Thursday 28th April 2011
Charice from
‘Glee’ to sing at
Pacquiao bout
MANILA, Philippines
(AP) — Charice Pempengco of
the U.S. television show
“Glee” says she has been chosen to sing the Philippine
national anthem ahead of
Manny Pacquiao’s fight
against Shane Mosley in Las
Vegas next month.
The Philippine-born singer,
who is known best by the single name, Charice, says she’s
thrilled that Pacquiao chose
her to sing at the opening ceremony for the May 7 bout at
the MGM Grand Garden.
The teenager tweeted
Tuesday that she feels “really
blessed” for the opportunity.
Pacquiao traditionally
hand-picks the singer of the
national anthem at his bouts.
A minor scandal erupted in
2009 when Filipino singer
Martin Nievera was criticised
for altering the 1898 revolutionary anthem, which by law
must be played at a marching
tempo.
Roy Dias School of
Cricket Invitation tourney
ends in anti-climax
School of Cricket won the Best
Batsman’s award (226 runs, avg.
75.3).
Parliamentarian and 1996
World Cup winning captain, Arjuna
Ranatunga and his wife Samadara
were the chief guests at the
awards presentation.
The others associated at the
presentation were Kumudu
Kaluarachchi, Sales Plan and
Operations Manager and Sujeewa
Manikdiwela, Regional Sales
Manager (both from Ceylon Cold
Stores), Muditha Wijekulatillake,
from Solex Engineering, MCA
Centenary President, Mahesh
Wijewardene and Roy Dias, back
for good after being the Head
Coach of Nepal cricket for 10
years.
At the end of awards presentation, a beautiful bouquet of flowers
was presented to Mrs. Tharanga
Dias (Roy’s wife) in appreciation
for conducting a very successful
tournament for the first time.
Manny Pacquiao, right, of the Philippines, poses with NBA basketball player Jalen Rose before a workout in Los Angeles,
Wednesday, April 20, 2011. Pacquiao is scheduled to defend his
title against Shane Mosley on May 7 in Las Vegas.
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
The inaugural Roy Dias School
of Cricket, Invitational U-12 tournament ended in an anti-climax as
rain washed out the final, without
a ball being bowled between the
unbeaten MCA Cricket Academy
and SSK Cricket Academy at the
MCA grounds, last Sunday.
Thus, MCA Cricket Academy,
the only unbeaten team in the
tournament, led by Harshan
Yogendra and SSK Cricket
Academy, led by Revan Kelee
were declared joint champions.
Rain somewhat spared the
morning’s match, the play-off for
3rd place, where the SSC School
of Cricket beat Cric-Hit Cricket
Academy on a faster run rate.
The match originally scheduled
for 30 overs a side, got off to a
late start and was reduced to 25
overs a side. SSC, who won the
toss and chose to bat, scored 69
runs in 21.2 overs and Cric-Hit
was struggling at 33 for 8 in 20.3
overs, when rain put an end to the
game.
The MCA ground staff really
put their shoulders to the wheel to
get the ground ready by 3.45 pm
to play at least a 15-overs a side
game, to constitute the match, but
their efforts were in vain.
If it had materialised, the final
would have been an interesting
game, as SSK Cricket Academy,
came looking for sweet revenge
over MCA for their loss in the
league stage.
Both teams played in the same
group, with MCA finishing on top
of the table with five wins out of
five.
On Saturday, as the rains
lashed almost the whole of Sri
Lanka, the semi-finals were abandoned without a ball being bowled
and the winners were determined
by the ‘Bowl-out’ contest held
indoors at the MCA practice nets.
Group ‘B’ runners-up SSK
Cricket Academy eliminated
group ‘A’ winner, SSC School of
Cricket 5-3, while group ‘B’ winner,
MCA beat group ‘A’ runners–up,
Cric-Hit 4-3.
SSC School of Cricket captain,
Nipun Deshan Sumanasinghe was
adjudged the Player of the
Tournament and the Best Bowler
(223 runs and 16 wickets), while
Ayana Siriwardena from the CCC
Deshabandu George
Ondaatjie Snooker tourney
worked off in Nuwara Eliya
BY
JAYAKODY RATNAYAKE
Nuwara Eliya Corr.
