Musaeus beat defending champs Seethadevi to clinch first title

Musaeus College, Colombo clinched its first Singer Blue and Gold Hockey Sevens Cup after beating defending champions Seethadevi Balika Vidyalaya in the final held at the Royal College grounds last weekend.

The Colombo lasses beat the six-time defending Singer Blue and Gold Hockey champions by a solitary goal with Lihara Thilakaratne sounding the board in the second half of the 15th consecutive hockey seven-a-side competition, organised by the Royal College Hockey Club.

Musaeus College’s previous best performance in the tournament was a second place finish in 2013 before they beat the Kandy team, who had never lost a final in the tournament in the last 15 years. 

The Colombo team, coached by former Peterite Indika Prasanna since August last year, beat Kandy Gothami Balika Vidyalaya 3-0 and held Panadura Balika to a 0-0 draw in the group matches. 

Later Musaeus, led by Thesmi Gunasekera, beat Holy Family Convent Wennappuwa by a solitary goal in the pre-quarterfinal and won against Vihara Maha Devi, Badulla 3-0 in the quarterfinal and overcame the strong Kotte Janadhipathi Vidyalaya 1-0 in the semifinal. 

Runners-up Seethadevi beat Swarnamali (3-0), Panadura Balika (3-0), Pushpadana (2-0) and Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya (2-0) on their way to the final. 

Lihara Thilakaratne and Thamasha Weerasekara of Musaeus College were adjudged the Most Outstanding Player and Best Goalkeeper respectively in the girls’ category. 

The tournament was sponsored by Singer for the 15th consecutive year since 2003. 

As the main sponsor over the last 15 years, Singer Sri Lanka has seen the game growing by leaps and bounds. The participation of almost 60 teams, with more than 125 games played over the two days, offered testimony to the success of the tournament. 

The invaluable contribution of the main sponsor Singer Sri Lanka has gone a long way towards improving and popularising the game all over the island. The Royal College Hockey Club started the tournament with only 16 hockey-playing teams in 1992, mainly from Matale, Kandy and Colombo without sponsorship. But the number of schools has expanded by more than thrice with participants from districts such as Puttalam, Badulla, Galle, Matara and Kalutara.   In the boys’ category, 2015 champions Nalanda College beat Maris Stella College, Negombo 1-0 in the boys’ cup with Bodhika Dias scoring the winning goal through a penalty corner just before halftime. 

Nalanda beat St. Peter’s (3-0), Zahira, Colombo (4-0), D.S. Senanayake (2-1), hosts Royal (Golds) (4-3), and S. Thomas’, Mount Lavinia (1-0) on their way to the cup final. 

Maris Stella, who lost 0-1 to S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia in the first game, quickly recovered and beat Wesley (2-0), Ananda (1-0), St. Aloysius (1-0) and Wariyapola Sri Sumangala (3-2) on their way to the first final in the history of the tournament. 

Bodhika Dias of Nalanda College was adjudged Most Outstanding Player while K.M. Diluka Kavihara of Maris Stella College was picked as the Best Goalkeeper in the boys’ category.

Results: 

Cup Championship

Champion: Nalanda College (Boys’) and Musaeus College (Girls’)

Runners-up: Maris Stella College Negombo (Boys’) and Seethadevi Balika Vidyalaya (Girls’)

Second runners-up: S. Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia (Boys’); Janadhipathi Balika Vidyalaya (Girls’)

Third runners-up Wariyapola Sri Sumangala College (Boys’) and Sirimavo Bandaranayake Vidyalaya (Girls’)

Plate Championship

Champion: St. Aloysius College, Galle (Boys’); Sri Sumangala Balika Vidyalaya Panadura (Girls’)

Runners-up: St. Thomas College, Matale (Boys’) and Viharamahadevi Balika Maha Vidyalaya Kandy (Girls’)

2nd Runners-up: Royal Golds (Boys’); Pushpadana Girls’ College Kandy (Girls’)

Bowl Championship

Champion: St. Joseph Vaz Wennapuwa (Boys’); St. Anthony’s College (Girls’)

Runners-up: Vijaya College Matale (Boys’); Yashodara Balika Vidyalaya (Girls’)

2nd Runners-up: Christchurch College Matale (Boys’); Holy Family Girls School Wennappuwa (Girls’)