Connect with us

News

Royal regain the Rt. Hon D.S. Senanayake Memorial Shield

Published

on

Royal College, Colombo registered a memorable 180-run win over S. Thomas’ College in the 144th ‘Battle of the Blues’ annual cricket encounter played for the Rt. Hon. D.S Senanayake Memorial Shield, which concluded on Saturday at the SSC Grounds, Colombo.

On day three the Royalists declared their overnight score setting a target of 342 runs, and in reply, the Thomians had no answers for the Royal dominance as they were bowled out for 161 runs to hand the Royalists a famous win.

The Thomian batters never looked comfortable in the second essay and none of their batters impressed apart from Senesh Hettiarachchi. He was the only batter to post a threat to the Royalists with a watchful 46 runs off 87 deliveries including 7 boundaries. Apart from him, none of the other batters was able to at least go past the 30-run mark.

Senesh and Charuka Peiris (22) looked to steady the Thomian innings at one stage in the chase, but their partnership was cut short when Peiris was bowled by spinner Ramiru Perera.

Adding salt to their wounds, Thomians was struck with a double blow when Akash Fernando walked back to the pavilion for a golden duck to make things worse for the boys from Mt. Lavinia.

With all recognized batters back in the pavilion, Thomians’ hope was all on Senesh Hettiarachchi’s shoulders, but the pressure was too much for him to handle as he was caught at short mid-wicket, and the Thomians were bowled out for 161, as Royal wrapped things up in style to regain the prestigious D.S. Senanayake Shield.

The Royal College bowling was spot on with Sineth Jayawardena, Ramiru Perera and Nethwin Dharmarathne sharing two wickets apiece, while Ranuka Malaviarachchi, Bulan Weerathunga, Sandesh Ramanayaka and Dasis Manchanayake picked up a wicket each.

Earlier, in the second innings, skipper Dasis Manchanayake once again came to the rescue with another quick-fire 57 in 49 balls to steady the Royals’ innings. He was once again well supported by Ramiru Perera who smashed an unbeaten 46 runs.

Brief scores:

Royal: 326-8 d and 168-4 d (Dasis Manchanayake 57, Ramiru Perera 46, Akash Fernando 4-59)

S. Thomas’: 153 and 161 all out (Senesh Hettiarachchi 46, Charuka Peiris 22, Sineth Jayawardena 2-14, Nethwin Dharmarathne 2-27, Ramiru Perera 2-25)

Individual Awards

Best Fielder – Uvindu Weerasekara (RC)

Best Bowler – Akash Fernando (STC)

Best Batter – Ramiru Perera (RC)

Player of the Match – Dasis Manchanayake (RC)

ගරු ඩී.එස්. සේනානායක අනුස්මරණ පලිහ රාජකීයන්ට යළි හිමිවේ

තෝමස් විද්‍යාලයට එරෙහිව කොළඹ රාජකීය විද්‍යාලය 144 වැනි ‘Battle of the Blues’ වාර්ෂික ක්‍රිකට් තරගයෙන් ලකුණු 180 ක අමතක නොවන ජයක් වාර්තා කළේය. ගරු. D.S සේනානායක අනුස්මරණ පළිහ සෙනසුරාදා කොළඹ SSC පිටියේදී අවසන් විය.

තුන්වන දිනයේදී රාජකීය ක්‍රීඩකයින් සිය එක්දින ලකුණු සංඛ්‍යාව ලකුණු 342ක ඉලක්කයක් ලෙස ප්‍රකාශයට පත් කළ අතර, පිළිතුරු ලෙස තෝමියානුවන් ලකුණු 161කට දැවී ගිය අතර රාජකීයයන්ට සුප්‍රසිද්ධ ජයග්‍රහණයක් ලබා දීමට තෝමියානුවන් සමත් විය.

