Battle of Thomian prestige
The Hockey- crazy citizens of Matale will be treated to a fiercely contested hockey fiesta today ( October 1), when St. Thomas' College ( STC) Matale and S. Thomas' College (STC) Mt Lavinia battle for the Eric Hulangamuwa Shield, in their 3rd Hockey ' Big Match', sponsored by the Nations Trust Bank ( NTB) and Ceylinco Life Insurance PLC, at the Edward Park Matale, at 4 pm.
The 'Big Match' will be preceded by the Junior and Old Boys Hockey matches at 2 pm and 3 pm. This will be preceded by the ' Thomians' Hockey Walk' from STC Matale to the venue of the match.
Hockey is the forte of the Matale Thomians' and are known for their prowess in Hockey, while the boys from the school by the sea are reputed for their Cricket, Rugby and other sports such as Rowing ,Water Polo and Swimming. Hence the Matale Thomians' should have the edge, but the Mount Thomians' known for their ' Thomian Grit', will fight every inch.
Both schools have produced top Hockey players who have represented the country with distinction. Some of the Matale Thomian players who represented the country are the Wijekoon brothers- Herbert, Douglas and Ranjith, Chandra Asanga and Sajith, M. Fuard, Tissa Attipola, Pius Nanayakkara, Sunil Deegahawatura, Ranjith Alahakoon, Sarath Wimalasinghe, C.K. Hulangamuwa, Dr. R. Mahendran, Indrawansa Herath and Eric Hulangamuwa.
Sri Lanka has produced only 9 International Umpires to date, and 4 of them are from St. Thomas. Matale. They are Jayampathi Perera, R.S. Somasekaram, Indrawansa Herath and D.R.B. Dissanayaka.
STC Mount produced National players in the caliber of Chandra Schaffter, Dr. Sarath Senavirathne, Anura Tennakoon, Ishak Shahabdeen, . D. Bandaranayake, Orville Abeynaike and his sons Ranil, Ajith and Amitha, Laxshman Watawala, Michael Tissera, K. Abeysekara, Gamini and Navin Marapona (father and son), Avindra De Silva, Surean Wijeratne, Dinesh Wi ckremasinghe, Tivanka Wijeratne, Pujitha Walpitagamage to mention a few.
STC Matale 1st XI is led by T.M.S. Kamaleen and the Under (U)-16 team by S.D. Dissanayake. STC Mount 1st XI is led by T. Della and the U-16 team by D. Gunaseela.
Special Guests for the occasion will be former Ambassador to the United States and former Foreign Ministry Secretary Palitha Kohona, Defence Ministry Secretary Kapila Widiayaratne, Sri Lanka Army Adjutant General Maj. Gen. Shawendra De Silva, Mahaweli Ministry Secretary Anura Dissanayaka, Ceylinco Life Insurance CEO-Managing Director R. Renganathan, Ceylinco Life DGM Wasantha Wijesinghe, NTB Emerging Markets Chief Manager Menaka Wavita, NTB Emerging Markets Senior Mana g e r Chandana Dodanwela and Mohan Weerakoon P.C..