Visakha - under 17 girls hockey champions

By. S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Correspondent

Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo displayed remarkable resilience to defeat the strong Seetha Devi Balika Vidyalaya, Kandy to annexe the Sri Lanka Schools girls under-17 hockey title in the finals of the Hockey tournament organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Hockey Association played at Nandimithra Ekanayake Stadium, Matale yesterday. All scoring was done in the first half.

Upto the finals Seetha Devi BV's line had not been crossed and they finally carried everything before than with centre half Geethika Nandasena slamming around 10 goals in the tournament.

But the Devians put up a pitiful display in the finals against a stronger set of opponents in Visakha Vidyalaya. They missed several scoring opportunities which blew up their chances of getting the better of their opponents.

Visakha Vidyalaya on the other hand put up a gallant display as they knew they were up against tough opponents and did not take any chances. They defended well especially in the second half when Seetha Devi stickers made several inroads into Visakha territory. Their defence was well secured and fortified when the necessity arose.

After a gruelling initial 10 minutes of play Visakha Vidyalaya drew first blood through the stick of centre half Maneesha Leelaratne. A few minutes later before the Devians could recover from initial shock Visakhians increased their lead through centre forward Lakmini Ishani to get into an early 2-0 lead.

It was at this Seetha Devi BV made a gallant fight back to tilt the match in their favour. In the 20th minute of this half they reduced the lead through a fine goal by centre half Geethika Nandasena.

After the turn around a bitter struggle was witnessed with Seetha Devi BV making some sporadic raids into Visakha territory but poor shooting deprived them the chances of scoring.

Mohamed Hanafi and A. B. Godigamuwa umpired.

Earlier in the morning Visakha Vidyalaya were made to fight hard before booking their berth into finals by defeating Pushpadana Girls College 2-1.

On Friday this semi final match was stopped with 17 minutes of play remaining and at that stage Visakha Vidyalaya were leading.

But when play leading yesterday morning to complete the balance play, Pushpadana Girls College stickers played a different game and surprised their opponents with a more forceful strategy. They reduced the lead to 2-1 before time ran out.

In the fight for third place Pushpadana Girls College beat St. Anthony's Girls College 3-1 after leading 2-1 at lemons.