| Sports |
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| Lanka
drubbed The Sri Lankan team were clearly out manoeuvred and outsmarted by superior teams. Sri Lanka's opponents moved with lightning speed and clearly out ran the Sri Lankan team who could only watch in awe at the speed and superior running brilliance and ball handling of their giant opponents. Meanwhile Kenya's rugby players took a leaf out of their cricket team's giant-killing book to score a shock victory over Australia at the Hong Kong Sevens. The African minnows lit up the second day of the tournament with a 15-12 win over Australia as New Zealand, England and Fiji all advanced safely to the quarter-finals. "It's definitely
one of our biggest wins ever. Now we just hope to prove that it
wasn't a flash in the pan," Osula added after the nail-biting
Pool D match. The defeat left Australia contemplating a quarter-final
against England, who sounded a warning to their rivals after unleashing
secret weapon Ugo Monye to scorch into the last eight. "There's a bit more to come from him yet," smiling England coach Joe Lydon warned when asked about Monye's searing speed. Lydon would not be drawn on England's chances in the knockout stages, saying that any of the eight teams were capable of lifting the title. "At this stage of the competition it's that little bit of luck, that little bit of brilliance that will win it," the former Wigan and Great Britain rugby league star said. "There's enough good players here that anybody is capable of sneaking up on the rails and pinching it." Monye admitted the squad was trying to stay focused on Hong Kong and not events in Dublin this weekend where England will face a Six Nations crunch with Ireland on Sunday. "To be honest a few of the boys have been talking about the Ireland match tomorrow," said Monye. "But we've got to be selfish now and concentrate on doing the business here," added the 19-year-old Harlequins player, who was a schoolboy colleague of England's 15-a-side flyhalf Jonny Wilkinson. England are likely to meet Fiji in Sunday's semi-finals if they can negotiate their way past Australia. The Fijians, playing without legendary sevens king Waisale Serevi, defeated Japan 59-7 before topping Pool C with a 33-12 win over Canada to set up a quarter-final with Samoa. New Zealand meanwhile will be strong favourites to advance to the final after improving steadily in their two matches on Saturday. Fijian playmaker Amasio Valance was the standout for the Kiwis, who defeated the USA 57-7 before sweeping aside Namibia 46-0. New Zealand's veteran skipper Eric Rush singled out England as a serious threat to the his side's hopes. "With
a shotgun," Rush said when asked how New Zealand planned to
stop England's speed merchant Monye. "He's incredibly fast
and strong too," Rush added. "But we'll worry about Ugo
in the final if we both get there. Let's get the quarters and the
semis out of the way first," the 38-year-old said. New Zealand
face Tonga in the last eight. Political
intervention likely to spark crisis The Sunday Times learns that the Interim Committee had informed Minister Johnston Fernando that former SSC cricketer Ranil Abeynaike had quit the Selection Committee and sought ratification for the appointment of Ranjith Madurusinghe - a member of the Interim Committee. No reply came - the Minister being otherwise engaged. In the meantime, the remaining members of the Committee comprising Guy de Alwis, Roger Wijesuriya together with skipper Sanath Jayasuriya selected the squad for the forthcoming Sharjah tournament in the presence of Duleep Mendis and Jaliya Jayasuriya, secretary to the Interim Committee. The team had to be picked immediately after their return from the World Cup semi-finals, as they are due to leave tomorrow (March 31). After the selections were done, however, the Minister is reported to have wished that the Aravinda, Paranathala, Kaluperuma trio be inducted as additional selectors. Last Wednesday- four days after the original team had been picked, the Interim Committee was summoned to an urgent meeting where the Minister's proposals were discussed. The Sunday
Times learns that the majority view of the Interim Committee had
been that while they had the highest regard for Aravinda de Silva
as a cricketer, that he had just anounced his retirement from international
cricket, and that it was too premature for him to be engaged in
the selection process - tht he should be brought in as a selector
only after a period of time due to his familiarity with present
players. But the Sports
Minister was insistent. Aravinda de Silva had to be a selector. That same Friday (March 28), the new set of selectors met, and gave their imprimatur to the original team picked to Sharjah, but with Kumar Sangakkara for Hasantha Fernando, though it is agreed that Sangakkara will not don the wicket-keeping gloves, which task has been given to specialist Prasanna Jayawardene. Muttiah Muralathiran had not ben picked for the squad earlier as team physio Alex Kontouri had indicated to the earlier set of selectors that Murali was nursing a groin injury and should, preferably, be rested. Murali had other ideas however, insisting that he is fit. He then became an obvious choice for the tour party at the expense of Thilan Samaraweera. Also included to Sharjah is Micheal Van Dort and Kaushal Lokuarachchi. Following South Africa’s refusal to go to Sharjah, Zimbabwe and Kenya have agreed to play in Sharjah. The tournament will now be played as a quadrangular and the two teams finishing on top of the table will meet in the final. The Sri Lanka squad: Sanath Jayasuriya,Marvan Atapattu, Avishka Gunawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, Hashan Tilakaratne, Prasanna Jayawardene, Jehan Mubaraq,Chaminda Vass, Dilhara Fernando, Prabath Nissanka, Charitha Buddhika, Kumar Dharmasena, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Muttaih Muralitharan and Micheal Van Dort. |
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