SL to leave for SABA Championship tomorrow

Chairman and CEO of Velona and Thread Works (Pvt) Limited Dr. Gehan de Soysa handing over the official T-shirt to Sri Lanka Captain Clinton Thevakumar in the presence of SLBF Secretary Chandana Liyanage and SLBF President Aelian Gunawardene
Picture by Pradeep Dilrukshana

By Susil Premalal

The Sri Lanka Basketball Team will leave for Bangladesh tomorrow to participate in the South Asian Basketball Association (SABA) Tournament, which will be held from November 15 to 20 in Dhaka.

Sri Lanka will join hosts Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Bhutan and Nepal in this six-nation tournament.
The Sri Lanka Basketball Federation (SLBF) has named a 15-member contingent with six officials, who have been approved by the Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa.

The Sri Lanka Team will be captained by Clinton Thevakumar of Sri Lanka Navy and Rukshan Atapattu will be the Vice-Captain.

The SABA tournament has been played since 2002 and Sri Lanka were the champions in 2018 and also emerged runners-up on one occasion and have secured the third place on two occasions.

SLBF Secretary Chandana Liyanage said that this event will also serve as a qualifying round for the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Tournament.

The Sri Lanka Team will be sponsored by Velona, Vaaj and MAS.

The Sri Lanka Team: Clinton Thevakumar (Captain), Rukshan Atapattu (Vice-Captain), Gayan de Cross, Timothy Nithusan, Praneeth Udumalage, Chanuka Fernando, Arnold Thevakumar, Udayanga Perera, Dasun Mendis, Pawan Gamage, Nimesh Fernando and Asanka Rajakaruna.

Standby players: Sasindu Gajanayake, Yoganathan Simron and Shehan Fernando.

Officials: Aelian Gunawardene (Chef-de-Mission), Susil Udukumburage (Head Coach), Ranura Nanayakkara (Coach), Duminda de Silva (Trainer), Manoj Dharshana (Masseur) and Gayan Rahingala (FIBA Referee).