Gaja Sports has come to the rescue of the Sri Lanka Schools Basketball Association (SLSBA) to complete the Under-20 All Island Schools Basketball Championship which has been revived after two years.
The SLSBA were in a quandary after their long-time sponsor pulled out at the last minute citing financial constraints when the tournament began on April 19 with the participation of 76 boys and girls teams in three divisions.
“We are grateful to Gaja Sports CEO Gayath Jayasinghe for coming forward to support this tournament with live telecast and sponsorship,” said Rector of St Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya Fr Rohitha Rodrigo, the SLSBA president at a press conference yesterday.
“This is the first time this tournament will be held for Under-20 players to give an opportunity to players in their final year at school who missed out on competitions because of the covid-19 pandemic. We thank Gaja Sports for their generous sponsorship with live telecast of matches sure to add glamour to the sport,” he added.
Gaja Sports will be giving 40 playing kits to the teams remaining the competition while their total sponsorship package is worth Rs 2 million. “When SLSBA made a request, I got approval from the Board of Directors (Gaja Holdings) to sponsor this event,” said CEO of Gaja Sports Gayath Jayasinghe, a former Sri Lanka basketball player. “I am more keen on developing infra structure in school sports especially basketball but we are happy to be associated with this tournament,” added Jayasinghe who is president of Masters Basketball Association of Sri Lanka and sponsored a veterans tournament last year.
The tournament has entered the final stages with the ‘A’ division boys and girls quarter-finals to be worked off at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium today with the finals scheduled for May 10. “We had two teams from the North Angel International School and Hindu College, Jaffna in addition to St Michael’s, Batticaloa taking part in this tournament which has been conducted despite the situation in the country. We could not have zonal competitions this year with teams being directly graded into three divisions,” said SLSBA secretary Rev. Bro. RJ Jeyakanthan, Principal of De La Salle College, Mutwal.
The ‘A’ division comprised 20 boys and six girls teams, 24 boys and six girls teams in the ‘B’ division and 24 boys and 20 girls schools competed in the ‘C’ division.
Today’s match schedule in the ‘A’ division is as follows:
BOYS QUARTER-FINALS
7.00 am St Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya vs Gateway College, Kandy
8.30 a.m St Joseph’s College, Colombo vs Ananda College, Colombo
100.00 am Royal College, Colombo vs Gateway College, Colombo
11.30 am DS Senanayake College, Colombo vs St Anne’s College, Kurunegala
GIRLS SEMIFINALS
1.00 pm Holy Family Convent, Colombo vs St Joseph’s College, Nugegoda
2.30 pm Good Shepherd Convent, Kotahena vs Mahamaya College, Kandy