Sports make kinds of advantages.There is no point to spend a school time without doing sports activities.Usually the children who don’t attend to the sports are seem to be very passive.They are not active and very lethargic.However doing an at least one sport makes lots of benefits.To Illustrate sporty children are healthy and strong.In additionally the qualities that they have lead to good status.Specially for the girls can train well to encounter the problems which are possible to happened in the future.

On the other hand sport is such a good treatment for balanced life.At the end of the any sports,they make a wide experience.Whether win or lose it helps to bare up the tension and emotions.In additionally sports related things are help to ease the the pressure.Girls can get rid of the shyness and stage fear.Specially some games in indoors increase the memory and sharp the concerning on studies.In additionally reduce the illness and enhance the appetite furthermore.

If we want a society with responsible person who can make better decisions and contribute to economic developments.   School will have to invest in sports infrastructures and motivate all the students to participate in one physical activity or another.This will make our society stronger and sustainable.

Nayani Vidanapathirana.

The Under 19 Familians were able to do so by beating Presbyterian B.V. Dehiwala (31-23). In the under 17 final HFC Kurunegala beat Hillwood Kandy 21-12.

In the first semi-finals between the Familians from Kurunegala and Kalutara in the Under-15 age group, HFC Kurunegala secured an easy win against its sister school while Maliyadeva B.V. Kurunegala beat Visakha Vidyalaya Colombo to enter the finals. Maliyadeva B.V. Kurunegala proved to be the better team in the North Western Province when they beat HFC Kurunegala 14-12 in the finals.

Hillwood College Kandy was the only school from the Central Province to secure a place in the final in the Under-17 age group. They beat Visakha Vidyalaya Colombo 5-2 while Girls High School Kandy lost to Holy Family Convent Kurunegala in the other semi-final.

Sacred Heart Convent’s dream of entering the finals was again shattered by Holy Family Convent Kurunegala who beat them by a large margin 33-8 to meet Presbyterian B.V- Dehiwala who showed some brilliant skills to be the only school in the Western Province to come into the final. This is also the first time that the Presbyterians were able to achieve this result.

Overall results:

Under 15

1. Maliyadeva B.V Kurunegala, 2. Holy Family Convent Kurunegala, 3. Holy Family Convent Kalutara

Most outstanding player: Sandali Madampage (Maliyadeva B.V. Kurunegala)

Under 17

1. Holy Family Convent Kurunegala, 2. Hillwood College Kandy, 3. Visakha Vidyalaya Colombo

Most outstanding player: Suseema Kumari (Holy Family Convent Kurunegala)

Under 19

1. Holy Family Convent Kurunegala, 2. Presbyterian BV Dehiwala, 3. Sacred Hearts Convent Galle

Most outstanding player: S.S. Sathya (Holy Family Convent Kurunegala)

The tournament which was conducted by the Departments of Health, Physical Education and Sports of the Ministry of Education was graced by Akila Viraj Kariyawasam, Minister for Education who was the chief guest.

Goal attack Natalie Medhurst nailed a further 12 points before making way for debutant Stephanie Wood, who scored five.

The world champions went on the offensive from the get-go, repeatedly hitting Bassett with passes over the top from midcourters Kim Ravaillion and the returning Madi Robinson.

Bassett netted 16 of her 17 shots in the first quarter as the Diamonds raced to a nine-point lead.

At the other end of the court, goalkeeper Sharni Layton ensured the absence of skipper Laura Geitz didn’t impact too heavily on the side, marshalling from the back with authority and restricting limiting Proteas shooter Lenize Potgieter to eight points.

The match followed a similar pattern in the second quarter, as the Diamonds put their foot down.

Ravaillion and Robinson snared a combined 17 goal assists over the two quarters to take the Diamonds into the halftime break ahead 36-20.

Coach Lisa Alexander rung in the changes at the halftime break, introducing April Brandley into the defence and young gun Liz Watson as centre.

Bassett was also given a breather for the second half, swapped out for Thwaites after her 28-goal showing.

A closer third quarter ensued, with the Proteas limiting the third-quarter tally to 14-10.

Wood and fellow defensive debutant Kristiana Manu’a were both given their Diamonds debut in the fourth quarter as the Diamonds wound down the clock.

Thwaites, 29, finished her half on the court with a perfect 23 points from 23 shots.

