HNB ‘A’, Hayleys crowned mercantile hockey champions

By Lakshman Ranasinghe

The Mercantile Hockey Association started moving along with their programmes when they successfully conducted the Men’s Nine-a-Side Knockout Championship 2021 at the AstroTurf last Saturday.

The tournament was conducted in four divisions with 14 top mercantile establishments battling for the “A”, “B,” “C,” and “D” Divisions. The cream of Sri Lanka’s hockey talent was displayed at the competition, in which every team was out to bring honour to their respective establishments.

In the highly contested “A” division, Hatton National Bank Group “A”, along with Commercial Bank PLC “A”, Sampath Bank PLC “A” and Allianz Insurance Limited “A”, battled for supremacy.

In the “A” division final, where fortunes swung from side to side, Hatton National Bank “A” emerged the winner, scoring a 1-0 win over Commercial Bank PLC “A”. The final featured a fast and open stick display as both teams attempted to break through their opponents’ defences.

With just two minutes to go for lemons, Damith Bandara found a gap in the commercial bank’s defence to put his bank in front. As there was no scoring in the 2nd half, the final whistle was blown with HNB “A” in the lead to walk away as champs in the 2021 edition of the Nine-a-Side knockout championship.
Damith Bandara (Hatton National Bank) was adjudged the Best Player.
Hayleys stood high in the “B” Division to emerge champions with a 2-0 win over Commercial Bank “B”.  J. Wijekoon put Hayleys in front in the 7th minute of the first half, while Bodhika Dias made sure of their win with a goal in the 8th minute of the second half.

The Best Player award was won by Bodhika Dias (Hayleys Group).

In a keenly contested “C” division final, Sampath Bank “B” scored a 2-1 win over Hatton National Bank “B” in the penalty shoot out. The penalty shoot-out came into play as the score stood 0-0 at the final whistle.
Isanka Senanayake (2) for the winners and Indika Hewawasam (1) for the HNB were the main scorers.
The Best Player award was won by Asanka Maduranga (Sampath Bank).

Browns Group of Companies had little to sweat as N. Kahingala sounded the board in the 3rd minute of the first half and the Browns defended the lead throughout the match to walk away as the champs, defeating Airport and Aviation.

Pathum Prabodha (Browns Group) received the Best Player award.

The event was graced by the presence of Gihan De Silva as the Chief Guest and Malaka Satharasinghe as the Guest of Honour.