Friday Nov 15, 2024
Friday Nov 15, 2024
Friday, 30 August 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Royal College diving team emerged champions in the 45th National Age Group Aquatic Championship held in Sugathadasa Stadium and Royal College Colombo from 15-17 August. The defending champions scored a mammoth 162 points followed by Thurstan College (37 points) and Otters Aquatic Club (30 points). The team was led by second year coloursman Abhisheka Meegolla with Nithila Illukpitiya as his deputy.
Royal collected their points across all the age groups. Matheesha Marambe (under 16) and Thenuwan Meegalla (under 14) won gold medals in 1-meter and 3-meter spring boards and 5-meter platform events to contribute 30 points each for Royal College while captain Abhisheka Meegolla won one gold (1-meter spring board) and two silver medals (3-meter spring board and 5-meter platform), contributing 24 points. Yusuf Shihar (under 14) won three silver medals in 1-meter and 3-meter spring boards and 5-meter platform events and contributed 21 points to the overall tally.
In under 12 junior category. Geesath Fernando and Mikhail Jayaweera won one gold and obe silver medal each, contributing 15 points individually to the defending champions. Seniru Rodrigo in under 12 category won a silver medal while Revan Abhayaratne (under 14), Nithila Illukpitiya (under 19), Senitha Weerasekara (under 14), and Induwara Gunawardhane (under 16) won bronze medal each.
The team is coached by a former Royalist and Sri Lankan diving team captain Chanaka
Wickremesinghe who had represented the country in both World Diving Championship in 1999 and 2002 held respectively in Czech Republic and Canada. The 2002 Royal Crown winner is an Asian Bronze Medalist at Asian Diving Championship in Chinese Taipei in 2000 and was the coach for the 21st Commonwealth Games held th1s year in Gold Coast.
