Musaeus College, Colombo clinched its first Singer Blue and Gold Hockey Sevens Cup title beating the defending champions Seethadevi Balika Vidyalaya in the final held at Royal College Grounds last weekend.
The Colombo lasses beat the six-times title holders winning by a solitary goal . Lihara Thilakaratne sounded the boards in the second half for the winners. The Royal College Hockey Club organized the tournament for the 15th consecutive year.
Musaeus College’s previous best performance in the tournament was recorded as runners up in year 2013. Musaeus team has not beaten the Kandy team which had never lost a final in the tournament in the past 15 years. This victory by Musaeus goes as one their best achievements in the field of hockey.
The Colombo team was coached by former Peterite Indika Prasanna since August last year, beat Kandy Gothami Balika Vidyalaya 3-0 and held Panadura Balika to a 0-0 draw in the group stage to enter the pre-quarter finals.
Musaeus, led by Thesmi Gunasekera, beat Holy Family Convent, Wennappuwa by a solitary goal in the pre-quarter final and beat Vihara Maha Devi, Badulla by 3-0 in the quarter final, and strong Kotte Janadhipathi Vidyalaya by 1-0 in the semi-final.
The runners up Seethadevi beat Swarnamali (3-0), Panadura Balika (3-0), Pushpadana (2-0), and Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya (2-0) on their way to the final.
Lihara Thilakaratne and Thamasha Weerasekara of Musaeus College were adjudged as most outstanding players and the best goal keeper respectively in the girls category.
The tournament was sponsored by Singer Sri Lanka for the 15th successive year.
As the main sponsor for the past 15 years, Singer Sri Lanka has seen in the game spreading their wings with the participation of 60 teams and over 125 games in two days. Singer has become a living testimony to the success of the tournament.
The invaluable contribution made by the main sponsor Singer Sri Lanka has gone a long way towards improving and popularising the game all over the island. Royal College Hockey Club started the tournament with only 16 hockey playing teams in 1992 mainly from Matale, Kandy, and Colombo sans sponsorship. But the number of participating schools with most of them
taking an interest to play the game teams from Puttalam,Badulla, Galle, Matara and Kalutara too were seen in action for the first time..
In the boys’ category, 2015 Champions Nalanda College beat Maris Stella College Negombo 1-0 to take away the Cup in the Boys’ category with Bodhika Dias scoring the winning goal in a penalty corner just before the half time.
Nalanda beat St. Peters 3-0, Zahira, Colombo 4-0, D.S. Senanayake 2-1, hosts Royal (Golds) 4-3 and S. Thomas’ Mount Lavinia 1-0 on their way to the Cup final. Maris Stella, which lost to S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia in the first game 0-1, quickly recovered to beat Wesley 2-0,
Ananda 1-0, St. Aloysius 1-0 and Wariyapola Sri Sumangala 3-2 on their way to the first final in the history of the tournament.
Bodhika Dias of Nalanda College was adjudged as the Most Outstanding Player while K.M. Diluka Kavihara of Maris Stella College was picked as the Best Goal Keeper in the Boys category.
Results: Winners
Boys Cup Championship: Nalanda College,Colombo
Runner-up : Maris Stella College Negombo
Plate Championship : St. Aloysius College Galle
Runner-up: S. Thomas College, Matale
Bowl Championship: St. Joseph Vaz Wennapuwa
Runner-up: Vijaya College, Matale
Girls Cup Championship: Musaeus College
Runner-up: Girls Seethadevi Balika Vidyalaya
Plate Championship: Sri Sumangala Balika Vidyalaya, Panadura
Runner-up: Viharamahadevi Balika Maha Vidyalaya Kandy
Bowl Championship: St. Anthony’s College
Runner-up: Yashodara Balika Vidyalaya