තෝමියන් පිතිකරුවන් දෙවන රචනයේදී කිසිවිටෙක පහසු බවක් නොදැක්වූ අතර සෙනේෂ් හෙට්ටිආරච්චි හැරුණු විට ඔවුන්ගේ කිසිදු පිතිකරුවෙකුගේ සිත් ගත්තේ නැත. ඔහු පන්දු 87කදී හතරේ පහර 7ක් සමඟින් ලකුණු 46ක් ලබා ගනිමින් රාජකීයයන්ට තර්ජනයක් එල්ල කළ එකම පිතිකරුවා විය. ඔහු හැර සෙසු පිතිකරුවන් කිසිවකුට අඩුම තරමින් ලකුණු 30 සීමාව පසු කිරීමටවත් නොහැකි විය.

සෙනේෂ් සහ චාරුක පීරිස් (22) හඹා යාමේ එක් අවස්ථාවක තෝමියන් ඉනිම ස්ථාවර වනු ඇතැයි අපේක්ෂා කළ නමුත් පීරිස් දඟ පන්දු යවන රමිරු පෙරේරාගේ පන්දුවක් හමුවේ දැවී යාමත් සමඟ ඔවුන්ගේ සබඳතාව බිඳ වැටුණි.

ගල්කිස්සේ කොල්ලන්ට තත්ත්වය තවත් නරක අතට හැරීම සඳහා ආකාෂ් ප්‍රනාන්දු රන් තාරාවෙකු සඳහා නැවත මණ්ඩපය වෙත ඇවිද ගිය විට ඔවුන්ගේ තුවාලවලට ලුණු එකතු කරමින් තෝමියානුවන්ට ද්විත්ව පහරක් එල්ල විය.

පිලිගත් පිතිකරුවන් සියල්ලන්ම නැවතත් මණ්ඩපය වෙත පැමිණීමත් සමඟම තෝමියන්ස්ගේ බලාපොරොත්තුව සියල්ල සෙනේෂ් හෙට්ටිආරච්චිගේ උරහිස් මත රැඳුණු නමුත් ෂෝට් මිඩ් විකට් අතට උඩපන්දුවක් දෙමින් තෝමියානුවන් ලකුණු 161කට දැවී ගිය අතර රාජකීය ලෙසින් තෝමියානුවන් දැවී ගියේය. කීර්තිමත් D.S. සේනානායක පළිහ නැවත ලබා ගැනීම සඳහා දේවල් අලංකාර ලෙස ඔතා ඇත.

රාජකීය විද්‍යාලයේ පන්දු යැවීමේදී සිනෙත් ජයවර්ධන, රමිරු පෙරේරා සහ නෙත්වින් ධර්මරත්න කඩුලු 2 බැගින් බෙදී ගිය අතර රනුක මලවිආරච්චි, බුලාන් වීරතුංග, සන්දේශ් රාමනායක සහ දාසිස් මංචනායක කඩුල්ල බැගින් දවා ගත්හ.

මීට පෙර දෙවැනි ඉනිමේදී තවත් වේගවත් පිතිහරඹයක නිරත වූ නායක දාසිස් මංචනායක පන්දු 49කදී ලකුණු 57ක් රැස්කරමින් රාජකීය ඉනිමේ ස්ථාවර තත්ත්වයට පත් විය. ඔහුට නැවත වරක් හොඳ සහයක් ලබාදුන් රමිරු පෙරේරා නොදැවී ලකුණු 46ක් ලබා ගත්තේය.

කෙටි ලකුණු:

රාජකීය: 326-8 සහ 168-4 (දාසිස් මංචනායක 57, රමිරු පෙරේරා 46, ආකාෂ් ප්‍රනාන්දු 4-59)

එස්. තෝමස්: සියලු දෙනා දැවී 153 සහ 161 (සෙනේෂ් හෙට්ටිආරච්චි 46, චාරුක පීරිස් 22, සිනෙත් ජයවර්ධන 2-14, නෙත්වින් ධර්මරත්න 2-27, රමිරු පෙරේරා 2-25)

තනි පුද්ගල සම්මාන

හොඳම පන්දු රකින්නා – උවිඳු වීරසේකර (RC)

හොඳම පන්දු යවන්නා – ආකාෂ් ප්‍රනාන්දු (STC)

