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Saud Shakeel’s double ton put Pakistan in the driving seat at the stumps on day 3

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Saud Shakeel’s brilliant double century has put Pakistan in a brilliant position against Sri Lanka at the stumps on Day 3 of the first Test in Galle.

Shakeel scored an unbeaten 208* as Pakistan reached 461 in the first innings.

Pakistan started the Day with Agha Salman and Saud Shakeel at the crease after ending Day 2 with a crucial partnership. They extended it further and at a good rate as well. Shakeel registered a fine hundred but they lost Salman in the same over who missed out on his century. However, that did not affect Shakeel one bit as he went on to build up two more big stands, one with Nauman Ali of 52 runs and then a huge one of 94 with Naseem Shah who showed great resistance which put the hosts on the back foot as they conceded a massive lead. Shakeel batted almost throughout the Day and completed his maiden double-hundred as well.

Sri Lanka, on the other hand, will be very disappointed with their bowling effort. Galle is a ground where their spinner has a lot to say but that was not the case on day 3. They were not able to pick up wickets at regular intervals and let the visitors get away. It was the same old story for them as they struggled to get through the lower middle order as the last five wickets for Pakistan cost them 360 runs which is a lot. Their catching was poor as well as they dropped Saud Shakeel twice which has made a big impact in this Test. However, Ramesh Mendis was the pick of the bowlers and took a five-for as they managed to bowl out visitors in the last session.

Sri Lanka in their second innings, reached 14/0 at Stumps, trailing Pakistan by 135 runs. Earlier in the first innings Pakistan bundled out Sri Lanka for 312 before the lunch was taken on Day 2.

The match will continue today for day 4.

සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ ද්විත්ව ශතකයෙන් පාකිස්තානයට තෙවන දිනයේ දි වැඩි ගෞරව.

සවුද් ශකීල්ගේ විශිෂ්ට ද්විත්ව ශතකය හේතුවෙන් ගාල්ලේදී පැවැත්වෙන පළමු ටෙස්ට් තරගයේ 3 වන දිනය වන විට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවට එරෙහිව පාකිස්තානු පළමු ඉනිම ඉහළ මට්ටමකට ගෙන ඒමට සමත් විය.

ශකීල් නොදැවී ලකුණු 208*ක් ලබා ගත් අතර පාකිස්තාන පළමු ඉනිම ලකුණු 461කට ළඟා විය.

පාකිස්තානය දිනය ආරම්භ කළේ ආගා සල්මාන් සහ සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවැනි දිනය නිමා කිරීමෙන් පසු තීරණාත්මක සබඳතාවයක් සමඟින් ක්‍රීඩා කරමිනි. ඔවුන් එය තව දුරටත් දිගු කළ අතර හොඳ වේගයකින්ද විය. ශකීල් ශතකයක් වාර්තා කළ නමුත් ඔහුට එම ඕවරයේදීම සල්මාන් අහිමි වූ අතර ඔහුගේ ශතකය අහිමි විය. කෙසේ වෙතත්, ෂකීල්ට එය නොතකා තවත් සබඳතාවයක් ගොඩනැගූ අතර, එකක් නවමන් අලි ලකුණු 52 කින් සහ පසුව ලකුණු 94 න් දැවැන්ත සබඳතාවයක්න සීම් ෂා සමඟින් ගොඩනැගුවේය. ඔවුන්ගේ මනා සහයෝගයෙන් ශකීල් දවස පුරා පාහේ පන්දුවට පහර දුන් අතර ඔහුගේ මංගල ද්විත්ව ශතකයද සම්පූර්ණ කළේය.

