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Sports

Yasas to play for Cleater CC
Yasas Tillekeratne a prolific run-getter in the domestic tournaments has left for England to play cricket in the Lancashire league.

He has been playing cricket for Brighton Central Club in Melbourne Australia with much success. As a gritty batsman like his brother Hashan, also played as a professional for Uttara club in Bangladesh.

Yasas, stint for Cleater CC in the Lancashire is for the seventh successive year as a successful all rounder and has helped the club in a big way (B.W)

Police grab Weber Cup - 2002
Police Basketball Club emerged champions in the most popular Basketball tournament in Sri Lanka when they beat the Colombo Basketball Club by 77 points to 74 points after both teams registering 40 each at lemon and played at St. Michael's College, Batticaloa recently.

Police players using the experience, stamina and height made the losers run round the ring to equal the half time score. Daminda Hettiarachchi, Buddika Kumudaperuma, Prince Fernando and Nalin Weerawardena playing a fast game with top discipline under the young and talented coach Raju Ahmed took the lead at the 17th minute of the second half and maintained it till the final whistle.

Colombo playing with few Sri Lankan players and all wearing Sri Lanka skinny (few not even in the National pool) did not prove their worthiness of wearing the Sri Lanka skinny as they could not stand up to the police players. Coached by the National coach Ajith Kuruppu, they lacked understanding, accurate shooting and knowledge of the latest techniques to beat the opponents. Majority of the players were very young but could not meet the speed due to lack of stamina.

Discipline and dedication go hand in hand
Navy Vs Air Force (Navy won 29- 3)
Navy convincingly beat the Air Force with the game being dominated by their forwards. The score could have been much higher if not for the dropped passes by Navy and selfish play that crept in. The Navy was at full strength and are playing well. Outstanding was flanker Ravi Jayasuriya. Panda Wijeratne has still not lost his sting. Veteran Scrum-Half Ranatunge was also impressive. The Air Force has talented players. Coach Harsha Fernando is making every effort to build a good side. I felt that players lacked power and thrust. Regular weight training is vital. They should also concentrate on Individual skills and [ii] Group skills.

CH & FC vs Kandy SC (Kandy won 40- 13)
As expected Kandy beat the CH fairly easily. The CH are still not fit enough. Kandy on the other hand place discipline and fitness as priorities. The CH front row is taxed too much. The 3rd Row needs direction. Forwards may be heavy but they need to be strong as well with carefully supervised Weight Training. For the first time Nalin Dissanayake had a fine game in attack and defense. As for the game, Kandy played good basic rugby and were in control. Just one shortcoming is butter-fingers Sajith Mallikarachchi who on several occasions dropped the ball in attack hopefully this is the exception. Radhika Hettiarachchi was outstanding for Kandy. He moved into full-back position for Nalaka Weerakody who was called in by the end of the first half. The CH did not have an answer to Sanjeeva Jayasinghe who scored 5 superb tries outwitting his opposite number. Fly Half Nilufer Ibrahim and Scrum Half Amjad Buksh had an excellent game.

Galle S.C. vs Army (Army won 83 nil)
An easy game for the Army against a hapless Galle outfit. SLRFU some re-thinking needed for next year's League.

Kandy Youth vs Police (Police won 36-16)
Spirited play by Kandy Youth with the Police using the might of their forwards to overcome them. Kandy Youth have improved with every game under their energetic and knowledgeable Coach Kasturiarachchi. Their game against the Havelocks may be a close one. KYSC forwards must be heavier and stronger to be able to withstand heavier packs.

Review on the first round
What has happened to our Rugby? The standards? School rugby is of much better quality. Is Kandy playing well because of the best talent by importing players from Colombo? What of the Commonwealth Games? Talking to Lakshman De Chickera, a Rugby great of the past, he was disappointed with the standard of play at Club level. Can we compare ourselves with Asias best? These are thought provoking sentiments.

These questions are frequently posed at various fora and at rugger matches. Is there any truth?

Immediately after their game against the Army last week, Kandy Coach CP Abegunawardene told me that he had already informed his players of a light practice session on Sunday the next day. This is commitment which many teams lack today. What went wrong with the CH? The same story. Speaking to CH Coach Matt Lee, I asked him why he delayed in bringing in replacements?

His answer was that the CH did not possess adequate replacements! Maybe he is right. The fact is that, for a foreign Coach to have to play himself in a side means that local talent is lacking. Lees play in the CR/CH game was a lesson to our future players. But CH cannot take this as an excuse. Go find the players. Or train whom you have. Army beat the CHbut the Navy very nearly beat the Army losing 16-20. Do Navy have top class players?

My personal opinion is this:
To play Rugby one must be fit. 75% of the players in the League Tournament this year were not sufficiently fit enough. At every breakdown in play a whole lot of water bottles are rushed on to the field, it is hilarious! The bottles are thrown on to the ground and sometimes not taken away.

Players can trip on them! Even after 10 minutes of play in the first half we find these water bottles being brought to players. Players feign injury for 2 minutes rest. Then that miracle cure ICE emerges and in a few seconds a serious injury is healed! Notice players with hands on their hips and breathing heavily? As Selectors, we will be taking all these factors into account when picking players for International Tournaments.

School Rugby is different. Attendance at Practices and Fitness are important. The School Authorities see to this. It is therefore easier to improve on Basic Play.

What about Kandy? Imported players? Players can change clubs if they choose to. One cannot violate another's Rights. Kandy's secret is Unity to achieve their goals.

Discipline & Dedication go hand in hand. Their players are strong and fit so are their replacements. Colombo Clubs too boast of glamour players of the recent past. But the fact is that they are not fit! Look at the Police team. No Stars but fitness and dedication and Coach Marso's commitment has brought them up to a very high standard. We shall see them in the K/O Tournaments soon.

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