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A colourful end to 6th Commonwealth
Games The 16th Commonwealth Games which attracted over 4000 competitors from 67 Commonwealth countries came to a close on Monday evening at the Bukit Jaleet stadium here in Kuala Lumpur. The chief guest at the final day was the Head of the Commonwealth Queen Elizabeth II who took the final salute of the games. The 2002 Games will be held in Manchester England. The Games which commenced on Sept. 7 saw the introduction of four new sports Cricket, Rugby, Netball and Bowling in addition to Swimming, Athletics, Badminton Boxing Cycling, Gymanastics, Hockey, Shooting, Squash and Weightlifting. Sri Lankan contingent consisted of 84 competitors competing in Athletics, Cricket, Badminton, Rugby Netball, Shooting and Squash. This was the biggest conteigent ever to participate at the Commonwealth Games since its inception. Competitors from these 67 countries competed for a total 1175 medals (373 gold, 373 silver and 429 bronze) Australia headed the medals table with 68 golds, 61 silver, and 56 bronze medals to have a tally of 185 medals. In the previous Games in 1994 in Canada too Australia dominated the medals tally bagging 182 medals. England took the second spot in overall medal standings while Canada was placed third. Malaysian spectators were seen encouraging their closest neighbours Australian competitors whenever they were in action. It was also noted that Australian cricketing heroes Waugh brothers, Steve and Mark taking time off to watch their compatriots in action. Ato Bolden the fastest man received a standing ovation from the 37,000 strong spectators gathering when he won the 100 meter event in style to grab the gold. The other sprinter Namibias Frankic Fredericks who posed the biggest threat to Boldon. Boldon who returned to his homeland after a crisis with his officials in Kuala Lumpur in the early part of the Games came back two days prior to the event. On his return making a statement he said: Officials perform their duties because of us. I have a responsibility towards my fellow countrymen. On his return he was given five star hotel accommodation. Grace Young the Singaporean who won the Gold for Long Bowling event was offered 100,000 Singapore dollars from the government. On hearing this Yang said: Gold medal for my country is worth much more than dollars for me. The host country Malaysian managed to reach the fourth position in the coral standings winning 10 golds, 14 silver and 12 bronze medals. India the biggest country from the SAARC Region took the seventh when they collected a tally of 25 medals (7 golds, 10 silver, 8 bronze). Sri Lanka's athletic team came out with an outstanding performance at this 16th Commonwealth Games who all participants managed to reach the finals of their respective events. These athletes managed to end a barren 48 year long period without medals at a Commonwealth Games winning a silver and a bronze medal for Sri Lanka. Indian critics speaking on Sri Lanka athletes performance said we are lucky to watch them running to win medals. It is proud to see athletes from our region to their best at meets of this nature. They were surprised to watch Lankan athletes said these critics. Sri Lanka entered the fray hoping gold medals for shooting in the Women's category. But only G. Poddola, Puspamali, Lilani, Ruwini and Soma managed to reach the finals. They failed to grab any medals. Rugby team and Netball teams too faced tough opposition from world's leading countries and had to leave out from the prmilinary rounds. Though Sri Lanka fielded a second string cricket team they qualified for the semifinals and was defeated by the strong outfit from South Africa in a nail bitting finish. All in all it was a successful event for Sri Lanka Athletes who return home with two medals. Billiards
Nationals K. H. Sirisoma (SLPA) the reigning National Billiard champions retained his twelfth national title defeating S. M. Shaharwardi (MSC) 1802 - 670 points on Monday evening on the SLBSA tables Reid Avenue Sirisoma had four century breaks 125, 107, 173 and 100, and also on his last visit to the table he finished the game in style making an unfinished break of 252 which baffled the opponent Shaharwadi. The champion reached the final defeating K. V. W. Jayasekera in the semi final while Shaharwadi overcame W. A. J. Weerasinghe to became the finalist. The play off for the third place between K. V. W. Jayasekera and W. A. J. Weerasinghe was played prior to the final. K. V. W. Jayasekera beat Weerasinghe 555 - 497 points to secure the third slot in the rankings. (B.P.) Prasanna leads team to Australia CR's hooker Viraj Prasanna has been selected to captain the Sri Lanka Rugby team which is to tour Australia later this month. Prasanna one of the experienced players in the Lankan contingent got the nod over few seniors. His appointment came in after Priyantha Ekanayake retired from the game. Meanwhile, another regular player Nazeem Mohamed has withdrawn from the squad due to personal commitments. There would be three new additions. The Lankan contingent will leave for Australia on September 29 and will play the Northern Territory in two test matches on October 3 and 6 in Darwin. Later they will travel to Melbourne to confront Victoria State team. The team: Shantha Rohana, Viraj Prasanna (Capt.), B. M. Dharmapala, Harien Gabreal, Suranga Amarasinghe, Pradeep Basnayake, Asoka Jayasena, Alfred Hensman, Harris Omar, Nalin Wijegunawardena, Champika Nishantha, Nilufer Ibrahim, Sajith Mallikarachchi, Asanga Rodrigo, Graham Raux, Harin Perera, Lasantha Wijesooriya, Indrajith Bandaranayake, M. J. M. Mushtaq, Kishin Musafar, Nalaka Weerakkody. Chef-de-Mission-Lionel Almeda, Manager Harsha Mayadunna, Coach Ana Saranapala, Asst. Coach Ajitha Abeyratne. WoE topple CH & FC 36 - 21 West of England XV scored a hard fought 36 - 21 victory over CH & FC in a Singer Cup Rugby fixture played at Longden Place yesterday. Winners dominated both the set pieces and took a slender 19 - 14 lead at the half time. West of England who opened scoring through flanker Dom Turner scored again in the first half through Tim Rolls before place kicker Paul Malloy stretched the lead further through with two well taken penalties. Kit Ratudradra and Pradeep Kumara touched down once each. Scrum half Jayasinghe goaled both tries. West of England continued their dominance and scored thrice more with tries coming from Paul Malloy, Dalson and Allistair Saverimuttu CH centre. J. Maqa touched down once in the second half. Roshan Deen refereed. Zahira, Al Husseini win titles Hameed - Al - Husseini and Zahira, Colombo bagged the Soccer tournament conducted by Education Department in the Under-19 and 17 age groups held at Reid Avenue recently. Hameedians notched up an easy 4/0 win over Dharmadutha Badulla while Zahira had 2/0 victory over Al-Adham Badulla. (AN) |
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