අනෙක් අතට ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ඔවුන්ගේ පන්දු යැවීමේ උත්සාහය ගැන දැඩි කලකිරීමකට පත්වනු ඇත. ගාල්ල යනු ඔවුන්ගේ දඟ පන්දු යවන්නන්ට කීමට බොහෝ දේ ඇති පිටියක් වන නමුත් 3 වන දින එය එසේ නොවීය. ඔවුන්ට නියමිත කාල පරතරයන්හිදී කඩුලු ලබා ගැනීමට නොහැකි විය. පාකිස්තානය වෙනුවෙන් අවසන් කඩුලු 5 දැවී ලකුණු 360ක් වැය වූ බැවින් පහළ මැදපෙළ පසුකර යාමට ඔවුන් දැරූ උත්සාහය ඔවුන්ටද පරණ කතාවම විය. ඔවුන්ගේ උඩපන්දුව දුර්වල වූ අතර ඔවුන් සවුද් ශකීල් දෙවරක්ම දවා ගැනීමට වූ අවස්තා මගහැරී ගිය අතර එය මෙම ටෙස්ට් තරගයට විශාල බලපෑමක් කර ඇත. කෙසේ වෙතත්, රමේෂ් මෙන්ඩිස් පන්දු යවන්නන්ගේ තේරීම වූ අතර අවසන් සැසියේදී කඩුළු දවාලීමට ඔහු සමත් වූ හෙයින් කඩුලු 5ක් ද ලබා ගත්තේය.

ශ්‍රී ලංකාව සිය දෙවැනි ඉනිමේදී පාකිස්තානයට වඩා ලකුණු 135ක් පසුපසින් සිටිමින් තරගය නතර කරන විට ලකුණු 14/0ක් ලබා සිටියේය. දෙවැනි දිනයට දිවා ආහාරය ගැනීමට පෙර පාකිස්තානය පළමු ඉනිමේදී ශ්‍රී ලංකාව ලකුණු 312 කට දැවී ගියේය.

තරගය අද 4 වැනි දිනයටත් පැවැත්වේ.

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South Asian Karate Championship 2025: India and Sri Lanka Shine as Karate Celebrates 50 Years in Sri Lanka

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Colombo, July 5–6, 2025 – The 9th South Asian Karate Championship and the 1st South Asian Youth Karate Championship successfully concluded at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, marking a landmark moment in Sri Lanka’s martial arts history as the nation celebrates the 50th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Karate Federation.

This prestigious two-day event was jointly organized by the South Asian Karate Federation and the Sri Lanka Karate Federation, which is registered under the Ministry of Sports as one of the seven official sports federations in the country.

Day 1 (July 5) – Youth Championship Dominated by India and Sri Lanka

The opening day featured intense youth-level competition with over 700 athletes from seven South Asian nationsSri Lanka, India, Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and the Maldives – competing in age categories below 14.

🥇 Youth Medal Standings (U-14 Category):

  • India – 22 Medals (1st Place)
  • Nepal – 20 Medals (2nd Place)
  • Sri Lanka – 10 Medals (3rd Place)

📺 Watch Day 1 Highlights:

Final Day (July 6) – Sri Lanka Takes Youth Title, India Clinches Senior Crown

The second day of the tournament featured both senior and youth finals. In a historic achievement, Sri Lanka emerged champions in the Youth Division, while India secured the Senior Team Championship, continuing their regional dominance.

Final Team Standings:

  • Senior Category:
    • 🥇 India (Champions)
    • 🥈 Nepal (Runners-up)
    • 🥉 Sri Lanka (Third Place)
  • Youth Category:
    • 🥇 Sri Lanka (Champions)
    • 🥈 India (Runners-up)
    • 🥉 Nepal (Third Place)

Watch Final Day Highlights:

Special Guests & Recognition

The event was graced by His Excellency Akio Isomata, the Japanese Ambassador to Sri Lanka, who attended as the Chief Guest, acknowledging Sri Lanka’s long-standing contribution to the growth of karate in South Asia.

Also present was Bharat Sharma, President of the South Asian Karate Federation, who praised the standard of competition and Sri Lanka’s organizing excellence.

Karate in Sri Lanka – 50 Years of Legacy

This championship coincided with the 50th Anniversary of the Sri Lanka Karate Federation, which has played a vital role in shaping karate talent nationally and internationally. With continued support from the Ministry of Sports, karate remains one of Sri Lanka’s fastest-growing combat sports.

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Football

Sri Lanka Women Finish Qualifiers with 0 Goals, 20 Conceded – Who Will Take Responsibility?

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Colombo, July 3 – Sri Lanka Women’s National Football Team wrapped up their AFC Women’s Asian Cup 2026 Qualifiers campaign with a third straight defeat — a 2-0 loss to Laos — confirming their position at the bottom of Group F, with 0 wins, 0 goals scored, and 18 conceded in just three games.

