Sports
Sri Lanka Junior National Sailing Team makes waves at IODA Championship
Royalist Yusef Hazari, reigning national champ placed 7th
The Sri Lankan junior national sailing team successfully completed seven days of the IODA Asian and Oceanian championship in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday.Sri Lanka’s reigning national sailing champ, Yusef Hazari of Royal College, clinched seventh place in the Silver fleet, coming in second in the final race.
“It was my first experience at an international sailing event on seas outside Sri Lanka, and it was fantastic,” said Yusef. “I hope to win a podium place next year,” he said.
Despite being the underdogs amongst the 101 participants, the team sailed alongside champions of the seas including Thailand, the US, Belgium, Japan and Singapore. For most of the youngsters aged between 13 and 15, this year’s IODA Asian and Oceanian championship was the first international event, as they missed out on the previous two years’ championship due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and they are determined to win next year.
“Out of all the sporting events we have participated in, this has been the most competitive and exciting one,” said twins Kyoshi and Kyasha Samarakkody. “We’re looking forward to qualify and win at the next one.”
The young Sri Lankans made up for their lack of experience on international waters, with grit and determination. While other teams funded by government bodies including the army and the navy, participate in at least six international events throughout the year, for the self-funded Sri Lankan team, the annual Asian and Oceanian championship is the only international event they participate as a team.
“We have a fantastic team with incredible talent,” said Krishan Janaka, Sri Lanka’s national sailing coach. “The more the children participate in different seas with different sailors, the more experience they will gain. We have world champion material amongst our midst, they just don’t have enough experience,” he said. “With the right exposure, these are world class sailors.”
This year 13 teams with 101 participants raced at the annual IODA Asian and Oceanian championship, which is one of the most prestigious Optimist racing events.
The event began with a gala opening ceremony on December 13, followed by practice races December 14. The individual races kicked off on December 15 where the Sri Lankan team was placed in the Silver Fleet. The young sailors did well throughout the individual races on December 16 with Yusef Hazari placed 9th, followed by Tharen Nanayakkara in 17th place.
Team racing kicked off on day four, with Sri Lanka’s A team consisting of Yusef Hazari, twins Tharen Nanayakkara and Nikhil Nanayakkara, Minuga Hettigamage and Chathuni Marapperuma, pitted against Thailand, that won overall second place. Sri Lanka’s B team made up of Akash De Simon, Vinuk Senaratne, twins Kyoshi Samarakkody and Kyasha Samarakkody and Sohanya de Mel went up against the final winning team Singapore.
The last two days of individual racing on December 18 and 19, saw trials and tribulations by the young Sri Lankan team as they fought alongside experienced sailors. Yusef Hazari sailed in 2nd place with Kyoshi Samarakkody coming in 10th position and Nikhil Nanayakkara following close behind in 11th place on the last day.
At the end of the seven-day event, Yusef Hazari was placed 7th, Kyoshi Samarakkody came in 22nd place, Kyasha Samarakkody in 26th place, Nikhil Nanayakkara in 28th , followed by Tharen Nanayakkara in 30th place. Minuga Hettigamage was placed 35th, Sohanya de Mel came in 42nd, Vinuk Senaratne in 44th place, Akash De Simon following close in 45th place and Chathuni Marapperuma in 47th place.
The sailors raced in low winds of 6 to 9 knots and low tides the first three days. The winds picked up in the last two days of racing to 15 to 19 knots. The last of the 10 races was cancelled due to time constraints.
This year’s 10-member Sri Lanka team is made up of Yusef Hazari and Minuga Hettigamage from Royal College; Twins Tharen Nanayakkara and Nikhil Nanayakkara, Akash de Simon and Vinuk Senaratne from S. Thomas’s College, Mt. Lavinia; twins Kyoshi Samarakkody and Kyasha Samarakkody and Sohanya de Mel from Ladies’ College; and Chathuni Marapperuma from Visakha Vidyalaya.
Thailand’s Chanatip Tongglum was the overall winner of the IODA Asian and Oceanian championship this year, with Ethan Chia and Nicol Lim from Singapore coming in second and third respectively.
“Although we did not obtain a medal, our sailors have done really well and gained a wealth of experience,” said Sarath Kuragama, COO of the Yachting Association of Sri Lanka
This year’s IODA Asian and Oceanian championship participants came from Sri Lanka, Thailand, Australia, Belgium, the USA, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, Mauritius, Singapore, Taipei, the UAE and host nation India.IODA holds world championships as well as regional championships each year, and next year’s Asian and Oceanian championship is scheduled to be held in the UAE.
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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