Four basketball championships in a row for Gateway College  

Having previously won Under-13, 15 and 17 age groups, Gateway College won the final and the most prestigious tournament of the year when they emerged as the International Schools’ Under-19 Basketball Champions by beating Colombo International School (CIS) at the final.

During the group stages, Gateway defeated Wycherley International School 65–15 but lost the second game to Lyceum Nugegoda with a narrow margin of 45-40. They came back strongly in the final game to beat the British School in Colombo by a score of 50–25.

In the quarter-finals, Gateway won against Asian International School 64–31 with a clear margin. Thereafter, they beat a formidable Lyceum International School, Wattala side at the semi-final with a score of 79-70.

The final with CIS Colombo was a close encounter. Having got to a strong start, Gateway had a commanding lead at half-time but CIS fought back in the second-half. However, Gateway held firm and won the championship with a final score of 83-82.

Sharo Perera was awarded as the Most Valuable Player and Sam Joshua was named the Best Defensive Player of the tournament. Munsif Mohamed of CIS was chosen to be the Best Offensive Player.

Reflecting on the very successful year, Gateway’s Team Leader in Sports Development, Thilaka Jinadasa acknowledges the major contribution made by Gateway’s Head Coach, Tharindu Fernando. He was supported by the Assistant Coaches, Sandali Liyanage and Harashanie Indrarathne.

Much effort was put into coordination of tournaments throughout the year by the Basketball Coordinators Fawzan Tarique, Suranji Peiris and Gamini Weerasinghe. Thilaka Jinadasa also praised the teams’ perseverance, camaraderie and the unity that contributed to this remarkable achievement.