Wednesday Sep 17, 2025
Wednesday Sep 17, 2025
Friday, 12 September 2025 00:02 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Royal skipper Yusuf Shihar
receives prestigious Lennie de Silva
trophy from Kingswood Old Boys
Union Colombo Branch President
Suresh Sumanasekera
Jubilant winning team with Royal College Principal Athula Wijewardena, Kingswood College Principal Dhammika Herath, and old Royalist Vasantha de Silva (standing far left), son of late Lennie de Silva
A brilliant reverse stick goal by skipper Yusuf Shihar and two late goals by centre forward Kithmina Ratnatyake helped Royal College, Colombo to beat Kingswood College, Kandy in their annual hockey encounter played for Lennie de Silva trophy held in Peradeniya University ground last Sunday.
The Reid Avenue team won the trophy for the first time since 2019.
Both the teams played brilliant hockey from the start, bur Royal skipper and left half Yusuf penetrated the Kingswood’s territory and scored a reverse stick goal in the 12th minute of the game.
The host Kingswood fought hard and won many penalty corners in the first half, but Royal defence led by Vice Captain Aathif Faleel along with Ruvi Perera thwarted all the opportunities the Kandy school had.
Royal led by 1-0 at the half time.
Until the last quarter, the game was evenly poised with Kingswood stepping up its attack.
In the fourth quarter, Kithmina Rathnayake scored two goals in quick succession, including from a penalty corner, to finish the encounter with a 3-0 victory.
With that, Royal recorded their second win in trophy matches after winning Dudley de Silva trophy against Wesley College, Colombo.
Royal will be playing against their arch rivals St. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia on 20 September for Orville Abeynayake Memorial Trophy and Trinity College, Kandy on 28 September for J. C. A. Corea Memorial Trophy. Royal will host both matches at the Colombo International Astro Turf.
Royal, led by Yusuf Shihar, who represented Sri Lankan in Junior Asia Cup in China this year, emerged runners up in the Western Province Hockey tournament. The team is coached by veteran Sri Lanka and former Air Force hockey player Damith Panditharatne since 2023.
The winning Royal team: Yusuf Shihar (Captain), Aathif Faleel (Vice Captain), Lithum Karunasiri, Senul Liyanage, Geesath Bathisa, Ashvin Wettasinghe, Akash Dashendra, Kithmina Ratnayake, Shamael Shakir, Rumal Jayasinghe, Ruvi Perera, Stefan Anthonypillai, Nehan Wijayanayake, Haazim Dhailamy, Pasindu Epa, Aaqil Abdullah, Ronal Edrimanne, Ahmed Fayaz, Sulaiman Shihar, and Savain Karunasiri.
In the Junior category, Royal Under-16 team won by 3-2 to win Kathab Roshan Memorial Trophy while the Under-12 team edged out the Kandy team by 1-0 in the exhibition match.
This trophy is named after Lennie de Silva, a distinguished Old Boy of Kingswood College, Kandy, holds a pivotal place in Sri Lankan school hockey history.
It was him who introduced the sport of hockey to Royal College, Colombo, in 1955, laying the foundation for their now-legendary program.
