      |
||
|
||
| 'Extra' time denies Sri Lanka Kabaddi
bronze By Shirajiv Sirimane reporting from Thailand BANGKOK, Dec. 16 - A controversial 20 seconds of additional play deprived the Sri Lankan kabaddi team a certain bronze medal in the Asian Games kabaddi competition yesterday. Lanka, after leading all the way, had to settle for a 24-all draw against Bangladesh. The Lankan team under the guidance of former Indian national coach Prasad Rao started with a "bang" leading 6-0 after the first five minutes of play. The Lankan defenders scored all these six points by successfully holding on to the Bangladesh 'Raides'. This tactics was repeated through out the first half and after the 20-minute first half Sri Lanka led 8-5. In the second half the islanders played even better and even managed to win a 'Luna' (get all the seven players out) and obtain the four valuable bonus points. In the last four minutes, Bangladesh trailing 17-22 and facing certain defeat, in sheer desperation stepped up the tempo of the match. They went on an all out assault and the Lankans though having better technique lacked match experience to tackled their seasoned counterparts. When Sri Lanka was leading 23-17 and with two minutes remaining Bangladesh managed to obtain a 'Luna' and in quick succession equalled the scores at 23. The Lankan who are playing only their firth international panicked but somehow managed to score and lead 24-23 at the scheduled close. But to the surprise of all the players and officials the Indian referee awarded 20 seconds extra time as Bangladesh scored to tie the game. All stop watches and electronic equipment at the venue clearly indicated that the match had been unlawfully extended by 20 seconds, on the sole decision of the referee. The father of Sri Lankan Kabaddi M. T. Fernando, who is the Secretary of the Asian Body promptly pointed out this mistake but to no avail. Later the team management wrote a protest but did not go ahead with it. This draw gave one point to Bangladesh and they won the bronze with 8 points. India won the gold with 12 points winning all their games while Pakistan won the silver with 9 followed by Sri Lanka finished a close fourth with 7 Japan (4), Thailand (2) and Nepal (0). Sri Lanka moved to fourth place ranking in Asia and eighth in the world. Lankan skipper P. N. Weerasinghe along with Mangala Pushpakumara (Cover) and Lalith Mendis (left in) played a superb game. Weerasinghe with tears in his eyes said that this kind of unfairness should not happen in an ASIAD. 'I do not even won't to play Kabaddi again', he said. The Indian coach, said that he was feeling sorry for Sri Lanka. We had groomed Sri Lanka for a bronze, but luck was not on our side', he said. M. T. Fernando who too was in tears said that referees were not neutral. "The referees committee chairman is from Bangladesh. So why did they have Indian referees. Why could not they have referees from Japan, Thailand or Nepal", he asked., Japan crunch Lanka Meanwhile as expected the Japan trounced Sri Lanka 116-0 in rugby, Dr. Maiya Gunasekera said. That this was something that was bargained for "we have our hopes pined on our bronze medal play off match against Taipei on Friday. Our minor injuries would not bother us. We know their style and if the three quarters excel we have a bronze", he said. The Billiards team too did not fare well and S. Shaharwardie and K. Sirisoma in the double billiard event lost 0-3 to the Malaysian pair. Today, Asiad's gold medallists Sugath Tillekeratne and Damayanthi Dharsha will feature in the 200m heats and semi-finals. Hurdler Harjon Ratnayake will run in the 400m hurdles final in the evening. Basketball has got more and more bounces in the last three months with major tournaments being played in Colombo. Police Basketball Association will organise the Depot Cup Basketball tournament after a lapse of one year at the Field Force Basketball Court, said Indra de Silva, Senior Deputy Inspect General of Police and Chairman Police Basketball Association. He further said that 20 teams have entered for the tournament and it has been divided into four groups and the finals will be worked out on 22nd December at Field Force Basketball Court. Police has always been in the forefront in the game and annexed number of trophies in the tournaments held recently. Group "A" - SL Army, Colombo B.C., Bull's B.C., Otter AC & Kalutara B.C. Group "B" - Old Bens B.C., Royal B.C., NYSC B.C., Field Force Youth B.C. & Track Master B.C. Group "C" - S. L. Police, CR & FC, ORCL B.C., P. D. Sirisena P. G. & Anderson B.C. Group "D" - S. L. Airforce, Moratuwa B. C., Wattala B. C., Tharo B. C. & Ambalangoda B. C. Depot Cup is the most popular tournament and encourages the young players to raise the standard of the game and skills said, Silva. 'Cross Currents - Sri Lanka and Australia at Cricket' out on Dec. 20 A book, 'Cross Currents - Sri Lanka and Australia at Cricket' by Michael Roberts and Alfred James will be released as from December 20. Following is a review of the book: In the mid 70's a seductive Lankan lass asked an English reporter to be kind to Sri Lanka when they eventually made the grade and played at Lords. The Sri Lankan team's Australian tour in 1995/96 witnessed many unkind moments. Indeed, it matched the notorious bodyline series for its plethora of flashpoints and heated exchanges. In an incisive outline of these episodes Roberts does not hesitate to skirt the unkind in his analysis of Australian responses. His provocative review encompasses the Australian decision to skip the match in Sri Lanka during the World Cup in the months that followed. It also reaches beyond the cricket field in unpacking the characteristics of Australian popular culture through the practices of its cricketers, umpires, sports commentators and the occasional public comment. The anthology records Australia's contribution to Sri Lankan cricket at numerous moments, notably in 1981 when the country was accorded full Test playing status. Articles on Sri Lanka's cricketing history and Alf Jame's statistical record of Australian tours of Lanka substantiate the background of interaction. The whistle-stop matches in Colombo are indexed by reports on the matches played by Bradman's and Hassett's teams - including accounts by Fingleton, O'Reilly and Learie Constantine. In this small way this book is yet another epitaph to a leading cricketing character, Sir Donald Bradman. The book concludes its survey with a celebratory outline of the Sri Lankan cricket team's performance at the World Cup, in part through comments from non-partisan observers such as Peter Roebuck, Mike Selvey, Vijay Lokapally and Henry Blofeld. The latter is affectionately known in some circles as 'the Blo-fly' - because he is 'a character'. This anthology introduces many a character in its passages. But it is also a story of character assassination and character building. Its prosework is supported by 36 illustrations interspersed within the text. These include cartoons, but are mostly pictures. Perhaps the most interesting of these are those of the Australian cricketers of yesteryear and their wives in Colombo, though the most striking are selections from the World Cup. From a particular point of view the most significant item in this collection is the reproduction of a single-page leaflet circulated by Tamil militants who demonstrated at the Oval in London during the incident-full Australian match against Sri Lanka in 1975. This is but one mark of the several ways in which issues of ethnicity, race and politics are threads that course through the book. |
||
 |