Royal-thomian water polo encounter today

The first-leg of the 28th annual water polo encounter between the traditional rivals Royal College and S. Thomas’ College for the Dr. R. L. Hayman Trophy will be worked off at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium Swimming Pool Complex in Colombo today.

In the overall tally, S. Thomas’ lead the series with a total of 16 wins while Royal have won the title on eight occasions with three games ending in a draw.

Dr. R. L. Hayman, the donor of the trophy, was a past Sub-warden of S. Thomas’ and in 1935 he gifted the original swimming pool of S. Thomas’.

This year, S. Thomas’ will be led by Manula Wickramaratne and their coaches are B. A. C. A. Perera (Under-19) and Dhanushka Seram (Under-15).

Royal will be led by Savinda Dissanayake and their coaches are Bilal Hassen (Under-19) and Yasodha Wasalage (Under-15). Meanwhile, the second-leg will be played on October 5 at the same venue.