Rusi Captain chases 15th Club Championship win
After the qualifying round for the RCGC Championship 2020, the top 16 made the cut-off with defending champion Sachin de Silva securing the top seed whilst junior champ Yannik Kumara playing off a 4 handicap was seeded second, Shamal Perera the third seed and the most senior Rusi Captain, 14-time winner of the Club Championship, was seeded fourth.
Captain chasing his 15th championship win cruised in to the final beating Nirekh Tejwani, a 14-year-old junior rising star with much difficulty 1 up on the 18th hole and then brushed aside Sanjay Wettimuni 6 & 5, setting up a semi-final clash against the defending champion de Silva who defeated Captain in the 2019 final of the Club Championship.
Captain never to be outdone, took sweet revenge leading 2 up at the 10th and maintaining the lead to clinch another shot at the title beating de Silva 2&1.
As Captain reaches out for his 15th Club title, another 14-year-old stands in the way in the form of Yannik Kumara, the rising junior star with an excellent sporting genealogy, being the grandson of P. S. Kumara the yesteryear tennis ace of Ceylon.
Second seeded Yannik Kumara beat Chandana Gunasekera 5&4, Arvind Fernando 2&1 and Chanaka Perera 2 up in the semi-final to enter his firstever Senior Club Championship final at a tender age, attempting to be the youngest ever winner in the RCGC Club Championship history since 1879.
The 2020 year of amazing events will see a battle that can be safely termed as a final between David and Goliath in every sense of the word. The 14-time champ Rusi Captain vs the 14-year-old Yannik Kumara. The 36-hole final won’t be a stroll in the park for Captain playing Yannik, who probably would feel he has nothing to lose but everything to gain.
With the surprises of 2020 it wouldn’t be a wonder if Yannik gets his name in to the record books at the expense of a worthy champ Captain, who has his own goal of breaking the record of the late legend Pin Fernando who won the Club Championship 19 times.
Anouk Chitty will meet Kayla Perera in the Ladies’ Club final. Kayla Perera beat Kaya Daluwatte 6&4 while Anouk Chitty beat Arika Wickramasinha 3&1.
All-in-all it would be a final worth watching. Morning round tees off at 7.00am.