Defence Services clinch Men’s hockey nationals

By Susil Premalal

Defence Service HA clinched the 59th Senior National Men’s Hockey Championship when they defeated Mercantile HA 4-0 in the final encounter played at the Astro Turf in Colombo yesterday.  

A total of 17 teams participated in this tournament, which was conducted by the Sri Lanka Hockey Federation. 

Defence Services HA, with a star-studded line-up, which includes several national players, have now retained the Men’s Senior National Hockey Championship title for the 26th successive year.

Meanwhile, Anuradha Suresh of Defence Services HA was named Best Player and Dinuka Werasingha of State Service HA was selected as the Best Goalkeeper of the Tournament.
Defence Services HA virtually sealed the final in their favour even before half time as they took a commanding 3-0 lead at the interval and went on to add another goal in the second half to complete a rousing victory.

Anuradha Suresh, Kusal Thilakasiri, Eniya Weerasuriya and Udeshan Fernando scored a goal each for the winners.

Earlier, in the semi-finals Mercantile HA beat State Service HA 3-1 on penalties and Defence Service HA defeated Colombo HA 3-0.
State Services HA went on to secure third place in the tournament.