The Sri Lanka Mercantile Volleyball Association commenced the finals of the Champions and Super League Divisions on the 27th of November at the Maharagama National Youth Services Council Indoor Stadium in which Kanrich and MAS Casual Line dominated in the Super League finals.
Similarly, Brandix Polonnaruwa and MAS Intimates reigned supreme in the Championship category finals, in the male and female tournaments respectively.
Women’s Super League Final
Casual Line, fresh after their bout with the Air Force team, was determined to do well in this tournament. Furthermore, they were about to battle it out with a strong Brandix Green Point team.
The first set saw Casual Line not giving any room for their Brandix counterparts to breathe, as they utilised the height advantage of Sachini Nimanthika. The set eventually ended in Casual Line’s favour with a score line of 25-12.
The second set saw Casual Line’s Nisanika Sandamali star for her team as she propelled her team to win the set 25-10. Thereby implying that Casual Line was on its way for an easy victory overall.
However, Brandix sprung into life as they took advantage of the absence of Casual Line’s Thakshila Madurangi, enabling themselves to earn the third set f with a score line of 21-25.
But Brandix’s resurgence did not last for long as they committed unnecessary mistakes in the fourth set which Casual Line exploited. This made Casual Line the eventual winners of the set with a score line of 25-12.
ThePapare.com speaking to the coach of Casual Line, Ananda Wanthithilaka had this to say;
“We only have one national player (Thakshila). In the future we will have many other national players emerging. As a team we have been playing well with great coordination so we definitely would be able to produce some great talents in the very near future.”
Casual Line captain, Thakshila Madurangi had this to say with tears of joy;
“I am very happy with the team. In the last bit when I could not carry on, the team did extremely well to win the title. I am very thankful to them as well as the coach.”
Men’s Super League final
The final was predicted to be one of a kind as both teams came to this point in a comprehensive manner. It was Kanrich and Brandix that pitted against each other in this encounter.
The first set was a close one as both teams were neck and neck in terms of points, however, the latter stages of the set saw Brandix trump Kanrich by three points.
The second set seemed to be the longest of the match as Kanrich began to show urgency in their plays with the heroic display of Ishan Wimarshana. This eventually ended in a narrow victory to Kanrich as the score line read 29-27.
Ishan continued to show his heroic efforts as Kanrich once again won the third set with a score line of 25-14.
Brandix attempted to comeback in the fourth set, however, it failed as Kanrich contained them with extreme prejudice. Thereby allowing Kanrich win the fourth set with a score line of 25-17.
The match ended with Kanrich winning 3:1 over Brandix which had score lines of 22-25, 29-27, 25-14, and 25-17
Channa Jayasekara, the coach of the Kanrich team had this to say when speaking to ThePapare.com;
“This team is a very inexperienced team. This is only our first time playing in the league. All of the players are honest people who work for the company as well. There are still few more things to rectify in this team.”
Mercantile Championship Division Finals
The women’s category saw MAS Intimates defeat the Voguetex team with a score line of 25-19, 25-23, and 25-20.
The men’s category saw Brandix-Polonnaruwa pounce over Courtaulds Lanka with a score line of 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, and 25-20.
Mercantile Volleyball Awards
Super League Division
Women’s category
• Best Setter – Nisanika Sandamali (Casual Line)
• Best Attacker – Anurisha Chathuni (Casual Line)
• Best Player – Thakshila Madurangi (Casual Line)Men’s category
• Best Setter – P. R. Weerarathne (Kanrich)
• Best Attacker – Shehan Asiri (Brandix)
• Best Player – Ishan Wimarshana (Kanrich)
Championship Division
Women’s category
• Best Setter – Sonali Anushka (MAS Intimates)
• Best Attacker – K. De Silva (MAS Intimates)
• Best Player – Renuka Nilmini (MAS Intimates)Men’s category
• Best Setter – Suresh (Brandix)
• Best Attacker – Thilina (Courtaulds)
• Best Player – Sudesh (Courtaulds)
Mercantile ‘A’ Division Championship Finals
The women’s final saw Omega line defeat the Maliban team 3:0 with score lines that read 25-17, 25-16, and 25-11.
The men’s final saw Brandix overcome a difficult David Peiris team as they won the match 3:2 with score lines that read 22-25, 25-21, 23-25, 25-19, and 17-15.
As a result these two teams would be promoted to the Champions division in next year’s tournament.
