Sri Lanka team named for first HSBC International Junior Golf Championship

• To be played at Royal Colombo Golf Club on 10 August 

 The Sri Lanka Golf Union, the national body for golf in Sri Lanka, together with HSBC, will host the first ever international junior golf championship to be played between Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

Unfortunately the Indian contingent had to withdraw at the last minute due to unavoidable circumstances. However, the Indian Golf Union has conveyed its best wishes for the tournament as it is the only one of its kind to be played in the region. The event, which creates a platform for Sri Lanka’s juniors to compete with the best in the Indian subcontinent, was the brainchild of the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) Junior Sub Committee and was conceived with the singular aim of raising the standard of the sport in the country. 

Each of the countries will field a team comprising four boys and two girls. The event will be conducted by the Sri Lanka Golf Union (SLGU) and the format will be structured on a hybrid version of similar international team events played worldwide such as the Asia Pacific Golf Team Championship and the Ryder Cup in the US.  

After much deliberation the Sri Lanka team was selected by the national golf selectors headed by Captain Navin De Silva. The experienced Januka Dilshan of Susumayawardana College, the Sri Lanka Junior Open 2015 winner, has been named captain of the six-member team. The team also comprises 16-year-old Vinod Weerasinghe of British School, who is currently ranked no. 1 nationally and has many accolades to his credit such as winning the Sri Lanka Junior Match Play Championship 2016 and Sri Lanka Junior Open 2016. Adding further strength to the squad will be 18-year-old T. Akash of Susumayawardana College, who is the current Sri Lanka Junior Match Play Champion 2017. 

Versatile sportsman 17-year-old Armand Flamer Caldera of S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia, who represented Sri Lanka in 2011 and 2012 at the IODA Asian Championship in sailing, now makes his national debut in golf. He is currently ranked second nationally and has had a host of strong wins in the recent past including emerging the Kandy Regional Junior Open winner in 2016 and runner-up at the Sri Lanka Junior Open 2016. 

Sixteen-year-old Taniya Balasuriya of Sri Jayawardenapura Girls’ School, Kotte will also be on the team. She has numerous national wins to her credit such as the Sri Lanka Ladies’ Stroke Play Championship 2016, 2015 and 2016 Kandy Regional Junior Open and 2015 and 2016 Sri Lanka Junior Match Play Championship. 

Taniya has considerable international exposure, having participated at many overseas golf events. The youngest member of the team is 14-year-old Kayla Perera, a student of Ladies’ College who won the Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship in the 2016 Silver division (in the 12-14+ age group). She too has played in numerous overseas tournaments and has also participated in the prestigious British Junior Open played in Scotland in 2016. 

Preceding the international team championship, an individual event will be open to current junior golfers in the country on 9 August which is also to be played at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. This will be based on four age groups and categorised as 15-18+ years (Gold Division), 12-14+ years (Silver Division), 10-11+ years (Bronze Division) and 9 years and under (Copper Division). So far there have been 13 foreign entries for the tournament. 

The HSBC Junior International Golf Championship is supported by several prestigious event partners. Cinnamon Life is the hospitality partner and will host all the international teams while MAS Kreeda, the apparel partner, has generously provided sportswear for the grassroots program. IMORICH from Elephant House has come forward as the indulgence partner. In addition Olu water will support the event as the official beverage with Callaway Golf, the renowned golf brand, serving as the equipment sponsor.