Sri Lanka men's hockey team grab Bronze Medal
HOCKEY: The Sri Lanka men's team clinched the bronze medal in the
Asian Hockey Federation Cup (AHF) Hockey tournament held recently at the
Sirikit Stadium, Bangkok, Thailand.
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Standing L -R )Tilak Wimalasinghe (Coach) Leelananda Ittapana (Head Coach)
Upul Fernando, Diluka Weerasooriya, K. Wijekoon, Anju Hewage
(Vice Captain) Maj. Gen. Amal Karunasekare (Chief de
Mission) Santha. Kottegoda (High Commissioner of Thailand)
T. Ganeshanaden (Asst. Manager), B J R Fernando (Manager), M
F Laheer (Judge), Esanka Jayasundara (Captain), Sameera
Perera, J. Balasooriya (Official), Dammika Abeyratne.
Sqatting Left to Right - N D B Dissanayake, D Dharmaratne, H
S Hettiaratchi, M . Mulafer, Milinda Sapugasgodage, Nalanta
Silva, I Prasanna, M. Priyalanka, Tusith Rathnasiri, T G
Jayaratne. |
Other teams that participated in this tournament are: Oman,
Bangladesh, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan, Hong Kong, China,
Kazakhstan and the host Thailand.
Sri Lanka was in Group 'A' along with Hong Kong, Uzbekistan,
Kazakhstan, Oman.
In the first match, Sri Lanka beat Uzbekistan 3-1.
2nd Match: Lost to Oman by 2-4. First half, Sri Lanka was holding
Oman 2-2. Oman was able to score 2 goals only in the last 10 minutes
before the final whistle.
3rd Match: Vs Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka easily beat them by 9 goals to 2.
In the first-half Sri Lanka was leading 4-1. The Sri Lanka team went all
out to score goals to secure the position for the semis.
4th Match: Sri Lanka Vs Hong Kong - This match was the vital game and
secure berth in the first four. The strong Hong Kong team led by 2-0 in
the first half. However, the Sri Lanka players flat out and scored 2
superb goals to make the score 2-2. The final score was 2-2. With this
match drawn, Sri Lanak was able to qualify for the semi-finals against
Bangladesh.
In the semi-finals, Sri Lanka players were able to hold favourites
Bangladesh 3-3 until the last 10 minutes. However, Bangladesh scored 2
more goals to qualify for the finals with Oman.
The third play-off for the Bronze Medal, Sri Lanka vs Chinese Taipei.
From the first minute, Sri Lanka players were well ahead of standard
of the Chinese Taipei. The Taipei team consisted of well experienced
plaeyrs, but they could not beat Sri Lanka defence.
In the first ten minutes Chinese Taipei scored the first goal to take
the lead. However, Sri Lanka players never let up and scored 3
unpredictable goals in first half.
The first half score was Sri Lanka 3 Chinese Taipei 1. In the second
half too Sri Lanka scored 2 more goals to keep the lead of 5-1.
In the last 5 minutes, Chinese Taipei scored a goal. The final score
was 5-2. With this win Sri Lanka was able to win the Bronze medal.
It is comforting to note that after a period of nearly 10 years(after
2002) Sri Lanka won the medal in AHF Cup Tournament. Furthermore Sri
Lanka men's team will be invited to participate in the Asia Cup
Tournament which is to be held in December 2012.
Indeed it is a comforting thought that victory came to Sri Lanka and
Sri Lanka won the Bronze medal.
Sri Lanka team and officials who went on tour: Isanka Jayasundara
(captain), N.A. Hewage (Vice Captain), T.D. Ratnasiri, P.G. Jayaratne,
N.D.B. Disanayake, K.N.D. Silva, K.S.S. Perera, D.M. Wijesinghe, D.M.
Sapugasgodage, Diluka Werasurya, S.B. Wijekoon, M.M. Mulafer, H.P.K.
Darmaratne, Dhammika Aberatna, Upul Danuska, H.S. Hettiarachchi, S.S.
Priyalanka, P.P. Dissanayake.
Officials: Maj. Gen. Amal Karunasekara (Chef-de-mission), Messrs
B.G.R. Fernando (Manager), SSP T. Ganeshanathan (Asst. Manager), L.
Ittapana (Head Coach), T. Wimalasinghe (Coach), Jagath Balasooriya
(Official).
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