RCHC emerge joint champions in CHA 9-a-side hockey tournament
Royal College Hockey Club ( RCHC) emerged ‘ B’ Division champions in the 9- a- side Hockey Tournament 2018 organised by Colombo Hockey Association (CHA). The tournament was worked out at CH&FC ground recently.
RCHC, sponsored by IT giant KBSL and coached by former national coach Rohan Dissanayake, started the tournament with a 0-1 defeat against CH&FC ‘B’ team, but recovered with a lucky victory against Old D. S. Senanayake College team via a toss after two-time single series penalty strokes following three-penalty series ended in a draw.
Later they won against Old Joseph by 2-0 with Falul Hallaj and Pasindu Charaka scoring a goal each before beating the defending champions Old Bens by 2-0 with Tanweer Hallaj sounding the board twice.
In the semi-final, RCHC outclassed the Malays team, which played with some top class hockey players contracted from Matale, by 3- 0. Falul Hallaj, Tanweer Hallaj, and Pasindu Charaka scored a goal each for the team comprising only players produced by Royal College.
In the final, they met Old Anandians, who won the semi-final against CH&FC ‘B’ by 3-1 in penalty stroke following a 0-0 draw.
When the first half of the final dominated by RCHC ended with a 0- 0, the organiser was forced to declare the both finalists as joint champions after the finalist Old Anandians complained of bad weather.
The team was led by Lasitha Manchanayake ( John Keells Holdings) with Shahid Kuthubdeen (MAS Holdings), a junior national player as his deputy. RCHC became runners up in the CHA knock out tournament earlier this year.