Royal College will be hoping to retain the Noel Fernando Memorial Trophy for the third successive year when they take on the traditional rivals S. Thomas’ College in the 48th annual regatta to be worked off at the Colombo Rowing Club on Saturday (28).

Last year, Royal took major honours as they cruised to a record 50-2 victory after having clinched the overall championship in 2014 also by a convincing margin of 48-4. 

The Royal Team led by HashenHettigodawould once again start as the favourites as they will look to complete a hat-trick of victories following a successful season in 2017. 

They won the RanferSprints Regatta by overcoming the Colombo Rowing Club after having earlier bagged the Over-18 championship at the Sri Lanka Nationals. 

In addition, the Royal Rowing Team is also fresh after having won few other major titles this year including the Gordan Armstrong,Vanlangenberg, RCYC and Herman Sirimanne and V. A. Julius championships. 

In contrast, the S. Thomas’ Rowing Team captained by ArjunWickremanayakeis a mixture of youth and experience and would be determined to bounce back in their attempt to regain the championship after a lapse of two years. 

In fact, despite their setbacks during the last two years, S. Thomas’ still continue to lead the overall series with a total of 21 wins against Royal’s 17 victories.  

No doubt, both teams would be targeting the prestigious Boat Race as this event offers a total of 12 points which is the highest for an individual event for the overall championship. 

Altogether, the regatta includes a total of 11 races out of which eight would be counted for the overall tally.