News

Sports Minister to Italy to meet Yupun

Published

2 years ago

October 9, 2022

Editor

Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Mr Roshan Ranasinghe has gone to Italy to meet Yupun Abhekoon, a sprinter who has brought pride to Sri Lanka as well as Asia. Sports Minister Yupun Abhekoon met Abhekoon and his coach while he was participating in a training session. Italian Ambassador Mr Jagath Wellawatta also joined the occasion.

There, the minister was able to hold a long discussion with Yupun Abhekon and his coaches. The request to create training opportunities for talented players in Sri Lanka has already received good responses. Even now, the Binura athlete is engaged in training and the Sports Minister has also requested that the Ganga athlete who competes in the 800 meters should also be given the opportunity.

He also accepted the Sports Minister’s request for Claudi Licciardello, Yupun Abhekon’s coach, to visit Sri Lanka. Appreciating the presence of the Sports Minister, they have also told the Sports Minister that they will give their best to our team. Yesterday evening in Rome, Italy, an appreciation ceremony was held for the sportswomen who have come to Italy including Yupun Abhekoon, in which the Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs also joined.

යුපුන්ව හමු වීමට ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයා ඉතාලියට

ශ්‍රී ලාංකාවට මෙන්ම ආසියාවටම අභිමානයක් එක් කල කෙටි දුර ධවන ක්‍රීඩක යුපුන් අභේකෝන් හමු වීමට ක්‍රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්‍ය රොෂාන් රණසිංහ මහතා ඉතාලියට ගොස් ඇත. ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයා යුපුන් අභේකෝන් පුහුණු සැසියකට සහභාගී වෙමින් සිටියදී අභේකෝන් හා ඔහුගේ පුහුණුකරු හමු වී ඇත. එම අවස්ථාවට ඉතාලි තානාපති ආචාර්‍ය ජගත් වැල්ලවත්ත මහතාද එක් විය.

එහිදී යුපුන් අභේකෝන් හා ඔහුගේ පුහුණුකරුවන් සමග දීර්ඝ සාකාච්ඡාවක් පැවැත්වීමට අමාත්‍යවරයාට හැකියාව ලැබී ඇත. ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ දක්ෂතා දක්වන ක්‍රීඩකයන්ට පුහුණු අවස්ථා උදා කර දෙන ලෙස කල ඉල්ලීමට යහපත් ප්‍රතිචාර දැනටමත් ලැබී ඇත. මේ වන විටත් බිනුර ක්‍රීඩකයා පුහුණුවීම් වල නිරත වන අතර මීටර් 800 තරග කරන ගංගා ක්‍රීඩිකාවටත් අවස්ථාව උදා කර දෙන ලෙස ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයා ඉල්ලීමක්ද කර ඇත.

යුපුන් අභේකෝන්ගේ පුහුණුකරුවන Claudi Licciardello හට ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරයක නිරත වන ලෙස ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයා කල ඉල්ලීමද ඔහු විසින් පිලිගහ. ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයාගේ පැමිණීම අගය කළ ඔවුන්, ඔවුන්ගේ උපරිමය අප කණ්ඩායම වෙත ලබා දෙන බවටද ක්‍රීඩා අමාත්‍යවරයාට පවසා ඇත. ඊයේ හවස ඉතාලියේ රෝමයේදී යුපුන් අභේකෝන් ඇතුළු ඉතාලියට පැමිණ සිටින ක්‍රීඩිකාවන් ඇගයීමේ උත්සවයක් පැවැත්වූ අතර, එයට ක්‍රීඩා හා යෞවන කටයුතු අමාත්‍යවරයාද එක් විය.

யுபுனை சந்திக்க விளையாட்டு அமைச்சர் இத்தாலிக்கு

இலங்கைக்கு மட்டுமல்ல ஆசியாவுக்கும் பெருமை சேர்த்த ஓட்டப்பந்தய வீரர் யுபுன் அபேகோனை சந்திப்பதற்காக விளையாட்டு மற்றும் இளைஞர் விவகார அமைச்சர் திரு.ரொஷான் ரணசிங்க இத்தாலி சென்றுள்ளார். விளையாட்டு அமைச்சர் யுபுன் அபேகோன் பயிற்சி அமர்வில் பங்குபற்றிய போது அபேகோனையும் அவரது பயிற்சியாளரையும் சந்தித்தார். இத்தாலிய தூதுவர் திரு.ஜெகத் வெள்ளவத்த அவர்களும் இந்நிகழ்வில் கலந்துகொண்டனர்.

அங்கு அமைச்சர் யுபுன் அபேகோன் மற்றும் அவரது பயிற்சியாளர்களுடன் நீண்ட நேரம் கலந்துரையாடினார். இலங்கையில் திறமையான வீரர்களுக்கு பயிற்சி வாய்ப்புகளை உருவாக்க வேண்டும் என்ற கோரிக்கைக்கு ஏற்கனவே நல்ல வரவேற்பு கிடைத்துள்ளது. தற்போதும் பினுரா வீராங்கனை பயிற்சியில் ஈடுபட்டுள்ளதுடன், 800 மீற்றர் ஓட்டப் போட்டியில் பங்கேற்கும் கங்கா வீராங்கனைக்கும் சந்தர்ப்பம் வழங்கப்பட வேண்டும் எனவும் விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சர் கோரிக்கை விடுத்துள்ளார்.

