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| Sunday, 9 February 2003 |
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Sports |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Commercial Bank standout in Merc. hockey scene by Pelham Juriansz The Mercantile Hockey season for 2003 began on January 8, but with hardly two weeks gone the situation became fraught with controversy. The Tournament was hitting rock bottom when the Commercial Bank team had a two good wins, both by big margins. However, the 'A' division has one bright spark in the fact that the Bankers have stood out like a beacon of hope to a beleaguered Tournament. The 'A' Division which consists of Browns Group, Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank 'A', Seylan Bank, John Keells Group, Airport & Aviation and Singer (Sri Lanka), had one group (the Browns Group) disqualified as they broke the rules. The Browns Group players were disqualified because one of their players came late for their encounter with Airport & Aviation, and the umpires refused him entry, because he did not have the proper colours and the numbered jersey. A "Satyagraha" resulted and the team was disqualified by the Tournament Committee. The 'A' division hockey Tournament has a proud history having started in 1953 with Heaths winning the inaugural one and Commercial Bank are the defending Champions. Since 1997 it has been a battle between the banking partners, Hatton National Bank and Commercial Bank, with HNB "A" winning four times and Commercial Bank twice (including last year). Since 1999, the Tournament has been played for the "Horlicks" Trophy, which was presented by SmithKLine Beecham Mackwoods. The teams in the 'B' division vying for honours are Abans, John Keells, HNB 'B', Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation(HSBC), SriLankan Airlines and Sampath Bank. The 'C' division will start on February 11 (Tuesday) with the confrontation between AWD group and Unilevers. The other team is the Janashakthi group. The 'D' division began on January 14 (Tuesday) with the match between SmithKline Beecham and MJF Exports at the Malay grounds, which was easily won by MJF group. The other teams in the 'D' division are Ceylon Tobacco and Hilton. |
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