Saturday 4th December, 2010 15

tions. The win by Sri Lanka might cer- Letters tainly have helped to send out a mes- sage that the islanders can aspire to finish higher in Asian rankings given SLC and its they have the availability of their best players. So going by performances in the political clout Asian sevens tournaments this year, Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea and It was the former Sports China occupy the slots from one to Minister C. B. Ratnayaka, in four with the fifth and sixth place assuming office, raised a going to and Sri Lanka hornet’s nest by stating that respectively. The win by the host Sri Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) Lanka at the Carlton Sevens will not was the third most corrupt promote Sri Lanka to the fifth position institution in the country. He in Asia because the event was not a certainly said a mouthful. He rating tournament. So the battle made it quite clear that he between Sri Lanka and Malaysia in the was hell bent on cleansing Asian sevens segment will continue next year. the Augean stables of SLC If the sixth position for Sri Lanka is by weeding out the corrupt not good enough, listen to this. elements in the board of Tournament Director George control for cricket in the Simpkins told television presenter country. Chandrishan Perera that; “Sri Lanka Sad to say his mouthing Suraj has shown that they can be better than came a cropper with Chairman Dandeniya anybody else in Asian rugby sevens”. D. S. de Silva and Secretary Let’s not lose hope now! Nishantha Ranatunga still holding key positions in Fiji lived up to their status as the SLC. Mr. Ratnayaka has now made way for the tournament favourite and got the bet- new Minister of Sports, Mahindananda ter of Spain in the final of the Cup Aluthgamage. It amounts to new wine in old bottles. These corrupt elements in SLC will still come under his Sri Lanka scores against BY RAVI NAGAHAWATTE safety net to maintain their political clout which Malaysia at the Carlton they still maintain with the present regime. Sevens. On the 2nd day of Carlton Sevens Review When politicians took over the reigns of sports ri Lanka had an ideal opportuni- the tournament, Sri Lanka ty in being pitted against some of governing bodies, their henchmen were appointed convincingly beat Malaysia Sthe super powers in to the various interim committees. A case in point 31-7 in the Shield at last week’s Carlton Sevens. Games is the appointment of Suraj Dandeniya as the Sri Championship semi-final. against South African ‘Vipers’ and Lanka ICC World Cup Secretariat head by SLC This was the fourth time New Zealand ‘Legends’ showed the dif- Secretary N. Ranatunga. Sri Lanka were meeting ference between Sri Lanka and ‘heavy- Suraj happens to be a nephew of the SLC Malaysia during the calen- weights’, who play this robust sport. Chairman de Silva, who has gone further by dar year and the win was Those round robin matches weren’t Sri Lanka appointing yet another nephew of his to the World welcome given the fact certainly our league. Even teams like Cup Secretariat, which smacks of blatant that they lost in all three Japan, Korea and China wilted under Nepotism? These lotus eaters have been appoint- previous encounters. (Pic pressure when playing against the ‘big ed at the whims and fancies of ministers. What a by Kamal boys’ on day-one of the tournament. calamity for Sri Lankan sport? Under the guidance of the World Cup director, Wanniarachchi/Files) So, spare the Sri Lankans from being settle score construction work in refurbishing of the R. ridiculed. The first day of this annual inter- Premadasa International Cricket Stadium in time national rugby tournament belonged for the 2011 World Cup, which is just round the Premier O/D to teams like champs Fiji, New Zealand corner, is moving at snail pace. The target date as ‘Legends’, South African ‘Vipers’ and specified by the ICC for the completion of all con- cricket tourney the big surprise of the tournament, with Malaysia struction work is the 30th of November 2010 and Spain, who were a class in their own. all playing facilities are to be match-ready by the rescheduled For the keen followers of Asian 31st of December 2010. rugby, the tournament started to The lethargic manner in which Suraj set about final. This was the fourth time Sri become interesting on the second day. his