Sports
HSBC Premier Golf winners to witness 150th Open Championship in Scotland
HSBC successfully concluded two back to back golf tournaments at the Royal Colombo Golf Club recently which brought together RCGC golfers, and HSBC Premier golfers who competed for a shot at winning a once in a lifetime opportunity to witness the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland.
This year over 180 golfers demonstrated their golf skills at the HSBC Premier Golf Tournament held for the 9th year, while over 250 golfers from RCGC played in the annual 5-Club Stableford Tournament, marking 26-years of HSBC’s title sponsorship.
Deepal Akuretiyagama was the overall winner to take home the HSBC Premier Challenge Trophy and was also winner of the Seniors & Ladies & C division with a score of 43 points. Dihan Dedigama scored 38 points on a B/B 9 and was the winner of the A&B divisions. Anouk Chitty won the Ladies division with 39 Points, while Chandana De Silva won the Senior’s division with 37 Points.
The two overall winners were each presented with a fully sponsored 4 nights, 5 days’ hospitality package each to watch the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews in Scotland from 10 – 17 July 2022, which HSBC is a patron. In addition, each winner was also awarded a global health policy with benefits up to USD 800,000 courtesy of Allianz Insurance as part of HSBC’s global partnership.
Deepal Akuretiyagama sharing his thoughts, said, “As a sportsman from my younger days, my motto for any sport, has always been to work hard to improve your skills and then you play what you learnt with passion and joy. Winning is a bonus. Although this is my first commercial tournament, HSBC provided a perfect environment to apply my belief. It was a fun filled and highly professional tournament. I am grateful to HSBC for sponsoring me to the 150th Open in Scotland, which is any golfers dream. It was a privilege to be part of this. Thank you HSBC.”
“The recently concluded HSBC tournament was as well organised as a tournament could be. The professional approach from HSBC staff to look into every little matter was amazing. The entire team put on a great display of coordination and by winning gave me a once in a lifetime opportunity, first being able to attend the momentous occasion of the 150th Open Championship and the honour and privilege to visit St. Andrews. Thank you HSBC team.” said Dihan Dedigama.
Deepal Akuretiyagama Overall Winner of the HSBC Premier Golf Tournament accepting the HSBC Premier Challenge Trophy from Mark Surgenor, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Deepal Akuretiyagama Overall Winner of the HSBC Premier Golf Tournament accepting the HSBC Premier Challenge Trophy from Mark Surgenor, CEO of HSBC Sri Lanka and Maldives.Sanjeewa Wickramanayake and Adrian Perera also walked away with a Global Health Insurance plan each from Allianz Insurance offered exclusively to HSBC Premier customers during a special draw.
The overall winner at this year’s 5-Club Stableford Tournament was Manoj Algama who secured the highest score of 43 Points. The ladies champion was Fran De Mel who scored 40 points. Winning the A Division was W.A.K Fernando with 41 Points and the B Division winner was Manoj Algama with 43 Points. The winner of C division was Manjula Lanerolle scoring 42 Points, while Harendra De Silva won the Seniors division with a score of 39 Points.
HSBC is a long-term partner of some of the biggest events in global golf, including, the World Golf Championships, HSBC Champions in Shanghai, the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and The Open in the UK. In Sri Lanka, HSBC has helped elevate the
game through the sponsorship of HSBC Future Lions at grassroots level to increase both interest and participation in the game.
Continuing from last year, this year’s Premier Golf tournament also invited Premier Juniors to test their skills on the course with an 18-hole stroke play. Kaiyan Johnpillai won the 12 and below age group with 93 gross and Arika Wickramasinghe won the 13-18 age group scoring 75 gross.
In keeping with HSBC’s Net Zero ambitions, a key highlight this year was that every participating golfer at both tournaments received a box of recycled Bamboo tees from OCEANTEE, who will be supplying the same recycled tees to the 150th Open Championship at St. Andrews, Scotland. Further, to support RCGC’s own ambition of becoming carbon neutral through Project Zero, the HSBC Premier Golf T-Shirts worn at the tournament was made from recycled pet bottles.
Congratulating both winners Deepal Akuretiyagama and Dihan Dedigama James Rebert, Head of Wealth and Personal Banking further said, “We are happy to be able to give our customers an opportunity to not just enjoy golf locally, but to also experience world-class golf events, that connect to their international lifestyle. We hope both winners will enjoy their experience this year at the 150th Open Championship. This year also marked the second junior premier event creating an opportunity for young players to enter the tournament. Congratulations to Kaiyan Johnpillai and Arika Wickramasinghe on winning this year’s event and we wish them a bright future ahead in golf.
We will continue to create these experiences and new opportunities as part of our global Premier banking proposition to support our customer’s ambitions both locally and internationally.”
The tournament concluded with the awards ceremony held at the Club House.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
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