Thursday 17th December, 2009 The Tiger Sanga appointed Kings XI Woods brand Now, Punjab will bounce back by Chris Lehourites agents prey upon LONDON (AP) - Tiger Woods can still salvage his tarnished image around the world despite the scandal that has forced him to take an indefinite break from golf, according to several global school cricketers brand experts. The Island Sports Desk In Europe, where people are tradi- and Charith Jayampathi, Roshan Chathura Peiris (Captain- St. tionally more liberal when it comes to Abeysinghe has bagged Bhanuka Peter’s), Kithruwan Vithanage social attitudes, the scandal has hurt the American, but his power to sell is not Eight out of fifteen Rajapakse and Rumesh (Royal College), Danushka beyond repair. In countries where cul- Under-19 World Cup players are Buddhika. Gunathilaka(Mahanama tural taboos about infidelity are greater, ready to be sold like some of their It is argued in the school cir- College), Udara it may take a little longer for the world’s senior players as two player cles whether it is ethical to gain Jayasundara(Ananda College), No. 1 golfer to recover, but the consensus agents in a questionable move financial benefits from players Andri Berenger(St. Peter’s is that it will happen. have engrossed them without who are still attending school and College), Rumesh “He may never achieve those peaks even consulting the Ministry of whether the money making indi- Buddhika(Mahinda College), again that he’s done, but he will be a sig- nificant sportsman and a significant fig- Education who has the ultimate viduals are trying to corrupt the Yasodha Lanka(Richmond ure in the world of golf in a few years’ responsibility of the still school teenagers even before they could College), Denuwan time. I have no doubt about it,” said going players, The Island learns. achieve success in their budding Rajakaruna(Mahinda College), Simon Middleton, a British brand con- Of the 15 players approved by cricket careers. Charith Jayampathi(D.S. by S Venkat Narayan sultant. “Nobody just writes people off the Ministry of Sports for the ICC “It is ridiculous to see these Senanayake College), Lahiru advice. like that.” Under-19 World Cup which will be individuals preying on budding Jayarathne(St. Peter’s- formerly Our Special Correspondent The decision has been In the last two weeks, Woods was held in New Zealand, Roshan cricketers like greedy vultures Christ Church), Kasun reportedly been conveyed to involved in a minor car accident, acknowledged adultery, announced an Abeysinghe and Ravi de Silva even before they could achieve Madusanka (St. Servatius’ NEW DELHI, December Yuvraj. indefinite leave from his sport and was have taken under their manage- something in cricket,” an official College), Bhanuka 16: Sri Lankan skipper Yuvraj led the team in the dropped by a major sponsor. All of that, ment eight players in the squad. close to Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Rajapakse(Royal College), Kumar Sangakkara was first two seasons of the IPL. It the experts say, will have an effect on While Ravi de Silva has taken Association told The Island’. Rushan Jaleel(Royal College), today appointed the new cap- reached the semi-finals in the what he can persuade the public to buy. under him skipper Chathura Sri Lanka’s Under-19 Maduka tain of Kings XI Punjab for first season, but could not “People will struggle to look at him as Peiris, Kithruwan Vithanage, World Cup squad includes; Liyanapathirana(Lumbini- for- the third edition of the cash- replicate that success in the a role model to represent good business Danushka Gunathilaka, Udara Sri Lanka Under-19 Squad for merly President’s), Saranga rich Indian Premier League second. decisions,” said Julian Stubbs, a global branding expert in Stockholm. “His Jayasundara, Andri Berenger the ICC Youth World Cup: Rajaguru (Nugawela Central). (IPL). Yuvraj is the fourth cap- marketability will definitely change.” He replaces Yuvraj Singh. tain from among IPL teams to Reports circulating here be sacked. The others are for over a week now say that Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman Pushpakumara, Suraj the team’s coach Tom Moody and Sourav Ganguly. had complained to the owners However, Ganguly has fly in as replacements of the franchise about been reinstated as skipper of Yuvraj’s attitude problem, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). saying he continually ignored KKR is owned by Bollywood Murali and Dilhara the team management’s superstar Shah Rukh Khan. return home Already trailing the ODI series 0-1, Lokuge grants school Sri Lankan cricketers suffered another blow on Tuesday night when two of their leading bowlers were ruled out of the principals joy rides remainder of the tour with injuries. Muralitharan damaged his ligaments Minister of Sports South Africa with during the third Test Match and was out and Public Recreation the under-19 cricket of the T-20 Internationals and the first Gamini Lokuge has team as an observer ODI while Fernando, who bowled well decided to send two while Rohana during the first ODI injured his thumb school principals on Karunaratne of while trying to field off his own bowling. tours of South Africa Prince of Wales Sri Lanka’s physiotherapist Tommy and New Zealand with College, Moratuwa Simsek has recommended a four to six the unde-19 cricket will travel to New week rest for Fernando. team who’ll be travel- Lokuge Zealand later next Off-spinners Muthumudalige ling to those countries month. Pushpakumara and Suraj Randiv were within the next two months. Both trips are expected flown in to India for the remainder of the H.K. Abeypala of Taxilla to cost SLC over four mil- series. MMV, Horana will tour lion rupees. Badminton stalemate continues by Ravi Nagahawatte Badminton critics have shown National Olympic Committee and disapproval in the manner in which the National Selection Committee Sri Lanka’s badminton contin- players have been pitted against before releasing them to the public,” ues to be caught in a net of contro- each other in the trials to pick the De Silva said. versy with Wednesday passing squad for the SA Games. He refuted claims of a ranking without officials finding a break- They complain that there is no system for players being absent. He through to a problem that has put a player ranking system in the coun- however said that he had to check stop to the final selection trial to try and that only a single ranking records before commenting as to pick the squad for the upcoming tournament has been held this year. how many ranking tournaments South Asian Games (SA Games). They point out this is why players were held this year. He also rub- A source said that the players haven’t been ranked this season. bished claims that badminton offi- were disheartened that badminton They also state that certain players cials favoured certain players and was conducted in the country to suit are favoured when picking them for said, “Some of these players who the agenda of a few selected players. tours abroad or special training. are causing problems were given The source, who spoke on terms Professor Ranjth De Silva first preference when picking play- of anonymity, told The Island that Chairman Badminton Interim ers for tours, but we had no choice the players were totally opposed to Committee when contacted said to send the next set of best players conducting the final trials in the that he was confident of solving the when the first set of players refused absence of players who were present crisis in badminton and to accept the invitations to play abroad, either contesting tourna- fielding a team for the SA Games, abroad,” he said. ments or undergoing special train- scheduled for January 2010, in De Silva said that badminton had ing. Bangladesh. made progress under the adminis- The issue caught the attention of “Enough trial matches have been tration of the Badminton Interim a private television station last held. In fact we have enough statis- Committee and warned that Sri morning where parents were seen tics of players and the two squads Lanka would lose foreign funding if complaining about the misdeeds of can be named, but they have to be the problems in badminton were the badminton federation officials. ratified by the Sports Ministry, overexposed in the media.

Thursday 17th December, 2009