The agreement was signed by the Bank’s chairman, President’s Counsel Ronald C. Perera, Director Ranel Wijesinha and General Manager D.M. Gunasekera on behalf of the Bank.

The president of Sri Lanka Cricket Thilanga Sumathipala graced the occasion with vice president K. Mathivanan and secretary Mohan de Silva who signed on behalf of SLC.

Advani has achieved a hat-trick of hat-tricks in billiards, holding the World, Asian, and Indian National Championship titles simultaneously in three different years: 2005, 2008 and 2012. He became a snooker professional only in 2012.

The Asian Confederation of Billiards Sports (ACBS) has conferred the honor of holding these two prestigious international events to the Billiards and Snooker Association of Sri Lanka (BSASL), the local governing body of cue sport based on the successful hosting of the World Billiard Championship in 1979. Sri Lanka also produced a world champion in billiards when M.J.M. Lafir won the world title in 1973 to become the first Sri Lankan to do so in any sport.

The two regional international events will attract players from about 20 countries and the U-21 snooker event will mainly focus on local youngsters where eight top players will be given the opportunity to take part.

BS ASL president Zuraish Hashim speaking at the press briefing. PicPankaj ture by Wimal Karunathileka

The Sri Lanka team is captained by 18-time National Billiards Champion K.H. Sirisoma and he will have another six to eight local players to battle it out for the Asian billiards crown. India will be the biggest challenge for both U-21 snooker and billiards championship, but Sri Lankans will have the home advantage to compete under familiar conditions. Sri Lanka’s most experienced international referee Ameer Mukhtar will be the chief referee for the championship.

BSASL president Zuraish Hashim said that it’s a great privilege to host these two important events in Sri Lanka and it is a clear indication of the faith the ACBS has bestowed on them.

“We also received a good response from the sponsors and are ready to conduct the events to the highest standard. I must mention the great support given by the Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekera. We are importing 10 new tables for these two events and five of them are sponsored by the Sports Ministry. The Sports Minister has also assisted in the renovation work of our BSASL headquarters at Sugathadasa Sports Hotel and promised to support the development of the cue sport,” Hashim said.

According to Hashim, attractive cash awards will be on offer for the usual international standards in the U-21 snooker championship where the quarterfinalists will be entitled to cash awards for the highest break (above point 1000).

“Cue sport is gaining popularity in Sri Lanka rapidly and many youngsters are stepping into it. As the governing body of the sport we conduct training for a set of youngsters on a daily basis and we are privileged to have 18-time world champion Mike Russell as an expert coach to these lads. We are very confident that these players will mould themselves into international players of repute very soon. Hosting this kind of international events will help popularize Sri Lanka as a sporting destination,” the BSASL president said.

The teams which took part were, MillenniumIT (MIT), HSBC, HDPL, Philip Weerasinghe Associates (PWA), Murad Ismail – ChannaDaswatta Associates (MICDA), Young Architects Forum (YAF), SurathWickramasinghe Associates (SWA), Dialog, British Council, Hayleys, DHL and Virtusa.

The tournament was organized to show case the ergonomics and versatility of this unique chair and to highlight its exceptional functionality while brand targeting its direct and indirect customer base amongst the top corporate and design firms in Sri Lanka.

Aeron Hockey is an evolution of “office hockey” played with a puck and makeshift stick. Played in a purpose-built indoor court, it comprised five players a side. Armed with hockey sticks bearing close resemblance to the ones used in ice hockey, the teams competed for the lead while seated on iconic Herman Miller Aeron chairs.

The Commonwealth Games Federation, which controls the second-biggest multi-sport event after the Olympics, said it was keen to get cricket back on the bill, with the Twenty20 shortest format of the game a particularly “exciting” prospect.

Cricket has only featured once at the Commonwealth Games, at the 1998 event in Kuala Lumpur, but CGF chiefs said their 71 national and territorial associations wanted it back in, provided a viable format could be produced.

“We’ve had some fantastic conversations with the ICC. It’s very much exploratory,” CGF chief executive David Grevemberg told AFP at the Commonwealth summit in Malta.

“(It’s) one of the priorities of the movement: all 71 nations and territories unanimously agreed that it would be great to have cricket as part of the sports programme.

“It’s not out of the question and, working with the ICC, we could come up with a really relevant and exciting format.”

