Royal Lions, led by junior Sri Lankan national player Tanvir Hallaj, won the inaugural IPL-style Royal Hockey League (RHL) tournament held at Royal College ground over the weekend.
The seven-a-side tournament, organised by Royal College Hockey Club (RCHC), was aimed at all the best hockey players, at both international and national level, produced by the school. The inaugural RHL was sponsored by KBSL Information Technologies Limited.
Royal Lions, who were the only unbeaten among the six teams, participated at the league stage and faced the Royal Bulls led by Ashen Pieris in the cup final. The Bulls’ part-time centre forward Manuka Pawan created a major upset when he deflected the ball to score a field goal in the third minute of the first half. The Bulls dominated the game but Tanvir equalised at the last minute of the second half, ending the final with 1-1 draw.
In the three-penalty shootout series to decide the winner, Tanvir and centre half Lasitha Manchanayaka scored while the Bulls failed to score any goals. The Royal Lions team was sponsored by the tournament sponsor, while other teams were sponsored by individual old boys.
On the way to the finals, the Lions beat the Royal Wolves by 2-0, Royal Tigers by 1-0 and drew with the Royal Rhinos (1-1), Royal Bulls (0-0) and Royal Tuskers (0-0). The Royal Bulls shockingly lost its first game to Royal Tigers by 3-0 but came back strongly by winning two matches and drawing one league game to finish as the runners up at the league stage.
The Royal Tigers, which played without a goal keeper under the leadership of former Sri Lanka junior national team captain Shahid Hussain Kuthubdeen, won the plate champions by 2-1 against the Royal Tuskers while the Royal Wolves, which included ex-Sri Lanka national player Ashok Pieris, won the bowl champions by 2-1 against the Royal Rhinos.
The tournament was the brainchild of former Sri Lanka national coach Rohan Dissanayake, who has been the Royal hockey coach since 1991, bringing in many glories in the game of hockey.
Tanvir Hallaj was adjudged player of the cup final, Shahid Kuthubdeen won the player of plate final award and Ashok Pieris was awarded player of bowl final award.
Shahid Kuthbdeen was adjudged the best player of the RHL while Royal Lion’s Shihar Aneez won the best goal keeper of the tournament award.
The winning team comprised of Tanvir Hallaj (captain), Lasitha Manchanayaka, Muditha Weerakkody, Ravi Hettiarachchi, Punsada Aravinda, Mustaq Rumy, Sandun Gajanayake, Hasanga Liyanagunawardena, Shihar Aneez, and Silmy Ahamed (KBSL, Sponsor).
The runners up Royal Bulls included Ashen Pieris (captain), Nelaka Wedagama, Pasindu Charaka, Senith Gajanayake, Praveen Buddhika, Aslam Assen, Manuka Pawan (Owner), M. Ananthevel, and Thushara Weliwatta.
The IPL-style hockey tournament, done for the first time in Sri Lankan history, saw a large number of former Royalists turning to their alma mater to help the current school players. Team players were aged between 20-56 years.
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