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'Colombo by Night'
Vintage road race at Town Hall-Colombo on Saturday October 19 at 6pm. Colombo by night a vintage road race will commence at Town Hall-Colombo on Saturday October 19 at 6pm.

An unique event - probably the only one held in the Asian continent! For the second year in succession - this event is being conducted where vintage vehicles - all over 60 years of manufacture and bearing the registration of the alphabet - A-Z - will race against each other - exactly as in a motor racing event.

This is the first time the race meet is being conducted under flood lights - Vehicles will be timed by officials on trial run - prior to the event and the grid will be set accordingly to the timing clocked and recorded.

The vehicles have been maintained meticulously with much effort - and it is indeed a delight and treat to watch these beauties of yesteryear - race against each other. The meet will be conducted with 9 events being worked off with which 3 will be run concurrently with an open event for sports cars and other open unlimited. An evening of fun racing - magnificent machines showing their prowess on the track !

Commercial Bank, Nisol, David Peiris Motor Company, Klevenbergand Ebert Silva Touring Ltd. will sponsor this event Media Sponsors will be MBC Network Category of Events

Six cylinder cars, 7 HP Salon Groups A/B, 8 HP Saloon Group A/B.7 HP Tourer Group A/B,10 HP Saloon, 8 HP Tourer, 9-16 HP Special Cars Sports Open, Open-Unlimited

Fiats /Austin, Standard, Riley, Chevrolet, MG. Hupmobile are some of the unique Vintage cars that would be racing!

India turn the corner
Success in England and Australia is considered by most nations as a vital factor for any country playing international cricket. The performance of the Indian team could be classed as their best at the home of the sport.

They win in the early seventies and in 1983. On the first occasion it was the spin quarter of Chandrasekar, Bedi, Prasanna and Venketraghavan who delivered the goods. Their success rate overseas nose-dived with the advent of three pronged and four pronged pace attacks.

Pakistan turned the corner to become a force in the game after their tour of England in the early nineteen eighties. Led by the charismatic Imran Khan who was at the peak of his bowling powers, the team gelled like never before. They went on from strength to strength until they won the World Cup in Australia in 1992. Although their performances since have not been consistent, they are amongst the top cricketing nations of the world.

Sri Lanka who were accepted into the international fold in 1982 were considered easy-beats by all until 1996. Their tour of Australia in 1995 and '96 totally changed their attitude and approach. It led to their winning the World Cup in 1996. Although encountering rocky periods they have progressed steadily in the last half-a-dozen years.

India, rightly or wrongly have been stigmatized lacking the will to win and chokes when the heat is on. Apply some pressure and the will wilt away. Indian teams have been known for their dismal form overseas and cup final jitters.

Last summer's Natwest final may not matter much when the results all year round are considered. For India its weight was worth in gold psychologically. That victory they snatched at Lord's and the subsequent test triumph at Headingly gave birth to a new Indian outfit.

There is something different about this team, something that their predecessors lacked. Their performance in England should propel them out of the darkness of self-doubt and strangled ambition.

Many factors could be attributed. Primarily the contribution of the coach, John Wright and the coming of age of the Captain, Sourav Ganguly. In his early days Gangully displayed a brooding arrogance that questioned his leadership qualities. With maturity and time he has shed some skin and his entire approach has transformed for the better. In his batting, the short-pitched delivery is being handled better, giving him loads of confidence.

By the time the fourth and the final test against England was played it did not matter who won the series. Rahul Dravid played a gem of an innings and ensured the game and the series was drawn. It was a triumph good enough, to add to their one day victories over the home team and Sri Lanka. Truly an Indian summer!

They continued with that form at the ICC Champions Trophy and went away as joint champs with Sri Lanka. When rain curtailed both games, the Indians were the favourites by a small margin. No one will even know of the final outcome. It would have been pretty close and tense. The bookmakers though, would have brought India close to the top in the favourites rankings for the 2003 World Cup!

Hiroyama from rising sun to rising star
N. Jeyasingam the CEO of Lankem Development Ltd. a golfer of yesteryear has given up the addiction and turned to Golf Development. This year's effort promises to be more lavish than previous years and the Royal Colombo has expressed deep appreciation to the ROBBIALAC people.

Saturday's Medal round was a rousing success with massive participation and tremendous scores. The weather was less scorching with the afternoon rounds much more comfortable than the forenoon. In between through the lunch session a great spirit of friendliness prevailed.

In the "A" Division classic Chutti Munsoor was outstanding. A good 5 handicapper he struck a stunning round of nett 68 and the chances are that the sadists handling the Handicap Committee will pounce on him and clip his handicap by one stroke. Munsoor will not be unhappy because he is playing excellent golf and will accept the challenge. Alain Gyi also sparkled with a great gross 72 nett 69 to come behind Munsoor. Gyi shot the lowest gross score in the "A" Division. Munsoor will receive pails and pails of ROBBIALAC of colours of his choosing.

Tissa Excels
Tissa Jayasinghe had a titanic struggle to move away from Iskander Sarudin and win the "B" Divsion with a better rear nine. Jayasinghe a 11 handicapper was impressive and particularly successful on the greens prepared by him. Sarudin a powerful striker of the ball was accurate off the tees, handled his strokes with care, got too impatient a couple of times and slipped up on the back nine.

Both settled on nett 71 each. Vivek Chand struck an untidy century, Sarath Piyaratne fresh from a UK trip strayed like hell, Padmasiri Dias completed a revolting 104 and S. Wickremasinghe was on a spot on water riddled 100. Gihan de Silva, William Barsenbach and Carl Tranberg made petite packets or confetti. Simon Northcott and V.S. Jayakody picked impressive rounds of nett 72 each.

Rising Sun
M. Hiroyama from the land of the Rising Sun geared into stunning form from the first shot off the first tee. Unbelievably a 25 handicapper he played some startlers of the tee and was extremely bold, playing his approach shots. He was remarkably lucky on a few occasions on his way to a super round of nett 61 the lowest nett score registered this year to win the "C" Division comfortably beating S. Viswanathan who had a splendid round of nett 63.

Virawanathan a 21 handicapper has been playing impressive rounds in recent months and his latest performance comes as no surprise. His gross 84 was the lowest in the "C" Division.

Messy Golf
Against the background of excellent golf came a massive collection of messy golf. Unbelievably 42 centuries and all before lunch. Some centurions relish cracking hundreds judging from the beaming smiles over beers after the disaster rounds ending on the 19th.

G.C. Wicks
Well preserved Senior who continues to be strongly wedded to the game G.C. Wickremasinghe moved on to the Ridgeways from his practice green at his posh residence to register an excellent round of nett 70 to take the Seniors Title beating another great Senior Norman Chandraratne.

Masters
"Buonasera" Serasinghe walked tall stalking through the course to collect a not so praiseworthy score of nett 74 and get past Sarath Wickramaratne to win the Masters Trophy. With the slight showers raining down, the turf is getting small doses of nourishment. Tissa Jayasinghe has a helluva lot more to do if he is to ward off verbal slaughter. The course is not looking good and the time has come when we just cannot place the blame on the Gods that look after the weather.


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