task leaves much to be desired. His proud BY REVATA S. SILVA Lanka were meeting Malaysia during a competition. Spain was perhaps the As much as the giants fought for the boast that Sri Lankan World Cup venues are ten calendar year and the win was certain- find of the tournament enjoying great large slice of the ‘rugby cake’, the days ahead of schedule is good for the gullible. He This season’s Premier Tier ly welcome, given the fact that they success with wins over better estab- Asians had their sights set in seeing and his cousin are groping in the dark. The target ‘A’ one-day cricket tournament, lost the other three encounters. lished sides like Korea (43-0), who’d standout in their ‘league’. dates set by the ICC appears to hold no water. which was to begin tomorrow There is another angle to consider Australian ‘Legends’ (21-7), Samoa Japan, China, Korea, Malaysia and Sri This major construction project to them, I pre- (Dec. 5) has been rescheduled whenever there is a Sri Lanka vs. ‘Barbarians’ (17-14) before going down Lanka showcased the ability to play sume, is viewed as a goldmine. to start on Saturday, Dec. 11, match. Malaysia is on to eventual winners Fiji (36-7). running rugby. Japan finished as the They, I hope are not in the same boat as the the Sri Lanka Cricket paper the better side given the fact that Simpkins complimented the per- top Asian side, qualifying for the Plate officials of the 19th Commonwealth Games in announced on Friday (Dec. 3). they are rated fifth in the Asia sevens formance of Spain and Germany and Championship final followed by China India, who are now been investigated for corrup- There will be 11 main clubs rankings followed by Sri Lanka. The warned that Europe would soon be a and Sri Lanka which booked their tion. participating in the tourna- outfit that represented the Sri Lanka driving force in international rugby berths in the Bowl and Shield Let’s hope the new Minister of Sports use all his ment, divided into two groups, team might not reflect the true stan- sevens. Germany walked away with Championship finals respectively. powers to see that the director of World Cup and the two semi-finals and dard of the national sevens team of the Bowl Championship beating China. From a Sri Lankan perspective, how Secretariat Suraj Dandeniya get his act together the finals are slated for the islanders. The tournament was a success, December 22, 23 and 28 respec- they dotted their path to the Shield From a Malaysian perspective, they thanks to the untiring efforts of and see that the R. Premadasa International tively. final was of great importance. were perhaps represented by their best ‘Tharunyayata Hetak’ and the clock- Cricket Stadium is completed on schedule, avoid- According to SLC, the ven- In the morning of the second day, squad which was powered by expatri- like running of the tournament by the ing SLC becoming laughing stock in world cricket! ues for the semis and the final Sri Lanka convincingly beat Malaysia ate Fijians, now qualified to represent tournament organisers, the Sri Lanka Rex Wijewardene are to be decided after the 31-7 in the Shield Championship semi- them, keeping with the IRB regula- . Dehiwala qualifiers for those matches are ascertained and the SLC also says the final match may ASIAN GAMES be a day-night affair. Earlier, the tournament was DEBACLE to go on till first week of Anuradhapura nurses win in district volleyball January 2011. he sorry and substandard performance by Tier ‘A’ Teams (11 clubs) – one of our women athletes in the javelin Group ‘A’ (6): Tthrow event at the recently concluded Asian Tamil Union C & AC, Games in China clearly shows that our selectors Chilaw Marians CC, Colombo are not doing their duties correctly or conscien- Cricket Club, Nondescripts tiously (Sic! whatever the reasons are). CC, Lankan CC and A set of track-event athletes just prior to this Badureliya CC were debarred by the courts from travelling to Group ‘B’ (5): The Anuradhapura compete in the New Delhi Commonwealth Games Singhalese SC, Colts CC, Nurses’ School as they were selected injudiciously over a legiti- Bloomfield C & AC, Ragama clinched the title of mate athlete of the track events who had shown CC and Saracens SC the district state much better timing! Tier ‘B’ too – services volleyball Whither Sri Lanka’s ‘forward march’ atmos- The Premier one-day Tier for women