But beyond the scorelines lies a far more serious issue: a complete collapse of women’s football development in Sri Lanka. And this time, the blame does not lie on one individual — but on a system that has failed the sport, from top to bottom.

Match-by-Match Recap

Match 1: Sri Lanka 0 – 10 Uzbekistan

  • Possession: 30%
  • Shots on Target: 0
  • xG: 0.0 vs Uzbekistan’s 3.60
  • A game that exposed a lack of preparation, structure, and fitness from the very start.

Match 2: Sri Lanka 0 – 8 Nepal

  • Possession: 50%
  • Defensive errors gifted goals, including a hat-trick by Sabitra Bhandari.
  • xG: Nepal 3.76 vs Sri Lanka 0.60
  • Tactical breakdown: Midfield collapsed under pressure, backline failed to close space.

Match 3: Sri Lanka 0 – 2 Laos

  • Possession: 50%
  • Shots on Target: 5
  • xG: 2.56 (Laos) vs 1.08 (Sri Lanka)
  • A more balanced performance, but defensive lapses in the 73rd and 90+2 minutes led to defeat. Sri Lanka couldn’t convert chances despite their best game statistically.

Final Group Standings – Group F

TeamMPGFGAGDPoints
🇳🇵 Nepal2170+176
🇺🇿 Uzbekistan2170+176
🇱🇦 Laos2216-140
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka3020-200

Tactical Issues Across All Matches

  • No clear formation or transition play.
  • Lack of defensive coordination — players failed to track runners, especially on the flanks.
  • No attacking identity — only 1.08 xG across three games.
  • In-game management absent — few substitutions or tactical shifts despite being outplayed.

While public criticism often targets the President of the Football Federation, this decline in women’s football runs deeper:

Who Is Accountable? Not Just the President

Women’s Football Committee:

  • Failed to organize any domestic tournament in recent years.
  • Selected the squad via open trials, with no league performance data to back selections.
  • No consistent training camps or fitness programs.

Executive Committee:

  • Remains silent on the recurring failures.
  • No inquiries, reviews, or structural reforms have followed Sri Lanka’s repeated humiliations — including the U20 Women’s SAFF defeat earlier this year.

Technical & Development Staff:

  • No tactical framework or youth development.
  • No modern coaching methods or international exposure for players.

The Bigger Problem: Silence and Stagnation

Sri Lanka is not just losing matches — it’s losing direction. The current state of women’s football is not the result of one bad campaign. It’s the product of years of neglect, political appointments, and a failure to treat women’s football with equal priority.

Even now, there is no explanation from the Executive Committee on how the women’s team was prepared or what plans exist for recovery.

Time for a Reset, Not Excuses

If Sri Lanka is serious about competing in international football, the following must be addressed:

  • ✅ A national women’s league
  • ✅ Provincial and school-level competitions
  • ✅ Professional coaching staff and structured fitness programs
  • ✅ Regular international friendlies and camps
  • ✅ Transparent selection processes based on performance, not politics

🔚 Conclusion

Sri Lanka’s 2026 AFC campaign should not just be remembered for the scorelines — but as a call for change. It is time for every stakeholder — from the Women’s Committee to the Executive — to reflect, respond, and rebuild.

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Sri Lanka Set to Face UAE in Crucial Rugby Clash Tomorrow in Colombo

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The Sri Lanka national rugby team will lock horns with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in a much-anticipated international rugby encounter set to take place today (July 4) at the iconic Racecourse Ground, Colombo.

As part of their final preparations, the Sri Lankan team held an intensive training session today under the watchful eyes of the coaching staff. The team looked sharp, focused, and ready to bring their A-game to home soil.

This clash promises to be a key test for the Tuskers as they look to strengthen their footing in the regional rugby scene and gain momentum ahead of upcoming international competitions. UAE, a rising force in Asian rugby, will also be eyeing a big performance away from home.

Both teams are expected to field strong lineups, and the match is anticipated to draw significant interest from local fans eager to witness top-tier rugby action.

📍 Match Info
🗓️ Date: July 4, 2025
📍 Venue: Racecourse Rugby Grounds, Colombo
🕒 Kick-off: TBA

Stay tuned for live updates, photos, and post-match coverage on Sri Lankan Sports TV.

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