Sri Lanka: Royal-Ananda share under-17 cricket trophy (5 November 1998)
Royal College, Colombo and Ananda College, Maradana, emerged under-17 Division 1 joint champions for 1998 and the awards were presented at the colourful awards night held at the Kularatne Hall, at Ananda College, Maradana
05-Nov-1998
5 November 1998
Sri Lanka: Royal-Ananda share under-17 cricket trophy
By Pelham Juriansz
Royal College, Colombo and Ananda College, Maradana, emerged under-17
Division 1 joint champions for 1998 and the awards were presented at
the colourful awards night held at the Kularatne Hall, at Ananda
College, Maradana.
The chief guest on the occasion was the well renowned promoter of
sports in Sri Lanka, Mr. Hemaka Amarasuriya, Chairman, Singer (Sri
Lanka) Ltd, and Mrs. Anoma Amarasuriya.
The Under-17 division two champions were Ananda Sastralaya-Kotte and
the runner-up trophy was bagged by Revata M.M.V. Balapitiya. The
Division 3 joint champions were Basilica College, Ragama and
Ibbagamuwa M.M.V.
The number of teams that entered the under-17 competition was 168 and
295 matches were played in the first round whereas 104 matches were
played in the final round resulting in a total of 399 matches in
total. The number of players who participated were 3360.
The under-17 is indeed the cradle for 1st eleven cricket and clubs
and finally the Sri Lankan national team.
The distinguished chief guest and other V.I.P's lit the traditional
oil lamp at approximately 4.20 p.m. The tournament was sponsored by
Singer (Sri Lnaka Ltd) who have done yeoman service in the promotion
of sports in this country.
Mr. H.L.B. Gomes, Principal of Royal College, and President of the
Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association speaking at the occasion warmly
welcomed the chief guest and other officials of the SLSCA. He paid a
glowing tribute to all those who sacrificed much for the betterment
of cricket in the country. He said that among the present lot of
youngsters we might find future World Champions in our midst. "This
is indeed a historical occasion" he said. We might find amongst us
future Aravindas, Jayasuriyas, Arjunas and Mahanamas to name a few.
Under-17 cricket has emerged out of the wilderness and now this
tournament has become a major springboard for the first eleven teams.
The awards presentation was spiced with some excellent music by SEAC
and Saman de Silva who kept the cricketers and the honourable guests'
feet a tapping.
The skipper of the Royal College team Ruchira Jayasuriya (who also
plays for the first eleven) was all smiles when receiving his award
from Mrs. Anoma Amarasuriya.
The evening ended with the presentation of the trophies to the
winners of the 3 divisions.
Source :: Daily News (https://www.lanka.net)