Battle of the Blues Regatta on Oct. 28th

Royalists determined to hold Thomians in check

By Leslie Fernando

The highlight of the rowing calendar for Royal College and S. Thomas’ College has once again arrived. Yes, it is time for the 34th Royal - Thomian Regatta and 38th annual Boat Race on October 28th (Saturday) on the Beira Waters starting at 2.30 p.m.

The Regatta is hosted by Royal College this year.

The T. N. Fernando Trophy will be on offer for the overall winner. Last year, both sides collected 20 points each for the six events and shared the trophy. That was the third time the Annual Regatta ended in a ‘tie’. The other two years were in 1993 and 2001.

Last year, Royal were leading with 20 points to the Thomians 8 at the end of the 5th race. The ‘decider’ was in the final event ‘A’ Fours - (Boat Race).

The Thomian crew comprising Dayantha Siriwardena, Shanon de Silva, Dinesha Aluwihara, Millindra Kulugammana and Manil Salgado rowed with superior skill to win the event ‘clocking’ 3 minutes 19 seconds to equal the score 20-all and share the trophy.

Gishan Karunanayake will lead the Royal College crew while Shanon de Silva will be the Thomian captain this year.

Royal and Thomian oarsmen have been training hard in the past few weeks on the Beira Waters for this prestigious regatta, which is eagerly looked forward to by the rowing fans.

Both coaches - Hiran Dorenagama (Royal) and Ajith Goonawardena (S. Thomas’) have been busy with their crews and have put in a lot of work to get the teams to peak condition. Royal won the Junior Fours, Senior Pairs and Junior Pairs while Thomians won the Senior Sculls, Junior Sculls and Senior Fours (Boat Race) last year. Thomians also won the Junior ‘B’ Fours but no points were awarded. Old Thomians won the Old Boys fours defeating Old Royalists.

The Trophies to be won are: - T. N. Fernando Trophy, Boat Race Trophy, Eraj Wijesinghe Trophy, Freddie Raux Trophy, Senior Sculls Trophy, Chula Samarasinghe Challenge Trophy, Ajith Goonawardene Challenge Trophy and Percy Fernando Trophy.

Royal crew Gishan Karunanayake, Lishan Wickremanayake, Dinouk Perera, Maalik Aziz, Yadar Chelliah, Kosala Wickremanayake, Devinda Fernando, Mahima Weerasinghe, Oshan Weerasinghe, Dhanushka Perera, Thiranka Jayatilaka, Chirath Karunanayake, Miyuru Dias, Radhika Weerasekera, Mandara Jayawardena, Lakkitha Liyanage, Sahan Gunawardene, Sandeep Jayawardane, Najitha Mandawala.

Thomian crew: Shannon de Silva, Dathika Wickremanayake, Zain Hallawatta, Niroshan Manoharan, Manil Salgado, Milinda Kulugammana, Shantha de Silva, Devaan Hallock, Rajitha Wickremasekera, Dhanushka Dayanetti, Yanik Salgado, Sidath Munasinghe, Shakya Kalupahana, Peter Naresh, Sujeev de Silva, Amrik Wickremanayake, Adman Issadeen, Navin Moorthy.
The tally stands as - Boat Race Trophy S. Thomas’ College 20, Royal College 17.

The T. N. Fernando Trophy: S. Thomas’ College has won it 17 times to Royal College 13 - (3 years ended in ties)