Sri Lanka Squad off to Oman for AHF meet

By  Susil Premalal

The second batch of the Sri Lanka Men’s Junior Hockey Team will leave for Oman today to participate in the 2022 Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) Men’s Junior Hockey Tournament, which will be held from January 6 to 12 in Muscat.

Eight players and the Coach of the Sri Lanka Team left for Oman on the previous day but the departure for the rest of the team members were delayed due to a Visa issue, President, Sri Lanka Hockey Federation, G. Vishvanathan said yesterday.

B. A. L. Sandaruwan of Air Force SC will lead the Sri Lanka Men’s Junior Hockey Team and H. M. M. P. B. Herath of the State Services HA will be the Vice-Captain.  

Eight countries are set to compete in this tournament and Sri Lanka have been drawn in Group ‘B’ along with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Uzbekistan while Group ‘B’ includes Oman, Thailand, Chinese Taipei and Indonesia.  Sri Lanka will face Uzbekistan in their opening match on January 6, Bangladesh on January 7 and Hong Kong on January 9. The semi-finals of the tournament are scheduled for January 11 with the final on January 12. The four top nations of this event will qualify to participate in next month’s Asia Cup Hockey Tournament.

The Sri Lanka Squad:

B. A. L. Sandaruwan (Captain), H. M. M. P. B. Herath (Vice-Captain), T. B. S. N. Weerasingha (Mercantile HA), V. H. B. De Silva (Vijaya College, Matale), L. P. S. Kalhara (Vidyartha College), R. Gajendran (Hindu College, Colombo), U. S. A. Wejesekara (St. Aloysius’, Galle), A. M. L. Hewawasam (St. Peter’s, Bambalapitiya), K. P. S. T. Pallewatta (CH and FC), M. S. S. Mendis (St. Aloysius’, Galle), R. A. D. R. Nanayakkara (Vijaya College, Matale), J. K. A. C. Perera (Wennappuwa HA), S. L. Fernando (Wennappuwa HA), K. U. G. L. S. Rathnayaka (Mercantile HA), H. M. N. N. Hendeniya (Matale HA), T. D. D. H. Samarasingha (CH and FC), R. V. Dharmarathna (St. Peter’s, Bambalapitiya) and J. A. D. T. Perera (Wennappuwa).