Colombo, Wennappuwa emerge U-21 hockey champs

By Susil Premalal

Colombo HA and Wennappuwa HA clinched the Men’s and Women’s titles, respectively, at the 44th Junior National Under-21 Hockey Championships held at the Shalika Grounds in Narahenpita.

A total of 15 teams participated in the Men’s Tournament while 10 teams participated in the Women’s Tournament, conducted by the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation.Colombo HA beat Matale HA 2-1 in the Men’s Championship final, while Wennappuwa HA beat Kandy HA 1-0 in the Women’s Championship final.

This is the second time that Wennappuwa HA has won the Women’s Championship, having earlier emerged as champions in 2019. In the Men’s final, Keshan Attygalle netted both goals for Colombo HA, while Nethmina Dharmakeerthi scored the solitary goal for Matale HA. In the Men’s semi-finals, Matale HA beat Sri Lanka Schools HA (Maroons) 2-0, and Colombo HA beat Kandy HA 3-0.

Meanwhile, Dinuli Perera scored the match-winning goal for Wennappuwa HA in the Women’s final. In the Women’s semi-finals, Kandy HA beat Colombo HA 2-0, and Wennappuwa HA beat Sri Lanka Schools HA (Gold) 1-0.

Kandy HA and the Combined University HA won the Men’s and Women’s third places, respectively.

Nethmina Dharmakeerthi of Matale HA and Nadali Sirimanna of the Combined University HA won the Best Player Awards in the Men’s and Women’s Championships, respectively. 
In addition, Helaruwan Karunarathna (Kandy HA) and Neeliya Kawshini (Wennappuwa HA) won the Best Goalkeeper Awards in the Men’s and Women’s Tournaments, respectively.