Mercantile competition returns with 9-a-side Knockout
Mercantile Hockey Association restarted with their programmes when they successfully conducted Men’s 9-a-side Knockout Championship 2021 at the Astro Turf last Saturday. The tournament was conducted in four divisions with 14 top mercantile establishments battled for ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’ and ‘D’ Divisions. The cream of Sri Lanka’s hockey talent was displayed at the competition which every team was out to bring honour to their respective establishments.
In the highly contested ‘A’ division Hatton National Bank Group ‘A’ alongside Commercial Bank PLC ‘A’, Sampath Bank PLC ‘A’ and Allianz Insurance Limited ‘A’ battled for top supremacy.
In the ‘A’ division final where fortunes swung from side to side saw Hatton National Bank ‘A’ emerged winners with a 1-0 win over Commercial Bank PLC ‘A’. Fast and open stick-play display was exhibited in the final as both sides made several attempts to break through the opponents defence.
With just two minutes to go for lemons Damith Bandara found a gap in the Commercial Bank’s defence to put his bank in front. As there was no scoring in the second half, the final whistle was blown with HNB ‘A’ in the lead to walk away as champs in the 2021 edition of the 9-a-side Knockout Championship. Damith Bandara (Hatton National Bank) was adjudged the Best Player.
Hayleys stood high in the ‘B’ Division to emerge champions with a 2-0 win over Commercial Bank ‘B’. J. Wijekoon put Hayleys in front in the seventh minute of the first half while Bodhika Dias made sure of their win with a goal in eighth minute of the second half. Best Player’s award was won by Bodhika Dias of Hayleys Group.
In a keenly contested ‘C’ division final Sampath Bank ‘B’ scored a 2-1 win over Hatton National Bank ‘B’ in the penalty shootout. The penalty shootout came into play as the score stood scoreless at the final whistle. Isanka Senanayake (2) for the winners and Indika Hewawasam (1) for the HNB were the main scorers. The Best Players award was won by Asanka Maduranga (Sampath Bank).
Browns Group of Companies had little to sweat as N. Kahingala sounded the board in the third minute of the first half and Browns defended the lead throughout the match to walk away as the champs defeating Airport and Aviation. Pathum Prabodha of Browns Group received the best player’s award. The event was graced by the presence of Gihan de Silva as the Chief Guest and Malaka Satharasinghe as the Guest of Honour.