President’s Trophy knockout tournament set for kick-off

(FASTNEWS|COLOMBO) – The 27th Milo Knockout Rugby Championship 2019 organised by the Sri Lanka Schools Rugby Football Association (SLSRFA) in collaboration with Nestle Lanka will kick-off from today at St. Peter’s grounds and Royal Sports Complex. The finals will be held on July 20 at the Royal Sports Complex.

Royal, St. Peter’s, Wesley, S. Thomas’, St. Joseph’s, Isipathana, Vidyartha and Kingswood have qualified for the quarter-finals of the President’s Trophy. However, Royal and S. Thomas’ have opted to pull out of the tournament.

“Certain schools have decided not to take part in the tournament. Even if it is eight or two teams, we will play the tournament as scheduled. We cannot change the fixtures and reschedule matches just to please outside parties. If any school pull out of the tournament, their rankings in the league table will decrease for the following year’s tournament according to our new plans,” said the President of SLSRFA Ranjith Chandrasekara at a press briefing held at CR and FC premises to unveil the trophy to the media.

Ananda, Lumbini, Thurstan, Prince of Wales, Devapathiraja, St. Aloysius, St. Sylvester and Piliyandala Central booked their berths in the quarter finals of the Premier Trophy which will run parallel to the President’s Trophy.

St. John’s, Nalanda, Asoka Vidyalaya, Sri Sumangala, St. Thomas – Matale, Ibbagamuwa Central, Lalith Athulathmudali and Carey College have qualified to vie for the Shield Trophy.

The Brand Manager of Nestle Lanka Mohamed Ali said, “To play any sport you’ve got to be disciplined, energetic and passionate. And that’s exactly what we’re trying to bring out of these schoolboy rugby players, so that we could produce quality sportsmen for the future of Sri Lanka rugby. That will be our main goal this year.”

The fixtures:

Quarter finals:

1. Royal (walkover) vs Vidyartha on July 4 at St. Peter’s Grounds at 4.15 pm

eter’s on July 7 at Royal Complex at 4.15 pm

Semi Final:

1. Winner Q/F 1 vs winner Q/F 2 on July 12 at Royal Complex/St. Peter’s Grounds at 4.15 pm

2. Winner Q/F 3 vs winner Q/F 4 on July 13 at Royal Complex/St. Peter’s Grounds at 4.15 pm

Final:

Winner S/F 1 vs Winner S/F 2 on July 20 at Royal Complex/St. Peter’s Grounds at 4.15 pm. (DN)