Royal aiming to stick to their guns
For eleven years the Blue and Gold Hockey Sevens has acted as an assembly for the country’s top school talent in a unique format of the sport, which brings with it a broader berth of competition and excitement than its conventional incarnation. This year’s tournament too, which is set to ignite on October 12, will once again see a slew of geographically distant teams converge at the Royal College grounds for a fresh chapter of fast-paced and exhilarating hockey Sevens action.
Tournament organizers, Royal College revealed that this year’s championship is expected to draw 58 girls and boys school from across the island, with a projected 600 players likely to tussle for the title.
“It has produced a lot of quality players in the Sevens arena. It has improved their skills and because it is open there is wide competition; teams from Batticaloa and Jaffna come in and compete,” says Thushara Hettihamu, a member of the Royal College Hockey Club (RCHC), which is tasked with putting the tournament together.
“This allows for the development of the game. It gives teams an opportunity to play with the best and come out on top against them. It also creates a platform for Sevens players in our country to develop.”
He stressed that the RCHC constantly seeks to work towards expanding and improving the competition by adding new and clever features to it, such as the inclu-
The vanishing photos
It is the normal practice to hang photographs of past presidents at their offices after they have served their terms. This is done to remind the public of the services that these past presidents have rendered. Recently, however, visitors to the sports office were left wondering about the vacant places at the office. Before that the pictures of past presidents in this sport occupied a prominent place. After this was pointed out now moves are being made to bring back the photographs. The picture which is most prominent among the missing photographs is of a president who was in the Asian scene as well. sion of Facebook in the tournament’s coverage.
Apart from successfully hosting the competition, Royal College will also be seeking to extend its dominant three-year reign as champions. Last year, Royal beat Vijaya College Matale 2-1 in a pulsating Cup final and will be expected to produce a similarly superlative showing in their home tournament this year too.
Wesley College strode into third position after their consolation clash against St. Thomas’ Matale drifted to a penalty shootout, which they claimed 3-1 after both sides were unable to break the shackles during a goalless regulation time. en to those who cover pitches at international cricket matches. It is said that the man who was in charge of making payments to these people who cover cricket pitches, has been giving bogus figures. For instance if 50 people are employed, he says that 80 people were employed and pockets the extra money. After this was highlighted the sports body concerned had decided to bring in an accountant to make the correct payments.
The new car
There is a lot of wrangling going on in a popular sport in order to take the manager’s post in tours abroad. This particular individual has no known experience in the
The girls’ segment saw Pushpadana Girls’ College, Kandy craft a spectacular 4-1 upset over Janadhipathi Balika Vidyalaya following a sensational hat-trick by Jeewanthi Jayarathne.
In the third place game, Seethadevi knocked in a single goal against Panadura Balika to struggle to victory.
This year’s competition will be split into two phases, the first of which will be a preliminary round where teams will be funneled into eight groups. The winners and runners-up from each of these groups will then proceed to the competition’s second phase, which will be played on a knockout basis. sport but has been in it for quite some time and has managed to do as he wishes. Recently he even made a tour of Blighty and is said to have pocketed a handsome allowance. On his arrival he was seen driving a flashy car. Whether the car was a result of the allowance he got is a big question. He yields a lot of influence in the sport and is now even planning to give the better known schools a bitter deal when the games commence in earnest shortly. He has a habit of sending his close associates as manager to teams touring neighbouring countries whilst keeping the better tours
for him.