Sports - SAG Hockey spectacle at Matale

Prasanna Abeyratne of SL Army will lead the Sri Lanka Men’s hockey team at the 10th South Asian Games – 2006 hockey tournament that will get underway at the modernised Nandimitra Ekanayake Astra Turf in Matale from August 21st to 25th.Sri Lanka participated in this sport for the first time at the S.A.F. Games which was held in Madras – India in 1995.

In the history of Sri Lanka hockey this will be the first ever – International hockey tournament to be held in Sri Lanka soil featuring India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Under the captaincy of Prasanna Abeyratne an old boy of Christ Church – Matale SL Men’s hockey team created history when they clinched the four Nations Champions trophy at the Delta Stadium in Singapore in 2004 to record Sri Lanka’s first win in a major tournament locally or abroad.

The other Nations which participated in this tournament were Macau, Taipei, and Singapore. Apart from winning the tournament Sri Lanka’s M.M. Gazalle was declared the most outstanding player of the tournament.

The squad of 22 players picked by the Sri Lanka hockey Federation includes 17 from Matale which is referred to as the cradle of hockey – two each from Kandy and Colombo and one from Badulla.

Residential coaching sessions for the players were conducted during the past two months in Matale under the supervision and guidance of SLHF Director of coaching and head coach J.A.N. Perera assisted by National Coaches S.M. Mulafar, Leelananda Ittapana, Tilak Wimalasinghe and the Indian coach Kandaline Christopher.

SL Squad
P. Abeyratne (captain) – M. Siraj Mohideen, A.G. Karunaratne, S.D. Abeyratne, S.B. Wickremasinghe, Pradeep Priyashantha, S.S. Jayasinghe, D. Weerasuriya, S.H. Hettiarachchi, M.M. Gazalle, I. Jayasundara, T.D. Ratnasiri, N.A. Hewagama P.N. Cramer, H.B. Dharmaratne, N.D.B. Dissanayake, P.G. Jayaratne (all from Matale), C.L. Sumanaratne, T. Sathiskumar (Kandy), Tilina Perera, R.P. Jayasinghe (Colombo) and K.S.S. Perera (Badulla).

Chandana Deshapriya is the Manager of the National hockey team.

Singer Sri Lanka and Bank of Ceylon have come forward to provide sponsorship package worth of Rs. Six million to the Interim Committee for hockey in Sri Lanka in connection with the 10th S.A.G hockey championship.

The opening match of the tournament between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will strike off at 2 p.m. on August 21st followed by the match between India and Pakistan at 4.15 p.m.The president of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Sultan As/An Sha King of Malaysian Republic is expected to witness the matches along the secretary of the AHF P. Alagendra.

Match schedule:
August 21st 2. p.m – Sri Lanka Vs Bangladesh – 4.15 p.m. India Vs Pakistan
August 22nd 2. p.m – Pakistan Vs Bangladesh – 4.15 p.m. India Vs Sri Lanka
August 23rd 2. p.m – Pakistan Vs Sri Lanka – 4.15 p.m. India Vs Bangladesh
August 24th – Rest Day
August 25th 2. p.m – 3rd and 4th places – 4.15 p.m. Final

The teams placed 1st and 2nd in the group will meet in the final while the teams placed 3rd and 4th in the group will meet in the match for 3rd and 4th places.