Musaeus, Nalanda win main titles
Musaeus College, Colombo clinched its first Singer Blue and Gold Hockey Sevens Cup after beating the defending champions Seethadevi Balika Vidyalaya in the final held at Royal College Ground last weekend.
The Colombo lasses beat the six-time and defending Singer Blue and Gold Hockey champions by a solitary goal with Lihara Thilakaratne sounding the board in the second half of the 15th consecutive Hockey Seven-aside organised by Royal College Hockey Club.
Musaeus College’s previous best performance in the tournament was runners up in 2013 before they beat the Kandy team, which had never lost a final in the tournament in the last 15 years.
The Colombo team, coached by former Peterite Indika Prasanna since August last year, beat Kandy Gothami Balika Vidyalaya by 3-0 and held Panadura Balika for a 0-0 draw in the group matches.
Later Musaeus, led by Thesmi Gunasekera, beat Holy Family Convent Wennappuwa by a solitary goal in the pre- quarter final, won against Vihara Maha Devi, Badulla by 3-0 in the quarter final, and strong Kotte Janadhipathi Vidyalaya by 1-0 in the semi-final.
The runners-up Seethadevi beat Swarnamali (3-0), Panadura Balika (3-0), Pushpadana (2-0), and Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya (2-0) on their way to final.
Lihara Thilakaratne and Thamasha Weerasekara of Musaeus College were adjudged Most Outstanding Player and the Best Goalkeeper respectively in the girls’ category.
In the Boys’ category, 2015 champions Nalanda College beat Maris Stella College, Negambo by 1-0 to clinch Cup with Bodhika Dias scoring the winning goal in a penalty corner just before the half time.
Nalanda beat St. Peter’s ( 3- 0), Zahira, Colombo ( 4- 0), D. S. Senanayake ( 2- 1), hosts Royal ( Golds) ( 4- 3), and S. Thomas’ Mt. Lavinia ( 1- 0) on their way to the Cup final. Maris Stella, who lost to S. Thomas’, Mt. Lavinia in the first game by 0- 1, quickly recovered and beat Wesley ( 2- 0), Ananda ( 1- 0), St. Aloysius ( 1- 0), and Wariyapola Sri Sumangala (3-2) on their way to the first final in the history of the tournament.
Bodhika Dias of Nalanda College was adjudged Most Outstanding Player while K. M. Diluka Kavihara of Maris Stella College was picked as the Best Goalkeeper in the boys’ category.
The tournament was sponsored by Singer for the 15th consecutive year since 2003. As the main sponsor over the last 15 years, Singer Sri Lanka has seen the game spreading by leaps and bounds. The participation of almost 60 teams and over 125 games in two days has become a living testimony to the success of the tournament.
The invaluable contribution made by the main sponsor Singer has gone a long way towards improving and popularising the game all over the island. Royal College Hockey Club started the tournament with only 16 hockey playing teams in 1992 mainly from Matale, Kandy, and Colombo sans sponsorship. But the number of schools has expanded more than thrice and from districts like Puttalam, Badulla, Galle, Matara, and Kalutara.