The Sri Lanka Men’s Hockey team earned themselves a place in the 2 round of the World Hockey league by finishing as runners up in the first round event held in Singapore from the 09th to the 17th of April.
In the Final played on Sunday amidst a packed stadium, Sri Lanka held the mighty Chinese who were tournament favorites to a 3-all draw but unfortunately lost the penalty shoot-out by 4 goals to 2, emerging as runners up and securing qualification to the 2nd round of the World Super league.
China who came into the finals as favorites and had only conceded 1 goal in the group stages were put to test by the spirited Lankan outfit. Trailing 2-0 at the breather, the Lankan lads came out strong in the second half of the game with Sandaruwan Sudusinghe finding the goal in the 49th minute and Damith Mahara providing the equalizer in the 55th minute. Lakshan Nanayakkara put Sri Lanka in the lead with a brilliant finish in the 59th minute of the game but Dihao Meng of China made Sri Lanka pay a couple of minutes later by scoring a goal in the 61st minute through a penalty corner to take the game into a penalty shoot-out.
Drawn in Group B the Sri Lankans were impressive during the group stages where they massacred Myanmar 7-0, Kazakhstan 7-0 and toppled the hosts Singapore 2-1 after trailing 0-1 at half time to end the group stage as the top seeded team from Group B. In the Semi Final Sri Lanka met Thailand and eased passed them 5-0 and became the wildcard team of the tournament.
The local hockey fraternity of enthusiasts and followers of the game are overjoyed by the courage displayed by this team who took on the mighty Chinese and almost toppled them in the final. This can also be considered as the best performance by a Sri Lankan Men’s team in an International tournament in the past 3 – 4 decades.
It was evident that there is no lack of talent in the Island. As this spirited team nearly toppled the tournament favorites China in the final, it’s important that this talented set of players be retained and nurtured to become contenders in the Asian & the world arena.
Sri Lankan team – Ishanka Doranegala , Pushpa Hendeniya,Amila Nuwarapaksha , Harindra Dharmaratne, Tharanga Komala, Lakshan Nanayakkara , Damith Mahara, Asanka Welagedara, Sandaruwan Sudusinghe, Nalantha Karunamunige(C), Shamika Gunawardena, Duminda Dissanayake, Dinesh Don Abraham, Lahiru Panthie, Abeetha Fernando ,Anuradha Ratnayake,Thusitha Chandrasekara (GK),Tharindhu Hendeniya (GK).
Officials – Bandara A.Herath – Head Coach , G.L.K Ekanayake – Team Manager, Daminda Atanayake – Team Doctor
