Yannik comes up trumps at 114th Captains Cup

Air Marshal Sudarshana Pathirana

Ashoka Pathirage

Capt. Navin De Silva

Yannik Kumara - Overalll Winner at Captains Cup 2020

By Shamseer Jaleel

Fifteen-year-old golfing sensation Yannik Kumara humbled all veteran golfers when he accounted for the Overall Winners award at the 114th Captains Cup which took place last weekend at the Royal Colombo Golf Club (RCGC) Course – Borella. In fact, Yannik won the same event in 2018, when he had just turned 12.

Another youngster, Nirekh Tejwani, accounted for the runner-up at the main event. This speaks volumes about junior golf in the country moving towards the correct path with the support of the hard-working committee. 

Indrajith Fernando accounted for the Masters with a nett score of 67, closely followed by Lal Rupasinghe, who had a score of 70. The Senior Division was won by Roy Anthony, with Rienzie Fernando coming in second. In the Ladies event, veteran golfer Anouk Chitty edged out youngster Kayla Perera to come away with the championship.

Three airline tickets were awarded to the players by SriLankan Airlines Chairman Ashoka Pathirage for the excellent service given by Captain Navin de Silva for over 35 years to the airline. These were won by Mahendra Jayasekera, Chris Bowers and Anouk Chitty for coming nearest to the pin in the fourth, ninth and 15th holes, respectively.

The Captains Cup has been played since 1898 without any interruption, other than during the height of the Second World War (1942-1947). The Captains Cup is a traditional event, which is followed by the members taking part at lunch hosted by the Captain of the Club Navin de Silva. 

With the conclusion of this event, also the last as the Club Captain for de Silva, another veteran golfer and banker Jehaan Ismail is tipped to take over the Presidency of RCGC at their Annual General Meeting, which is scheduled to take place on 25 March.

Pix by Jim Shadrach