‘Unity Tour of Sri Lanka’ to commence from Jaffna
Bernard Perera
To coincide with the fifth annual Carlton Sports Festival to be held
in Tissamaharama, the organizers have decided to include a cycle tour
for the first time. The tour is named as the ‘Unity Tour of Sri Lanka’,
said President of the Mountain Biking Association Amal Suriyage at the
press briefing held at the Automobile Association Hall last Thursday.
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The organizers of the Unity Tour of Sri Lanka Vice President MBA
Wasantha Kahapolaarachci, Asst. Secretary CFSL Nishantha
Piyasena, President MBA Amal Suriyage, Director Sports
Tharunyata Hetak Association Ronnie Ibrahim, Media Co-ordinator
Suresh Ratnasinghe, Vice President MBA Patrick Hapuarachchi and
Vice President CFSL Group Captain S.K.S. Senaratne in a bid to
show the sign of Unity by joining hands together. |
Speaking further he said that ‘Tharunyata Hetak’ has been in the
forefront in the sports arena since its inception. Carlton Super Sports
Festival which was launched five years ago has produce many sports stars
from the rural areas specially from the Southern Province.
Every year there has been addition of disciplines for the Festival
and this year’s addition has a special significance. According to Namal
Rajapaksa the race will see the begin in Jaffna and will end at
Tissamaharama after five days. Amal said Tharunyata Hetak wanted this
done to give an opportunity for the people of Jaffna to witness the top
class riders in action.
Thereby encouraging the youngsters to take to the sports. This also
will show the public in Jaffna that peace has reached them after three
decades and real peace could be enjoyed by all in engaging in sports. As
the cyclists in the peninsula is not accustomed to race riding, the
organizers have made arrangements to hold two 20 km and 40 km events for
schoolboys and girls in addition to the 90 km event for elite riders.
The race proper will begin in Vavuniya and the riders will proceed to
Anuradhapura, Dambulla and finish at Matale.
On the third day they travel to Colombo from Matale and then proceed
to Matara on March 20. The final lap will be from Matara to
Tissamaharama Festival ground on March 21.
The overall winner will be decided on the overall timing. The winner
is to receive the Namal Rajapaksa Trophy. A total of Rs 500,000 will be
distributed among the winners, said Amal. This year’s event has received
the blessings of the President Mahinda Rajapaksa as this will serve as a
bridge to enjoy the peace that the people of North gained few months
ago. The Ceycling Federation will conduct the race according to
international rules using the qualified judges during the event, said
Assistant Secretary Cycling Federation of Sri Lanka. By organizing this
sort of activities the Federation too get the opportunity of finding new
talent for the future. |
