The Festival of Cricket (FOC) is said to be one of the largest community events in the UK and Europe. It is a highly anticipated annual social event among the British Sri Lankan community. The FOC brings together one of the largest overseas Sri Lankan communities in the spirit of cricket, spreading goodwill and camaraderie. Since its inception in 1989, with the Old Boys Associations of six schools, the FOC has grown into a major platform uniting over thirty old boys associations representing a wide range of schools in Sri Lanka. The current President of FOC (a past student of Thurstan College, Sri Lanka) shared with SLF that the Promotional Evening for the Festival of Cricket was held on 14th June 2024 at the Sri Lankan High Commission in Hyde Park, London. The event aimed to promote the 34th Annual Festival of Cricket, scheduled for 7th July 2024, in Ilford,
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All-natural products are carefully selected to ensure they bring not just authenticity but also the healthful benefits of pure organic products all the way from Sri Lanka, Jeewaka Fernando, the President/CEO, launched the online “Pure Ceylon” store in 2018. In March of 2024, Jeewaka unveiled the EMAIRS Sports USA cricket gear brand, a product line that stands out for its superior quality and unmatched performance. In our discussion, Jeewaka emphasized that these products are crafted with the finest materials and expert precision, designed to take your game to new heights. Whether you’re a seasoned player or just starting out, EMAIRS Sports USA is the ultimate choice for those who strive for excellence. With its sleek and stylish design, you’ll not only perform like a pro but also look the part on the field. Jeewaka is very confident, as he states that the “EMAIRS brand is created and designed by EMAIRS
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The fifth iteration of “Race the Pearl,” a 24-hour race traverses from Point Pedro to Dondra Head, will take off on November 5, 2022. Six international cyclists will lead the challenge of covering the 600-kilometer distance in “Race the Pearl.” At the same time, over 50 other participants will join either as teams and enter, relay-style, or as individual cyclists. Spinner Cycling, the organizing and technical partner of Ironman 70.3 Colombo and “Around the Pearl in 10 Days,” a related cycling event, launches “Race the Pearl,” endorsed by the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, intending to promote the #VisitSriLanka campaign through cycling. Remarkably, “Race the Pearl” has been approved as a qualifying event for the upcoming RAAM (Race Across America), a renowned ultra-distance road cycling race that spans between the west coast and the east coast of the USA for a total distance of over 4,800 kilometers. This is also
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Hiruni Wijeratha, South Asia’s fastest female marathoner, a 29 year old, Sri Lankan-American Champion, a long distance running athlete who has kept the Lion Flag flying high victoriously before the world many times. Born in Kirulapone, Sri Lanka, Hiruni attended St. Bridget’s Convent, where she began her journey as an athlete. Even though her athlete career blossomed in the U.S, her gleaming desire was to compete as a Sri Lankan athlete. In order to represent the Sri Lankan Sports Selection Committee, she ran her first Marathon in which she shattered the previous national records. Today, she is the South Asia’s Fastest Female Marathoner. She is also the first Sri Lankan to qualify for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) World Athletic Championship. Marathoner Hiruni Wijayaratne clocked 2 hours 43 minutes and 31 seconds in the Eugene Marathon when she crossed the finish line as first female and 11th overall
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Matthew Duncan Abeysinghe, born 19 March 1996 is a competitive swimmer who has represented Sri Lanka at numerous international competitions. Abeysinghe trained under his coach and father, Manoj Abeysinghe, with Killer Whale Aquatics, until his departure for higher education, where he resumed his training at Ohio State University in the US. Abeysinghe is regarded as the greatest swimmer and one of the most accomplished athletes Sri Lanka has ever produced. Abeysinghe started swimming when he was three years old alongside his older brother, Andrew. He has been quoted, saying he started swimming merely for water safety, not to compete. Over the course of his career, Abeysinghe has achieved numerous accolades, including; international medals, national records, national championships, and several national awards. Abeysinghe is considered the greatest athlete in South Asian Games history. He is also the most decorated; winning a total of 14 gold medals, two silver medals, and one
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The perfect start for Pakistan Winning the toss, Pakistan came out all guns blazing in the final in Dubai. Naseem Shah got the ball rolling by bowling a beauty to dismiss Kusal Mendis for a duck. Pathum Nissanka also could not carry on his brilliant run, with Haris Rauf getting the better of him on 8. Rauf would then bowl a sizzler to send Danushka Gunathilaka packing for 1. If Sri Lanka believed they would get a reprieve, the spinners would then chip in with a couple of wickets for Pakistan. Iftikhar Ahmed got the wicket of Dhananjaya de Silva for 28, who up to that point was looking in good nick. Skipper Dasun Shanaka also couldn’t contribute much, with Shadab Khan bowling him for 2. At the halfway mark, Pakistan were well and truly on top. Rajapaksa, Hasaranga mount Sri Lanka’s fightback Sri Lanka would then launch a brilliant
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While Sri Lanka goes through major political and economic crises, their sports teams are achieving considerable success. I wrote about the men’s win in the Asia Cup cricket tournament on Sunday. This news overshadowed that on the same day, their women’s team won the Asia Netball Championships, defeating Singapore 63-53 in the final. Netball is a game played in over 80 countries, primarily by women. It is similar to basketball in that the they have a similar court and ball and hoops at each end where you score goals. It is different from basketball in that you cannot dribble or bounce the ball. The player in possession has to remain stationary, hence ball progression is achieved entirely by passing to team mates, which makes team work and accurate passing very important. It is not a game where one virtuoso player can carry the team. There are seven players on a
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Sri Lanka’s Yupun Abeykoon and Palitha Bandara secured medals in one night for Sri Lanka at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Yupun Abeykoon won bronze in the men’s 100 m finals at the Commonwealth Games 2022 clocking 10.14 seconds. Kenya won Gold and South Africa claimed silver. Palitha Bandara won the silver medal in the Men’s F42-44/61-64 Discus Throw at the Commonwealth Games 2022 recording a distance of 44.20 m. For more Information go to:
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COLOMBO (News 1st); The Sri Lanka Women’s 100m relay team sprinted their way to silver at the 61st Indian Interstate Athletics Championship 2022 on Sunday (12), in Chennai. The Sri Lankan team of Amasha de Silva, Shelinda Jansen, Medhani Jayamanne and Lakshika Sugandhi clocked 45.35 seconds to win silver in 100 relay event. The Indian team cruised to Gold clocking of 43.95 second while the team from the Indian state of Kerala came in third. For more information go to:
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Sophia Dharmasena an old girl of Government Central College Minuwangoda was a shining star in six sports such as Netball, Volleyball, Basketball, Badminton, Football and Athletics. She had the honour of representing the Sri-Lanka Netball team for the first ever inaugural World tournament in 1963 , which was staged in England and they were victorious against Northern Ireland and Wales. She was appointed as the captain of the Netball team in 1970 and the volleyball team in 1973 and had the distinction of becoming a double international Sophia Dharmasena’s two sons Kishan and Suranjith are famous cricketers, who played for Thurstan College and division one club cricket for NCC and Tamil Union respectively and presently participates in the ongoing Masters 50 plus tournaments. Suranjith represented the Sri-Lanka Schools under 19 team captained by Aravinda de Silva on the tour of Australia in 1984 and also the Masters World Cup tournament
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