හොඳම පිතිකරු – රමිරු පෙරේරා (RC)

තරගයේ වීරයා – දසිස් මංචනායක (RC)

கெளரவ டி.எஸ். சேனாநாயக்க நினைவுக் கேடயத்தை ரோயல் மீண்டும் கைப்பற்றியது

Rt அணிக்காக விளையாடிய 144வது ‘Battle of the Blues’ வருடாந்த கிரிக்கெட் போட்டியில், கொழும்பு ரோயல் கல்லூரி, S. Thomas’ கல்லூரிக்கு எதிராக 180 ரன்கள் வித்தியாசத்தில் மறக்கமுடியாத வெற்றியைப் பதிவு செய்தது. கௌரவ. D.S சேனநாயக்க ஞாபகார்த்த கேடயம், கொழும்பு SSC மைதானத்தில் சனிக்கிழமை நிறைவு பெற்றது.

மூன்றாவது நாளில், ராயல்ஸ்டுகள் தங்கள் ஓவர்நைட் ஸ்கோரை 342 ரன்களை இலக்காக நிர்ணயித்ததாக அறிவித்தனர், பதிலுக்கு, தோமியன்ஸ் ராயல்ஸ்டுகளுக்கு ஒரு பிரபலமான வெற்றியை வழங்க 161 ரன்களுக்கு ஆட்டமிழந்ததால், ராயல் ஆதிக்கத்திற்கு எந்த பதிலும் இல்லை.

தோமியன் பேட்டர்கள் இரண்டாவது கட்டுரையில் ஒருபோதும் வசதியாகத் தோன்றவில்லை, செனேஷ் ஹெட்டியாராச்சியைத் தவிர அவர்களது பேட்ஸ் எவரும் ஈர்க்கவில்லை. 87 பந்துகளில் 7 பவுண்டரிகள் உட்பட 46 ரன்கள் எடுத்து ராயல்ஸ்டுகளுக்கு அச்சுறுத்தலாக இருந்த ஒரே பேட்டர் அவர்தான். இவரைத் தவிர மற்ற வீரர்களால் 30 ரன்களைக் கூட கடக்க முடியவில்லை.

செனேஷ் மற்றும் சாருக பீரிஸ் (22) துரத்தலில் ஒரு கட்டத்தில் தோமியன் இன்னிங்ஸை சீராகப் பார்த்தனர், ஆனால் பீரிஸ் சுழற்பந்து வீச்சாளர் ரமிரு பெரேராவின் பந்துவீச்சில் ஆட்டமிழந்ததால் அவர்களது பார்ட்னர்ஷிப் துண்டிக்கப்பட்டது.

அவர்களின் காயங்களுக்கு உப்பு சேர்த்து, ஆகாஷ் பெர்னாண்டோ மவுண்ட் லவீனியாவைச் சேர்ந்த சிறுவர்களை மோசமாக்குவதற்காக தங்க வாத்துக்காக பெவிலியனுக்கு திரும்பிச் சென்றபோது தோமியன்ஸ் இரட்டை அடியால் தாக்கப்பட்டார்.

அனைத்து அங்கீகரிக்கப்பட்ட துடுப்பாட்ட வீரர்களும் பெவிலியனில் திரும்பிய நிலையில், தோமியன்ஸின் நம்பிக்கை அனைத்தும் செனேஷ் ஹெட்டியாராச்சியின் தோள்களில் இருந்தது, ஆனால் அவர் ஷார்ட் மிட் விக்கெட்டில் கேட்ச் ஆனதால், அவரைக் கையாள முடியாத அழுத்தம் அதிகமாக இருந்தது, மேலும் தோமியன்ஸ் 161 ரன்களுக்கு ஆட்டமிழந்தார். மதிப்புமிக்க டி.எஸ். சேனநாயக்க கேடயத்தை மீண்டும் பெறுவதற்கு பாணியில் விஷயங்களைச் சுற்றிக் கொண்டார்.

