Mercantile Hockey Sevens on December 15

By Susil Premalal
The Mercantile Hockey Association (MHA) yesterday announced the 46th annual seven-a-side Hockey Tournament, scheduled to take place on December 15 at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo.
Inaugurated in 1973, this historic tournament has been a cornerstone of the country’s annual hockey calendar, uninterrupted for 45 years, apart from a brief hiatus during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Renowned as the signature event of the MHA’s event calendar, the competition remains as the only seven-a-side hockey tournament in the country with such a long and distinguished history.
With over 250 players from 27 teams expected to participate, the tournament promises to deliver exceptional displays of talent. Among the participants are junior and senior players from Sri Lanka’s national hockey teams, competing for their respective organisations.
This year’s tournament will feature five divisions, showcasing fierce competition among some of the country’s top teams.
The Division ‘A’, competed for the Dennis de Rosayro Trophy, is sponsored by Janashakthi Insurance Co. Ltd. The teams in contention are Hatton National Bank, Sampath Bank, Browns Group, MAS Holdings and Commercial Bank.
The Division ‘B’ will include Hayleys, HSBC, Seylan Bank, John Keells, CIAP and SLT Mobitel vying for the Singer Trophy while Singer, NTB and Orient will contest in Division ‘C’ for the MHA Trophy.
The Division ‘D’, where six teams will be in fray for the Edmund J. Cooray Trophy, will include DPMC, Ceylon Tobacco Co. Ltd, Hemas Group, Airport Aviation, Inqube Solutions (Pvt) Ltd and Future Life Investment Ltd.
Teams competing for the MHA President’s Trophy are Commercial Bank ‘B’, Sampath Bank ‘B’, Browns Group ‘B’, MAS Holdings ‘B’, John Keells ‘B’ and HNB ‘B’.
The title sponsor and main sponsor of the event is Iodex Spray by Haleon Lanka (Pvt) Ltd. Browns Group and Bawwa Bites have come aboard as co-sponsors further supporting the tournament’s success.
The event will be graced by Manjula Weerakoon, Director of Commercial of Haleon Lanka (Pvt) Ltd as the Chief Guest alongside Mangala Wijesinghe, Chief Operating Officer of Pharmaceuticals, Consumer and Integrated Engineering Solutions Cluster at Brown and Company PLC, as the Guest of Honour.