Carlton Sports Club Cager tourney Sept 2 to 24

by Ranjan ANANDAPPA

BASKETBALL: With a view of boosting basketball, Carlton Sports Club, the Sports Wing of 'Tharunayata Hetak' will conduct their Annual Cager Tournament for the third year in succession from September 2 to 24 at Police Park.

Solex Engineering Co. Ltd. are the main sponsors while Sri Lanka Telecom and Avian are the co-sponsors while Galle Face Hotel is the Food and Beverage partner.

Sri Lanka once maintained a high standard at Asian level, but unfortunately there was a drastic drop in the standards of the game due to lack of guidance and enthusiasm.

As a bid to resuscitating the game and create more interest among youngsters, Carlton Sports Club has come forward to conduct the tournament with valuable cash awards for the winners.

The 'A' Division champions of the tournament will receive a cash award of Rs. 200,000.00 and the runner-up will get Rs. 100,000.00. The 'B' division champions will be rewarded with Rs. 75,000.00 while the runner-up will receive Rs. 50,000.00.

This tournament is considered as one of the main features in the basketball calendar and there will be a special award for the Best Discipline team as the main theme of the tournament is to enhance sportsmanship, team spirit, skill levels and competitiveness among the players.

Ten clubs in two groups in Division One will vie for honours meeting each other in two groups and the 'B' Division will that consist of 18 teams will meet each other in four groups.

Twenty two boys and eighteen girls teams have entered from schools for the Under 13 category which will no doubt give the budding players a big opportunity to display their skills.

The closing date for entries for the schools have been extended up to 5th of September to enable more teams to enter the tournament and it will take place from September 24 to 25 at the Depot Police courts in Bambalapitiya. All finals also will be played at the same venue on October 1st.

Dr. Chula Senaratne the Director of the organisation said that the tournament will help to broad base the game and provide the right platform for the future cagers. The under 13 tournament should definitely help the girls and boys at grass root level.

Muditha Wijekulathileka the Chief Marketing Officer of Solex Marketing (Pvt) the team sponsor said that he was delighted to be a part of the Carlton Club while promoting the sport which is a worthy cause of developing sports in order to produce balance corporate citizens in the country.

The teams Division 'A': Carlton BC, Navy SC, Colombo Bulls, Old Bens, Otters SC.

Group 'B': Colombo BC, Air Force, Army Sc, Wattala BC, Police SC.