The Deshabandu George
Ondaatjie Annual Snooker
Tournament was held at the
Grand Hotel Billiards Room on
23rd and 24th April to coincide
with the April festivities in
Nuwara Eliya.
This year, there were 92 entries
for the tournament, including all
the top ranked players in Sri
Lanka.
The preliminary rounds took
place on the 23rd April and 24th
morning, while the final match
between two upcoming players,
Mohamed Rimzan and T. H. M.
Farshad was played in the
evening on the 24th, in the presence of the chief guest, Tikiri
Kobbekaduwa, Governor of the
Central Province.
(L-R): S Anbalagan, Tournament Organizer of the Grand Hotel, M Mubeen,
2nd runner-up, Palaka Perera, General Manager of Grand Hotel, Mohamed
Rimzan, winner, Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, Governor of the Central Province,
Deshamanya Chandana Lal Karunaratne, Mayor of Nuwara Eliya, T. H. M.
Farshad, 1st runner-up, Gamini Maturata, Senior Superintendent of Police
and Nimal De Silva, 3rd runner-up.
(L-R): Nazeem Mohamed, Assistant Manager cum Chief Accountant of Grand
Hotel, Palaka Perera, General Manager of Grand Hotel, Shalintha
Amunupura, General Manager, MAG Steel (Pvt) Ltd., Tikiri Kobbekaduwa,
Governor, Central Province, Mohamed Rimzan, winner, and Deshamanya
Chandana Lal Karunaratne, Mayor of Nuwara Eliya.
The prize distribution was
held on the 24th amidst a large
gathering of distinguished invitees and players. The chief guest
was Tikiri Kobbekaduwa,
Governor of the Central
Province, while the guest of honour was Deshamanya Chandana
Lal Karunaratne, Mayor of
Nuwara Eliya.
The main sponsors of the tournament were Hatton National
Bank, who came forward for the
3rd consecutive year, while the
co-sponsors were MAG Steel (Pvt)
Ltd. who also co-sponsored this
event for the third consecutive
year.
The quarter finalists were M.
Faris, M. R. T. Chandana, M. I. M.
Isham and M. T. M. Safees.
The cash award of Rs.7,500, a
certificate and trophy for the 3rd
runner-up was presented by
Nazeem Mohamed, Assistant
Manager/Chief Accountant of
Grand Hotel to Nimal de Silva of
Grand Hotel Sports Club.
The cash award of Rs.15,000
and a certificate for the 2nd runner-up was presented by
Shalintha Amunupura, General
Manager of MAG Steel (Pvt) Ltd.,
while the Tournament Organiser
of Grand Hotel, Anbalagan presented the trophy to M. Mubeen
of MICH.
The cash award of Rs. 25,000
and a certificate for the 1st runner-up was presented by Palaka
Perera, General Manager, Grand
Hotel and the trophy was presented by Deshamanya Chandana Lal
Karunaratne, Mayor of Nuwara
Eliya to T. H. M. Farshad of
MICH.
The cash award of Rs. 40,000 a
certificate and trophy to the winner was presented by Tikiri
Kobbekaduwa, Governor, Central
Province to Mohamed Rimzan of
MICH.
Tikiri Kobbekaduwa, who is
very enthusiastic and interested
in promoting the game of snooker, generously contributed a sum
of Rs. 40,000 as prize money to
the winner.
Awards and certificates were
also distributed to the Chief
Referee and four other Referees
of the tournament.
The Vote of Thanks was delivered by Hiran Kodituwakku,
Boutique Manager, Grand Hotel,
which was followed by cocktails
and fellowship.
13
Bulls win easily to eliminate Pacers
CHICAGO (AP) — The Chicago Bulls
finally played like a top seed, knocking
off the Indiana Pacers 116-89 in Game 5
on Tuesday to wrap up their NBA
Eastern Conference first-round playoff
series.
The Bulls can breathe a little easier
after getting a dominant performance by
MVP candidate Derrick Rose and an
emphatic win that came on the heels of
four close games.
They can also turn their attention to
the Eastern Conference semifinals, where
they'll meet Atlanta or Orlando.