யுபுன் அபேகோனின் பயிற்றுவிப்பாளர் கிளாடி லிச்சியார்டெல்லோவை இலங்கைக்கு வருமாறு விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சர் விடுத்த கோரிக்கையையும் அவர் ஏற்றுக்கொண்டார். விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சரின் வருகையைப் பாராட்டிய அவர்கள், எங்களது அணிக்கு சிறந்ததை வழங்குவோம் என்றும் விளையாட்டுத்துறை அமைச்சரிடம் கூறியுள்ளனர். நேற்று மாலை இத்தாலியின் ரோம் நகரில் யுபுன் அபேகோன் உட்பட இத்தாலிக்கு வருகை தந்த விளையாட்டு வீராங்கனைகளுக்கான பாராட்டு விழா இடம்பெற்றதுடன், விளையாட்டு மற்றும் இளைஞர் விவகார அமைச்சரும் இதில் கலந்துகொண்டார்.

Football

Stafford vs. Colombo International: The Second Edition of the Big Match Kicks Off!

Published

11 hours ago

April 2, 2025

Editor

Football fever returns as Stafford International School and Colombo International School gear up for the second edition of their highly anticipated Big Match! This year, the rivalry intensifies with four matches across different age and gender categories:

✅ U15 Girls
✅ U15 Boys
✅ U20 Girls
✅ U20 Boys

🏆 Stafford International’s Rising Stars:

U15 Girls: Defending TISSL U14 and Colombo SLSFA District champions, featuring standout players like Keshalee Ranatunga and Sonja Ratanayake (just 10 years old!).
U15 Boys: All-Island U14 runners-up out of 462 schools, led by goalkeeper Yash Amarasekara, who was named Best U14 GK in Sri Lanka.
U20 Girls & Boys: Both teams finished as TISSL runners-up, boasting stars like Raya Rikaz, Yumna Safraz, Adnaan Ameen, and Nidurshan Mohan.

🏆 Colombo International’s Key Players:

U15 Girls: TISSL U16 runners-up, featuring top defender Khadeeja Niyas and striker Ozra.
U20 Girls: TISSL U20 runners-up, with Fioni Dedhia named Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
U20 Boys: Defending Big Match champions, looking to retain their title behind stars like Krishwen and Habib.

👀 Who will come out on top this time? Watch the action LIVE at the link below! 🎥👇

#BigMatch2025 #SchoolFootball #SriLankaFootball #StaffordVsCIS #RivalryRenewed

Cricket

Shammi Silva Re-Elected as Sri Lanka Cricket President for Fourth Consecutive Term

Published

2 days ago

April 1, 2025

Editor

Shammi Silva has been re-elected as the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) president for the 2025-27 term, marking his fourth consecutive tenure at the helm of the nation’s cricket governing body. Silva secured the position uncontested at the 64th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Colombo on Monday.

A Controversial Yet Dominant Tenure

Silva’s leadership has not been without controversy. His previous term saw a high-profile clash with former Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe in 2023, which led to an interim committee being appointed after Sri Lanka’s poor performance in the ICC ODI World Cup. This move resulted in ICC suspending SLC, which led to Sri Lanka losing the hosting rights for the U19 Men’s World Cup, which was later held in South Africa.

Despite these setbacks, Silva regained control after a court ruling reinstated his administration, and he was later appointed as the president of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) in December 2023, replacing Jay Shah.

Challenges & Future Outlook

Sri Lanka Cricket has long been seen as a powerful and influential body, with internal politics often shaping its leadership. With financial mismanagement concerns highlighted in the Auditor General’s report, Silva’s administration faces the challenge of restoring credibility and ensuring better governance.

With the ICC ban lifted, Sri Lanka looks to rebuild its cricketing structure and improve performance on the international stage. The focus now shifts to upcoming bilateral series, the Asia Cup, and preparations for the 2027 ICC Cricket World Cup.

Stay tuned for more updates on Sri Lanka Cricket and the latest in the world of sports!

Cricket

Stephen Fleming Defends MS Dhoni’s Batting Position Amid Criticism

Published

3 days ago

March 31, 2025

Editor

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) head coach Stephen Fleming has defended MS Dhoni’s late entry in the batting order, stating that the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman cannot play an extended innings at full intensity due to lingering knee concerns.

The 43-year-old Dhoni faced criticism after coming in at No. 9 during CSK’s 50-run loss to Royal Challengers Bengaluru at Chepauk. In the next match against Rajasthan Royals on March 30, 2025, he batted at No. 7 when CSK required 54 off 25 balls but managed just 16 off 11 as his team fell short by six runs.

Fleming’s Explanation on Dhoni’s Role

Fleming emphasized that Dhoni carefully assesses the match situation before deciding when to bat.

“It’s all about timing. MS judges his body and situation. His knees aren’t what they used to be, so he can’t bat for 10 overs at full intensity. He will step in based on the game’s demands,” Fleming explained at the post-match press conference.

The CSK coach reiterated that Dhoni remains too valuable to the team for his leadership and wicketkeeping and that sending him in too early could be a strategic misstep.

“From around the 13th or 14th over, he assesses the situation and decides. He trusts other batters early on but steps up when needed.”

CSK’s Struggles in the Powerplay Cost Them the Match

Fleming also pinpointed CSK’s poor powerplay performance as a key reason for their loss against Rajasthan Royals. While RR blasted 79/1 in the powerplay, CSK only managed 42/1,