ரோயல் கல்லூரி பந்துவீச்சில் சினேத் ஜயவர்தன, ரமிரு பெரேரா மற்றும் நெத்வின் தர்மரத்ன ஆகியோர் தலா இரண்டு விக்கெட்டுகளையும், ரணுக மளவியராச்சி, புலன் வீரதுங்க, சந்தேஷ் ராமநாயக்க மற்றும் தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க ஆகியோர் தலா ஒரு விக்கெட்டையும் கைப்பற்றினர்.

முன்னதாக, இரண்டாவது இன்னிங்ஸில், அணித்தலைவர் தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க மீண்டும் 49 பந்துகளில் 57 ரன்களை எடுத்து நிலையான ராயல்ஸ் இன்னிங்ஸை மீட்டார். அவருக்கு மீண்டும் ஒருமுறை சிறந்த உறுதுணையாக இருந்த ரமிரு பெரேரா ஆட்டமிழக்காமல் 46 ரன்கள் எடுத்தார்.

சுருக்கமான மதிப்பெண்கள்:

ராயல்: 326-8 டி மற்றும் 168-4 டி (தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க 57, ரமிரு பெரேரா 46, ஆகாஷ் பெர்னாண்டோ 4-59)

எஸ். தோமஸ்: 153 மற்றும் 161 ஆல் அவுட் (செனேஷ் ஹெட்டியாராச்சி 46, சாருகா பீரிஸ் 22, சினெத் ஜயவர்தன 2-14, நெத்வின் தர்மரத்னே 2-27, ரமிரு பெரேரா 2-25)

தனிப்பட்ட விருதுகள்

சிறந்த பீல்டர் – உவிந்து வீரசேகர (ஆர்சி)

சிறந்த பந்து வீச்சாளர் – ஆகாஷ் பெர்னாண்டோ (STC)

சிறந்த பேட்டர் – ரமிரு பெரேரா (ஆர்சி)

ஆட்ட நாயகன் – தாசிஸ் மஞ்சநாயக்க (RC)

Football

European Parliament Members Push for FIFA Inquiry Over Balogun Suspension Decision

Published

on

By

A group of European Parliament members is seeking a formal investigation into FIFA President Gianni Infantino following the controversial decision to allow United States forward Folarin Balogun to play after receiving a red card earlier in the tournament.

The lawmakers argue that the move raises serious concerns about FIFA’s independence and whether political influence played a role in altering a disciplinary decision during the FIFA World Cup.

Balogun, 25, was sent off in the United States’ July 1 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina. Under standard tournament regulations, the dismissal would have ruled him out of his team’s next fixture. However, FIFA’s disciplinary authorities later lifted the suspension, enabling the striker to feature in Monday’s match.

The decision came after U.S. President Donald Trump reportedly appealed directly to Infantino on Balogun’s behalf, prompting criticism from European lawmakers who say football’s governing body compromised the integrity of its own rules.

In a joint statement, Members of the European Parliament Barry Andrews, Lara Wolters and Niels Fuglsang described the decision as “a disgrace and a perversion of justice,” arguing that changing the application of red-card suspensions during an ongoing tournament undermines confidence in the sport’s disciplinary system.

The lawmakers are calling on football associations across European Union member states to urge FIFA’s Ethics Committee to examine Infantino’s conduct. They want investigators to determine whether political pressure from the Trump administration influenced the reversal of Balogun’s suspension and to assess what they describe as other possible violations of FIFA’s principle of political neutrality, including the awarding of the FIFA Peace Prize to Trump.

FIFA has maintained that the decision to overturn Balogun’s suspension was made independently by its disciplinary committee.

According to the lawmakers, support for the initiative is growing, with 35 members of the European Parliament already backing the proposal.

“The beauty of sport lies in the consistent and transparent application of its rules,” the statement said. “When political influence determines who is eligible to compete, the principle of fairness is fundamentally weakened.”

Continue Reading

News

Sri Lanka dominate Ceylon Masters with 36 gold medals

Published

on

By

Sri Lankan shuttle experts recorded a majestic dominance at the claiming a record overall tally of 137 medals at the CMB Masters International Badminton Championships 2026, successfully held at the AIR Sports Complex in Rajagiriya. Out of the total Sri Lanka won a straight tally of 101 medals through their experienced shuttlers, while the remaining 36 were added from collaborations in Doubles with shuttlers from other nations.

