Prima Champions Cup to commence for 10th consecutive year

From left: CEO SLC Ashley De Silva, General Manager of Ceylon Agro Industries Shun Tien Shing, Vice President of the SLC K. Mathivanan, Group General Manager of Prima Group Sri Lanka Tan Beng Chuan, Secretary of the SLC Mohan De Silva and Senior Business and Marketing Manager of Ceylon Agro Industries Sajith Gunaratne

The Prima Group, in partnership with Sri Lanka Cricket, has made all plans to commence the Prima Champions Cup 2016 under-15 inter-district and inter-provincial tournaments for the10th consecutive year. The press conference was held at the SLC headquarters on the 13 September with the participation of all senior officials from SLC and Prima Group.

This year’s final match will be held on 29 and 30 September at SSC Grounds, Colombo. The tournament will allow the participation of over 800 players from all around the country including the north and east. Thirty two teams will compete against each other and the best players from these district teams will be selected for the provincial teams. Ten provincial teams will then compete for the Provincial Championship. Also, there are five teams participating from the Northern Province representing Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mulativ and Kilinochchi.

Kusal Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva, Niroshan Dikwella and Binura Fernando, who are now members of the national cricket team, have participated in the Prima Champions Cup, as well as Anuk Fernando, Sadeera Samarawickrama and Priyamal Perera, who represent the under-19 national cricket team.

At a recent press conference held to announce the commencement of this year’s tournament, General Manager Ceylon Agro Industries (Prima Group Sri Lanka) Shun Tien confirmed the renewed partnership with SLC. 

“Having successfully conducted this tournament for nine consecutive years with tremendous results, we are proud to continue with the 10th consecutive year of this effort to develop junior cricket with the renewal of our partnership with the SLC”.

Saying that all plans have been finalised for an inspiring tournament, Shun thanked SLC for giving the Prima Group the opportunity.

“On behalf of Prima, I wish to extend my gratitude to Sri Lanka Cricket for allowing us this opportunity to continue our valued partnership and for all the support provided in making the Prima Champions Cup a successful tournament that makes a positive contribution towards uplifting junior cricket in Sri Lanka”.

Ceylon Agro Industries (Prima Group Sri Lanka) Senior Business and Senior Marketing Manager Sajith Gunaratne, briefed the press on the format of this year’s tournament and also added: “Our commitment to develop junior cricket in Sri Lanka will go beyond this tournament. As always, Prima will provide all teams with total nutrition and cricket gear while they receive professional guidance from SLC coaches, thus ensuring their mental and physical development during the tournament and onwards.”

Prima Champions Cup under-15 district and provincial cricket tournaments will help the young cricketers gain confidence and experience in the coming years. With the purpose of showcasing the players’ cricketing talent, these matches will receive extensive TV coverage while the final match will be telecast on TV.