The National Netball team led by Gayanjali Amarawansha pose for a picture with officials at the felicitation ceremony at the Milo All Island schools Netball Championship opening ceremony yesterday. Schools Netball Association President Nirodha Abeywickrama, Secretary Shiromi Kuruppu, Treasure Shamen Withanawasam, Milo Managing Director Jason Avensana, Nestle Lanka Vice Presidents Bandula Egodage, Ruwan Welikala, Puttalam district DIG S.M.Y. Seneviratne and Education Ministry Sports Director Daya Bandara are also in the picture. (Picture by Dhammika Ratnaweera)
Asia Cup Champion Sri Lanka Netball team led by Gayanjali Amarawansha was felicitated at the opening ceremony of the Milo All Island schools Netball Championship which commenced at the Albert F.Pieris Stadium, Wennappuwa yesterday.
It was a historic day for the Milo All Island schools Netball Championship when for the first time National team who won the Asia Cup in Singapore was honoured at the opening ceremony while 400 schools teams were present on the occasion which was organised by the Nestle Lanka
Pvt Ltd the sponsors and the Sri Lanka Schools Netball Association headed by Nirodha Abeywickrama.
Puttalam district DIG S.Y.M. Seneviratne was the chief guest while Nestle Lanka the makers of Milo Managing Director Jason Avensana was the guest of honour while Netball Federation President Victoria Lakshmi, Secretary Vindana Dayaratne, Former Deputy Sports Director of the Education Ministry Olivia Gamage and the Sports and Physical Education Director of the
Education Ministry Daya Bandara, Nestle Lanka Vice Presidents Bandula Egodage and Ruwan Welikala (Dairy) and Nestle Sponsorship and activation Senior Manager Saneewa Wickramasinghe graced this occasion.
National team Netball members received a special memento and gold coin and Milo gift pack at the felicitation ceremony while junior Netballers from Schools were present on this occasion.
Nirodha Abeywickrama the President of the Schools Netball Association said after a lapse of two years due to the Global pandemic this is a very good opportunity for the school Netball players to display their talents.
Milo is associated with School Netball for nearly 30 years and this is the 29th consecutive year Milo joined hands with Schools Netball Association to get success. After two years last June, we conducted the Super 16 Milo Tournament at Kaduwela
400 teams are competing at this final stage at Wennappuwa.
Bandula Egodage the Vice President of Nestle Lanka Corporate Affairs and Communications said former Sports Director of the Education Ministry Sunil Jayaweera was the man behind the success of this tournament 29 years ago and we must appreciate his great service together with Former Deputy Sports Director Olivia Gamage. It is a very proud moment today the National Netball team, the Asian Champions, was honoured at this opening ceremony while most of the players those days performed at the Milo All Island schools Netball Championship. Our vision is clear to make a good platform for the Netballers and we should appreciate the Education Ministry and the School Netball Association which give the best effort for the success of this tournament.
The chief guest Puttalam district DIG S.M.Y. Seneviratne pointed out the importance of sports during this hard period Milo and Education Ministry joined hands to hold this tournament.
Meanwhile, the first-round matches of the Milo All Island Schools Netball Championship were to kick off yesterday while bad weather interrupted the matches in the morning sessions and organisers shifted matches to the Indoor Stadium. The President of the Wennappuwa Urban Council Susantha Perera gave his assistance to conduct matches at the Indoor Stadium.
The under 19 first-round matches started first at the Indoor Stadium and some schools of outstation had new experiences with these Indoor Stadium matches. Musaeus, Vishaka Colombo, HFC Wennappuwa, and Presbyterian Colombo had easy victories to enter the second round while under 13,15,17, first-round matches were scheduled to start later in the evening at the outdoor courts. The quarter-finals of all age groups will be held today (12) while finals will be held on tomorrow (Sunday).
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