At the 1998 Games, 16 teams competed in 50-over matches. Caribbean countries competed separately rather than as West Indies, while a Northern Ireland team also took part. England refused to send a squad as it clashed with the end of the domestic championship season.

South Africa beat Australia in the gold medal match.

Cricket is not on the agenda for the 2018 Games in the Gold Coast, Australia, but could potentially feature at the 2022 Games in Durban, South Africa.

CGF president Louise Martin said West Indies countries such as Jamaica and Barbados would “love” the chance to compete in a global tournament in their own right.

Therefore, “it would be completely different” to existing international cricket tournaments, she told AFP.

“Let’s think outside the box and open it up.”

She said any Commonwealth Games cricket competition would have to involve countries from each region, and give minor nations worthwhile matches and something to play for.

The format must also be carefully structured also to avoid major teams playing pointless one-sided matches against weaker opposition, the former Scotland swimmer said.

“We need to encourage smaller countries to be able to compete at major Games,” she said. However, “you have to look at the whole structure and what the strength in depth is. We don’t want whitewashes. I would hate to think that anyone going in against Australia or India are thinking they’re going to get nought. That’s not what this is about”.

She stressed discussions with the ICC were still in the initial phases.

“We’d like to have it back in again. The Twenty20 format makes its so much more exciting and you can do it in a shorter period of time, but at this moment it’s still in discussion stage.”

The Central Province started the game on a winning note when veteran centre forward and former National Captain Dhammika Abeyratne slammed two goals in quick succession to boost the morale of the team. A penalty corner midway saw Tilina Perera made good use of it to score, which reduced the lead to 1-2

But many attempts to score by Western Province was thwarted by central Province goal keeper I. E. K. R. Willawarachchi who brought of many saves to bag the Best Player award. The Best Players award in the ladies tournament went to Madura Dharmaratne of Central Province.

North Western Province won the consolation championship beating Uva Province 3-1 after leading 2/1 at half time. K. K. U. D. Fernando (1), W. V. D. Fernando (1), and B. A. D. R. S. Nimanka (1), scored for North Western Province. E. G. P. S. Premaratne scored for Uva Province.

CP bag women’s title

Central Province ladies hockey team trounce Western Province team by 7 goals to nil to clinch the women hockey title for the 25 time at the 41 National Sports Festival. At lemon Central Province ladies led 3-nil. Central Province scored 31 goals in 3 matches averaging over 10 goals per match.

They did not concede a single goal as their custodian Jeewanthika Keerthi also was outstanding not allowing anything get past.

The central Province team beat Eastern Province 14-0 in the opener and followed up with a 10-0 win over Northern Province in the semi finals.

Central Province skipper Pradeeepa Nilmini Nadasena led her side from the front using her forwards to break the opponents’ defence with centre forwards Yamuna Wijesuriya and Chathurika Wijesuriya doing the spade work. Right back Geethani Abeyratne too displayed her class by spoiling the moves of their opponents.

Left extreme Thusanthika Themiyadasa kept the score board moving when a push by Pradeepa Nilmini was well collected by her to sound the boards. Another back to boack goal by Thusanthika helped to increase the lead to 2-0.

Centre half Madura Dharmaratne scored the third goal for Central Province to lead 3-0 at the breather.

Soon after resumption the Central Province team with the inclusion of back Geethani was rabbing salt into the wounds of their opponents. They scored twice through some brilliant stick work by National skipper and centre forward Madhushani Jayanthi to increase the lead to 5-0.

During the dying stages of the game centre forward Chathurika Premasiri put the icing on the cake scoring two more goals to assure their victory. Earlier in the semi finals central Province Thrashed Northern Province by 10 goals to nil.

Two cousins playing as centre forward Chathurika Wijesuriay and Yamuna Wijesuriya struck a brilliant note to score three goals each. The others to sound the boards were Madura Dharamartne (1), Anandi Rajapakse (1), and Madhushani Jayanethi (2) who is also the highest scorer of goals in the tournament and celebrated her engagement with this achievement.

Right extra Liyal Tillakawardana and left extreme Vishaya Perera scored a goal each for Musaeus College. For the loser centre forward Sandamika Chathurangi scored the solitary goal.

Maithri Dissanayake and Y.C. Witharana umpired.

These two schools along with Panadura Balika Vidyalaya and Gothami Balika Vidyalaya have qualified to play in the all Island championship to be played in Matale shortly.