The Prima Champions Cup provincial tournament for the 12th consecutive year with over 700 players from island-wide participating takes top billing.
Addressing the media yesterday to announce the most popular junior cricket tournament considered to be the backbone to feeding latent talent to the country’s cricket at SLC headquarters, the Tournament Director, Mr. Bandula Dissanayake described it as the most important tournament in the Sri Lanka domestic cricket calendar as it was the stepping stone to into competitive cricket. Twelve teams are in the fray with one team from each province in two groups in the provincial tournament following the first stage district tournament which had been reached from the initial district tournament conducted in November. He thanked the sponsors, the Prima Group for its longstanding commitment to making this popular tournament a success for 12 long years.
The General Manager, Ceylon Agro Industries (Prima Group Sri Lanka), Mr. Shun Tien said, “Having conducted this tournament successfully for the last 11 years with tremendous results, we are proud to continue with the 12th edition of this effort to develop junior cricket with the renewal of our partnership with Sri Lanka Cricket. On behalf of Prima, I wish to extend my gratitude to Sri Lanka Cricket for allowing us this opportunity to continue our valued partnership and for all the support provided in making the Prima Champions Cup a successful tournament that makes a positive contribution towards uplifting junior cricket in Sri Lanka.”
The Deputy General Manager, Ceylon Agro Industries (Prima Group Sri Lanka), Mr. Sajith Gunaratne drove home the Prima marriage to junior cricket in the country by saying, “We at Prima believe that it is our responsibility to encourage and inspire youngsters to improve themselves and gain recognition for their talents. The Prima Champions Cup serves as a means for aspiring young cricketers to further develop their cricketing careers to national and hopefully international levels. Prima will be providing necessary nutrients and cricket attire for the players as a support to develop themselves. We are ever grateful to our supportive partner – Sri Lanka Cricket.”
A feature of the tournament is the participation from the Northern Province representing Jaffna, Mannar, Vavuniya, Mulativ and Kilinochchi. The provincial tournament kicks off on October 27 at the Pallekelle International Cricket Stadium. The final of the mega tournament will be played on November 9 at the R. Premadasa International Cricket Stadium. The matches will be telecast live.
The sponsorship cheque was handed over by Mr. Tan Beng Chuan, Group Manager, Prima Group, Sri Lanka to Mr. Bandula Dissanayake, the Tournament Director which was followed by the unveiling of the trophy by the team captains.
The twelve teams have been drawn into two groups with Western Province South, Southern Province, Western Province South Outer, North Western Province, North Central Province in Group A. In Group B are Western Province Central, Central Province, Uva Province, Western Province North, Eastern Province and Northern Province.
By Srian Obeyesekere
-The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Sri Lanka Cricket-
