Quest for Blue Jacket begins

The Sri Lanka Junior Match-Play Golf Championship, a feature Sri Lanka Junior Golf Calendar Tournament conducted annually at the Royal Colombo Golf Club, will be played from 5-8 August. 

The opening day’s play will be a qualifying stroke-play medal round with the best gross scores moving on to the match-play format of the tournament from 6 to 8 August.

This interesting and prestigious junior event is sponsored by Perera and Sons Bakers Ltd., the family company of the late Rukmini Kodagoda. The Junior Match-Play Championship is held yearly in honour of Rukmini Kodagoda, who won the Sri Lanka Amateur Championship in 1979 and several other club tournaments. 

‘Ruki’, as she was popularly known, established herself as one of Sri Lanka’s talented sportswomen, having won national titles and representing Sri Lanka in both tennis and golf. In tennis, she won the national doubles and mixed doubles titles, partnering top players during her era such as Ranjani Jayasuriya, Wendy Molligoda, and Bernard Pinto on several occasions. She also held the prestigious position of Sri Lanka Ladies Golf Union Chairman in 1990 and 1991 and Royal Colombo Golf Club Ladies Section Captain. 

“P&S is excited to continue supporting Sri Lanka Golf (SLG), especially junior golf, by offering a competitive platform for young talents to excel. Success in these tournaments will open doors to international competitions. We believe there’s a treasure trove of hidden talent waiting to be unveiled through events like this. We are committed to introducing young athletes to the joys of golf, honouring the passion of our late Chairperson Rukmini Kodagoda,” said P&S CEO/Managing Director Gihan Perera.

“The tournament is played for the ninth year and it is heartening to note the enthusiasm and the test of mental grit of our junior golfers given the different match-play format of the championship. The progress of the junior golfers has been outstanding, with many juniors challenging the senior National Amateur golfers for selection in the national team in the recent past year.”

“We are truly encouraged by P&S’s commitment to junior golf. This prestigious tournament, run by SLG together with P&S’s generous sponsorship, will see the emergence of a junior national match-play champion of Sri Lanka for 2024. Match-play is a knock out format that tests the character and skill of these young players. I wish all participants fun and the best of luck, and may the best player win,” said Sri Lanka Golf Union President Ranil Pieris.

The inaugural Sri Lanka Junior Match-Play Golf Championship was played in 2014 with Prashan Pieris winning the title. The tournament was played for nine years, but was not played during the COVID-19 lockdown period, resuming in 2022. The winners in 2023 were Kaya Daluwatte, who defended her title won in 2022 in the girls division, and K. Danushan in the boys, winning the trophy for boys for the first time. 

This year, the top juniors performing at national level and participating in the Senior Ranking Tournaments conducted by SLG, namely Reshan Algama, Nirek Tejwani, Jevahn Sathasivam, and Aadithya Weerasinghe from Anuradhapura, are expected to challenge the defending champion for the Trophy.

Players will compete in four age group categories comprising the Gold Division (15-18 years), Silver Division (13-14 years), Bronze Division (11-12 years), and Copper Division (10 years and under).

The overall winner of the championship will carry away the Rukmini Kodagoda Challenge Trophy in the boys and girls categories respectively. The tournament format will be based on a qualifying stroke-play round for each age category, with the best eight qualifying scores going on to play in the match-play knock out finals to determine the Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Copper Division winners.

However, girls in the Gold and Silver Divisions and boys in the Gold Division will be eligible to vie for the Rukmini Kodagoda Trophy and the title of Junior Boys Champion and Junior Girls Champion respectively.