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| Sunday, 19 May 2002 |
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11 foreign teams confirm playing in Isipatana's golden jubilee rugby sevens by RANJAN ANANDAPPA Isipatana College are making elaborate arrangements to celebrate their golden jubilee year in a memorable fashion with a series of events. The school located in the capital, Colombo, was founded in 1952 then known as Greenlands College. They began playing rugby in 1963 and soon became one of the finest rugby playing schools and has produced some of the best rugby players who later went on to represent the country. Their contribution to sports have been tremendous as they have produced a couple of cricketers at Test level too. Isipatana and rugger is synonymous in Sri Lanka. Among the major events planned are an International Under-19 Schools Rugby Sevens Tournament organised as a part of the celebrations. The tournament is scheduled to take place on September 7 and 8 at the CR & FC grounds Longden Place. The final stages of the match will be played under floodlights as the new Minister of Sports Johnston Fernando has promised his assistance for a successful tournament and to improve the lighting system at Longden Place. The tournament will be played for the Cup, Plate, Bowl, Shield (for the fourth place). The best player of the tournament will be presented with a trophy with replicas for the winning teams. The estimated cost to conduct the tournament which includes all facilities from arrival to departure of all foreign teams and the local teams given equal facilities is around Rs. 4.5 million. The organisers have found half of that amount and will be hoping for assistance to complete their mission. SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier, has generously come forward to assist the school despite their demand for tickets during the season. SriLankan Airlines has offered five complimentary tickets for the officials and referees associated with the tournament and attractive fares for all overseas teams from Sri Lankan's on line points. 11 countries have already confirmed their participation. They are England, Australia, India, Thailand, Malaysia, New Zealand, Dubai, Singapore, Russia, Doha and Switzerland. The local school teams will be invited on their performances during the season.However, the organisers have already confirmed the participation of Isipatana the host, their traditional rivals Thurstan and a combined Southern Province team at the championships. Harsha Mayadunne (President of the SLRFU), Dilroy Fernando (Chairman Rugby Committee), Miss Ruvini Jayasinghe (Media Manager SriLankan Airlines), Upali Gunasekera (Principal Isipatana College), Sarath Costa (Senior Vice President OBA Isipatana), M. Majeed Rugby Convenor) Lanil Jayawardena (General Manager Grand Oriental Hotel) were also present at the press briefing held at the Grand Oriental Hotel (Lotus Room) on Friday. |
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