Wesley and HFC, Dehiwela emerge Bowling champions

Bowling may not be a recognised sport in Sri Lanka but expatriates from the island nation based in the Middle East are keeping the Lion flag flying high and engaging in some healthy competition.

This was visibly evident when the Wesley College Alumni Middle East (WCME), a group of past students of Wesley College, Colombo, organised an inter-school bowing competition in Dubai.

A record number of 30 teams, including past pupils of 20 schools based in the UAE, took part in this competition organised for the second time by Wesley.

The fun-filled family event held at the International Bowling Centre in Dubai on Friday attracted a large number of Sri Lankans who flocked to cheer their schools.

"It was nice to see all the schools in their colours and it was quite a crowd as well. Nice to see so many of our own taking part as well. Every year when any school organises a bowling tournament, lots of schools take part which is a good thing," said Dilan Selvadurai, a leading bowler in the UAE, who led Wesley to victory in the tournament.

“More than anything, things worked out well for me today,” said Selvadurai who had high score of 233 in the first game and 442 points in the series to carry away of the Player of the Tournament award in the men's category.

The Wesley 'A' bowlers comprising Selvadurai, Sharman Mouffer, Mohamed Irfan, Tyron Harrison and Muwahid Reza emerged champions by aggregating 1,444 points followed by Zahira College 'Blues' (1,405).

Nalanda College 'Strikers' (1,315), Zahira College ‘Maroons’ (1,273) and Royal College ‘Tuskers’ (1,256) finished among the top five teams.

Holy Family Convent, Dehiwela emerged champions in the women's category stealing a march over their arch rivals from Bambalapitiya.

“This is our comeback win after a few tournaments. First time taking part in this tournament. We always have a rivalry with (HFC) Bambalapitiya and we won this time,” said Romaine Foulstone who had a high score of 202 and a total of 326 points in the series to be adjudged the Best Player of the Tournament in the women's category.

“Our team did very well in both games. It was a surprise that we won because we didn’t know the final score till trophies were presented,” said Foulstone who has 15 years of experience in the sport having represented Emirates Bowling Club in interline tournaments.

“We didn’t train for this tournament. We just came and played,” said Tanya Ekanayake with glee after they aggregated  1,112 points to edge out Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya ((1,100). Janine De Zilwa, Joan Lenehan and Rosie Meynerth were other members of the victory HFC team.

Combined Girls School (1,033), Muslim Ladies College (941) and Methodist College 'A'    851) ) finished among the top five.

“The main objective of this event was to bring together the Sri Lankan community for a fun filled family day enhancing cultural harmony and inculcating the Sri Lankan identify among their children,” said Mouffer.

The organising team comprised Nalaka Rupasinghe, Rezzanno Jaldin, Anuradha de Zoysa, Feroze Kamal, Irfan Ahmed, Ajith Kamalanathan, Irfan Sadique, Shyam Impett, Ishak Sallay, Daminda Kumara and Isthiaq Raziq.

Bowlers from St. Peters College, Hameed Al Husseinie College, St. Anthony’s College, Wattala, Isipathana College, Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa, Zahira College, Gampola, St. Sebastians College, Mahanama College, St. Annes College,  Kurunegala and Sirimavo Balika Vidyalaya were the other schools which participated in this tournament.
 
The prizes and champion trophies were presented by His Excellency Charitha Yattogida – Consul General for Dubai & Northern Emirates, Sri Lankan Consulate UAE.
  
The organisers thanked the sponsors: Crown Dates , Sri Lanka, Lakbima Cargo, UAE Exchange and Sri TV – Sri Lanka.