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Isipathana,
St. Peter'sgive polished displays
Isipathana put up a superb display at the Isipathana International Schools Rugby 7's conducted by the Isipathana Old Boys Rugby Union which got underway at Longdon Place yesterday. The contest saw the host school turning in a masterful display to keep the local team's hopes high. Sixteen rugby playing schools comprising seven overseas and nine local sides got on to the field in quest for the prestigious title. The tournament is being held in connection with the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Isipathana College. The tournament began at 11.00 a.m. with Wesley locking horns against the Southern Province. From then on it was rugby at its best with the overseas teams from Australia and Russia making big impacts. VVA Podmoskove from Russia in particular was very impressive showing the other teams a lesson in playing sevens rugby. They had the honour of recording the highest score for the day when they crushed Southern Province 70-0.
Isipatana was the toast of the home crowd when they won their three matches to take top spot in Group 'B'. St Peter's was the other local side to impress also winning their games to top Group 'C'. New South Wales Junior from Australia took top spot in Group 'A' while VVA Podmoskove of Russia head Group 'D'. Royal, Thurstan and Kingswood were the other local sides to advance to the Cup quarter finals. The quarter final line for today: Cup - New South Wales vs Kingswood. VVA Podmoskove vs Thurstan. St Peter's vs Lloyd McDermott, Australia and Isipathana vs Royal. Bowl - St Anthony's vs Sutton and Epsom. Wesley vs Doha Club. Brighton RFU vs Southern Province and Vidyartha vs English College, Dubai. Results: Jayasuriya
overcomes another stiff hurdle
Sri Lanka skipper Sanath Jayasuriya, who is fighting with time to be fit for the ICC Championship opening game against Pakistan on September12, overcame a stiff hurdle yesterday when he successfully batted against the medium pace bowlers for the first time since his injury in the Morocco Cup final against South Africa. Although the Lankan captain experienced some pain, physio Alex Kontouri was happy and satisfied with the batting session. Speaking to the Sunday Times Kontouri said,"Sanath had a good bat against the medium pacers and came out quite well. He was playing on the back foot, front foot driving and cutting in his own inimitable style. He experienced some pain which is natural for anyone who is recovering from an injury of this nature". Following the dislocation of his shoulder in the Morocco Cup final 18 days ago, Sanath batted for the first time in the nets on Wednesday. Since then he has been batting everyday against the slow bowlers only. According to Kontouri who is making every effort to have the Lankan captain fit for this week's lung opener, Sanath has progressed satisfactorily and is now middling the ball very well and looks to be in good nick. "He may have some restrictions in his strokes and maybe even in his bowling but a final opinion on all this will only be known by Tuesday" said Kontouri. Although Jayasuriya has been batting in the nets the allrounder has not had a bowl. Warm-up today Royal
rugby team to tour Sydney Royal had a 'Golden Year 2002' winning the Bradby Shield by a record score. They also won the President's Trophy when they outplayed Wesley in the final. The Old Royalists Rugby Section who are sponsoring this holiday-cum-educational tour met Dilip Kumar, who is the Deputy Chairman of the Australian Rugby Board who is here to watch the Isipatana Schools International Sevens. According to Dilip Kumar he wanted to arrange a rugby coaching programme in Sydney and possibly some fixtures against leading teams in Sydney. "October is going to be a difficult month. Rugby is over and cricket is slowly taking over. However I will do my best to help the Royalists," he said. - B.W. |
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