From the tally of 101, Sri Lanka claimed 22 gold, 27, silver and 52 bronze medals to lead the medals tally at the end of the five-day competition held with the participation of over 500 leading Masters’ shuttlers representing 15 countries. India finished overall second with 65 medals – 19 each of gold and silver and 27 bronze medals.

Malaysia finished behind at third with nine medals, three each of gold and bronze and a silver to their tally. Chinese Taipei, China, Nepal, Switzerland, UAE, France, Australia and Indonesia followed in behind one another to complete the medal board, while certain nations claimed medals from Doubles events collaborating with shuttlers from other countries.

Among the standout performers for Sri Lanka were Niroshan Wijekoon, Nadeesha Gayanthi, Renu Chandrika de Silva, Thushari Brahmanage, Niluka Karunaratne, Rohan de Silva, Hasitha Chanaka, Duminda Jayakody and Deshani Bandara, who were among a host of local players to produce outstanding performances throughout the tournament. Many of the leading Sri Lankan competitors are former national players who represented the country during their prime, while several are former national champions. Their continued success highlighted the depth of experience and enduring quality within Sri Lanka’s Masters badminton circuit.

The strong participation of overseas players also reflected the growing appeal of the event on the international calendar. Players from 15 countries competed in the championships, reinforcing Sri Lanka’s potential to develop sports tourism by hosting major international Masters events.

The CMB International Badminton Championships 2026, organised by Ceylon Masters Badminton (CMB), also received strong backing from the corporate sector. Some of the country’s leading companies, including McLarens Group, Mobil, Prime Group, 3M, Cool Max, Iodex, Li-Ning, Hundred, RovinAds, Seylan Bank, Sampath Bank, HNB Finance, Ceylon Biscuits Ltd, Mr. FixIt, McFoil and Elite Badminton, stepped forward as sponsors, playing a key role in the successful staging of the tournament.

Continue Reading

Cricket

Sooryavanshi fireworks see India ‘A’ thump Sri Lanka to clinch title

Published

on

By

A breathtaking assault from teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi powered India ‘A’ to a commanding 66-run victory over Sri Lanka ‘A’ in the final of the Tri-Series 2026, as the visitors lifted the title in emphatic fashion.

After being asked to bat, India ‘A’ piled up a daunting 377 for 9 in their 50 overs, thanks largely to Sooryavanshi’s explosive 94 off just 29 balls. The left-hander unleashed a stunning display of power-hitting, smashing 10 fours and eight sixes at a remarkable strike rate of 324.13.

Together with Priyansh Arya, who made a brisk 39, he put on 132 runs for the opening wicket in less than nine overs, leaving the Sri Lankan bowlers reeling.

Although Sooryavanshi fell agonisingly short of a century, India maintained the momentum through Ruturaj Gaikwad (40) and captain Tilak Varma, who anchored the middle overs with a well-compiled 67. Kumar Kushagra contributed 36, while Anukul Roy provided a late flourish with an unbeaten 39 from just 15 deliveries, including four sixes.

For Sri Lanka, Wanuja Sahan was the most economical bowler and claimed two wickets, while Ravindu Fernando and Kugathas Mathulan also picked up two scalps each.

Faced with a formidable target, Sri Lanka ‘A’ launched a spirited chase but were eventually bowled out for 311 in 47.1 overs. Sadeera Samarawickrama led the resistance with an attractive 52 off 44 balls, while Wanuja Sahan produced a fighting 62. Captain Sahan Arachchige chipped in with 38 and Vijayakanth Viyaskanth added 39, but the required rate continued to climb.

India’s bowlers struck at regular intervals, with Yash Thakur and Vipraj Nigam claiming three wickets apiece. Anukul Roy supported well with two wickets as Sri Lanka’s challenge faded in the closing stages.

Continue Reading

Trending