on phere! Certainly, elements are creeping into many ‘B’ too was earlier scheduled to September 30. The sports bodies and are surreptitiously lining their begin on Dec. 5 but under the tournament was new schedule, it will now start pockets even at the expense of the good name of held at the public Sri Lanka as the former China Games javelin on December 11 ending on the indoor stadium of 28th with the final. throw effort, mentioned above, indicates! Anuradhapura. Here The semi-finals of this ten- No one knows what happened to the officials is the victorious team event are to be held on who tried to send the wrong team to India. Dec. 23 and 24. Earlier, the nurses’ volleyball It is high time that the Honourable Sports final was scheduled for Dec. 21. team with their Minister and the country’s law deal very severely The venues of the semis and sports instructors, with these offenders whatever their status or pull. the final are to be notified M. A. Wimal and Here’s all good wishes for the miracle of Asia later. Suneetha in the making. Tier ‘B’ Teams (10) – Ranasinghe. W. Meadows Group ‘A’ (5): (Pic by Palitha Dehiwela Panadura SC, Police SC, Air Sumithrarachchi) Force SC, Navy SC and Moors SC Group ‘B’ (5): Seeduwa – Raddoluwa CC, Australia: Stadium offer clinched Qatar bid BRC, Singha SC, Antonians SC and Army SC. SYDNEY (AP) - Australia’s He said there were some ques- the competition home.” sports minister says Qatar’s plan tions around issues such as the The Australian newspaper said to ship surplus stadiums to devel- Persian Gulf heat over June and Friday that FIFA “took the con- oping nations and its contribu- July when the Cup is traditional- tentious and high-risk option” of tion to Middle East peace appear ly held. giving the 2022 event to Qatar. TAASL – to have clinched it the 2022 World “At the same time, the dele- “The cash-rich but tiny Gulf Cup. gates made decisions based on state of Qatar has few football Sri Lankan Mark Arbib said Qatar’s pres- more than the technical evalua- fans or stadiums and has a cli- entation was first-class, with its tions,” he said. “Clearly the lega- mate that will be so hot during Airlines Cricket proposal for dismantling stadi- cy that Qatar was going to pro- the World Cup that the organisers Fiesta today ums after the event and trans- vide in infrastructure played admit they will need to build mas- porting them to developing heavily.” sive air-conditioning systems for The Travel Agents’ nations fulfilling FIFA’s interest Football Federation Australia entire stadiums and fan zones to Association of Sri Lanka in seeing the World Cup produce chairman Frank Lowy said in a avoid serious heath risks,” The (TAASL) in collaboration with a legacy. statement released from Zurich Australian said on its website. the Sri Lankan Airlines will Despite a high-profile $45 mil- that he was “hugely disappointed, The newspaper said the host the annual 6-a-side soft lion campaign backed by Prime both personally and for all Oceania Football Federation cor- ball cricket tournament, the Minister Julia Gillard, Australia Australians that we have missed ruption issue may have affected Cricket Fiesta, at the NCC was knocked out in the first out this time.” Australia’s bid. grounds in Colombo starting at round with just one vote. “We are extremely proud at “Australia’s loss followed a New Sports Ministry Secretary: Udaya Ranjith Seneviratne assumed duties Arbib said he thought how we conducted ourselves in scandal-plagued contest in which 8.30 a.m. today (Dec. 4). as secretary to the newly appointed Minister of Sports, Mahindananda The event is mainly for the Australia had a chance of gain- the bidding process and of the the Oceania Football Federation, Aluthgamage at the ministry office at Reid Avenue, Colombo on December families of all travel agents in ing 2022 hosting rights, but great technical aspects of our which had vowed to back the country, a media release by Qatar’s 11 votes in the first round bid.” Australia, saw its only delegate 2. In the picture is Minister Aluthgamage (2-R), P. B. Jayasundara (R), Sri Lankan Airlines said on meant “it was a pretty decisive Lowy said. “Ultimately we did suspended over bribery allega- Finance Ministry Secretary, and wife of Udaya Seneviratne (L). (Pic by Friday (Dec. 3). victory for them.” not have enough votes to bring tions,” it said. Nimal Dayaratne)