிர்த்து வெண்கலப் பதக்கத்தை வென்றனர்.

மாலத்தீவின் தலைநகரில் நடந்த போட்டியில் பல திறமையான ஜோடிகளை தோற்கடித்த பின்னர், இருவரும் மலேசியாவின் அதிகார மையமான லோ ஹாங் யீ மற்றும் மாஸ்ங் எங் சியோங்கிடம் தோற்றனர். அவர்களின் தாக்குதலுக்கு மத்தியிலும், குணதிலகே மற்றும் நெத்தசிங்க அரையிறுதியில் 11-21, 10-21 என்ற கணக்கில் மலேசிய எதிரணியை வீழ்த்தினர். உலகத் தரவரிசையில் 98-வது இடத்தில் உள்ள மலேசிய ஜோடி, இறுதியில் தாய்லாந்தின் ஃபரன்யு கௌசமாங் மற்றும் தவோரபோல் தோங்சா-ங்கா ஜோடியிடம் தோல்வியடைந்தது, அவர்கள் 21-19, 21-16 என்ற கணக்கில் வெற்றி பெற்று இரட்டையர் பட்டத்தை வென்றனர்.

முன்னதாக, போட்டியின் தொடக்கச் சுற்றில் குணதிலகே மற்றும் நெட்டசிங்க ஜோடி 21-15, 13-21, 21-17 என்ற செட் கணக்கில் வலுவான இந்திய ஜோடிகளான தீப் ரம்பியா மற்றும் அக்ஷன் ஷெட்டிக்கு எதிராக வெற்றி பெற்றது.

அவர்களின் ஆரம்ப வெற்றியைக் கட்டியெழுப்ப, குணதிலகே மற்றும் நெட்டசிங்க தாய்லாந்து ஜோடியான பொன்சகோன் தோங்கம் மற்றும் வோங்சதோர்ன் தோங்கம் ஆகியோரை ஒரு சுற்று 2 போட்டியில் எதிர்கொண்டனர். இறுதியில் இரு அணி வீரர்களும் அபாரமான ஆட்டத்தை வெளிப்படுத்தியதன் மூலம் இலங்கை ஜோடி 21-19, 17-21, 21-19 என்ற செட் கணக்கில் வெற்றி பெற்றது.

அவர்கள் காலிறுதிக்கு முன்னேற கனடாவின் முதல் நிலை வீரரான கெவின் லீ மற்றும் டை அலெக்சாண்டர் லிண்டேமன் ஆகியோரை எதிர்கொண்டனர். ஒவ்வொரு ஜோடியும் ஒவ்வொரு புள்ளிக்காகப் போராடியதால், போட்டி இறுக்கமான போராக இருந்தது. பரபரப்பான மூன்று போட்டிகளுக்குப் பிறகு, இலங்கை ஜோடி 15-21, 21-15, 21-19 என்ற கணக்கில் இறுதிப் புள்ளிகளில் வெற்றி பெற்று அரையிறுதிக்குத் தகுதி பெற்றது.

அரையிறுதியில் அவர்கள் குறுகிய வெளியேற்றம் இருந்த போதிலும், LI-NING மாலத்தீவுகள் சர்வதேச பூப்பந்து சவால் 2023 முழுவதும் குணதிலக மற்றும் நெட்டசிங்கவின் செயல்திறன் மிகவும் பாராட்டத்தக்கது, ஏனெனில் அவர்கள் விதிவிலக்கான திறமை, உறுதிப்பாடு மற்றும் விளையாட்டுத்திறனை வெளிப்படுத்தினர்.

Football

AIFF Faces FIFA, AFC Ban Threat as October 30 Deadline Looms

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Indian football is staring at yet another international suspension as FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have jointly warned the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to ratify its long-pending constitution by October 30, 2025, or risk a complete ban from world football.

In a strongly-worded two-page letter sent on Tuesday (August 26) to AIFF President Kalyan Chaubey, FIFA and AFC expressed “profound concern” over the failure to finalise and implement a revised constitution, a matter pending before India’s Supreme Court since 2017.

If suspended, India’s national teams and clubs would be barred from all international competitions, while the country’s ambitious 2036 Olympic Games bid in Ahmedabad could also be thrown into uncertainty.

FIFA & AFC Ultimatum

The letter, signed by FIFA’s Chief Member Associations Officer Elkhan Mammadov and AFC Deputy General Secretary Vahid Kardany, set out three urgent requirements for the AIFF:

1. Obtain a definitive Supreme Court order approving the revised constitution.

2. Ensure full compliance with FIFA and AFC statutes.

3. Formally ratify the constitution at the next AIFF General Meeting.

Failure to comply, they warned, would trigger sanctions, including full suspension of AIFF membership.

Previous Suspension in 2022

This is not the first governance crisis to hit Indian football. In August 2022, FIFA suspended the AIFF for “third-party interference” after a court-appointed Committee of Administrators temporarily ran the federation. That ban lasted just two weeks, lifted only after fresh elections were held in which Kalyan Chaubey defeated football legend Bhaichung Bhutia.

Domestic Fallout – ISL in Crisis

The deadlock has already disrupted Indian football at the domestic level. The Indian Super League (ISL), India’s top-tier professional league, has been put “on hold” by Football Sports Development Limited (FSDL), the AIFF’s commercial partner, due to uncertainty over its Master Rights Agreement, which expires in December 2025.

At least three clubs have suspended operations or delayed salaries, while all 11 ISL clubs have warned of an “existential crisis.” Reports from FIFPRO further highlight cases of players’ contracts being terminated, leaving livelihoods at risk.

The Supreme Court of India will hear the matter again on August 28, a session that could determine the immediate future of the ISL and India’s football calendar.

What’s at Stake

If AIFF fails to meet the October deadline, India could lose:

• Participation in FIFA and AFC tournaments.

• Entry rights for national teams and clubs in international competitions.

• Momentum in its 2036 Olympics bid.

• Credibility with players, fans, and commercial partners.

For now, the football fraternity in India waits anxiously for the Supreme Court’s verdict and AIFF’s ability to steer through yet another governance storm

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Football

Heritage Derby Trophy Goes to Hameed Al Husseinie College

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Colombo – Hameed Al Husseinie College emerged victorious in the prestigious Heritage Derby Trophy football encounter against Zahira College, Maradana, securing a 3–1 win at the Colombo Racecourse grounds yesterday.

The match kicked off under the patronage of Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, adding special significance to this annual football rivalry.

Hameed Al Husseinie College took control early, leading 2–0 at halftime before sealing the victory with a third goal in the second half. Zahira College managed to pull one back, but it was not enough to challenge the dominant performance of the winners.

The trophy presentation was held soon after the final whistle, with the principals of both schools — Rizvi Marikkar of Zahira College and Mrs. Dain of Hameed Al Husseinie College — present to witness the celebrations.

This latest victory adds another chapter to the rich history of the Heritage Derby, further cementing Hameed Al Husseinie College’s reputation in school football.

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Football

Exclusive: AFC Fines Sri Lankan Footballer Over “Free Palestine” Message

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Colombo – June 13
Sri Lankan national footballer Mohamed Thilham, who recently made headlines after displaying a “PRAY FOR FREE PALESTINE” message on his undershirt during post-match celebrations, has now been officially penalized by international football authorities.

Following Sri Lanka’s 3-1 victory over Chinese Taipei in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 Qualifiers on June 10 at the Colombo Racecourse Stadium, Thilham—a non-playing substitute—unveiled the message, drawing both praise and criticism from various quarters.

⚠️ AFC Sanctions Player with USD 2,000 Fine

FIFA, in coordination with the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), has now issued a formal disciplinary notice to the player, imposing a USD 2,000 fine. This letter, according to sources within the Football Federation of Sri Lanka (FFSL), was sent addressing to Thilham, underscoring AFC stance on politically charged expressions at official matches.

According to FIFA’s Disciplinary Code, players are prohibited from displaying political, religious, or personal slogans during matches or official ceremonies. While Thilham’s gesture occurred after the final whistle, FIFA and AFC treat any action within the stadium environment as part of official conduct.

⚽ FFSL Under Scrutiny for Disciplinary Action

FFSL President Jaswar Umar previously stated that the act “was not authorized by the federation” and “violates international football disciplinary norms.” He also confirmed that the FFSL would take internal disciplinary action against the player.

However, this incident has reignited public debate over the role of athletes in social advocacy and the limits imposed by international sports law. While some supporters see Thilham’s actions as courageous and morally driven, others have raised concerns about the player’s career stability and future opportunities under increasing scrutiny.

📝 Editorial Insight

At Sri Lankan Sports TV, we initially chose to withhold the content of the message in our match coverage—out of responsibility to the player’s career and to respect global sports protocol. However, the message went viral after several social media users circulated the full image, seemingly with the intention of sparking controversy.

The resulting spotlight has unfortunately led to a formal penalty, underscoring the real-world consequences that athletes may face when international regulations intersect with personal conviction.

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