The past week was a very eventful one, with the highlights being on the three Royal – Thomian Encounters that took place on the 25th (Badminton) & 26th (Regatta) of October and the 02nd of November(Tennis). The three evens saw results on three extremes, with both schools emerging victorious in different events.

The 6th Annual Badminton Encounter saw Royal retain the trophy, with some impressive performances by the singles and doubles events. Captain Chamika Karunaratne cruised through his singles event, 21-11 | 21-11 for a very convincing while Vice Captain Malith Kariyawasam was not as fortunate, conceding to STC to level the scores. Sithila Liyanage took on the most intense game of the singles category, going up against Omal Vishwanath and eventually won the match 21-19 | 22-20. With the overall scores now at 2-1, the event moved on to the always-exciting doubles category, with Chamika and Malith taking the court for Royal. The match up was of high quality and showed promising signs for Royal, until the unfortunate moment where Omal Vishwanath twisted his ankle in the second set. As Royal had won the 1st set 21-19, the officials deemed it unnecessary to carry on the game as Omal would not be able to continue, and the event that kept everyone’s heart racing ended in somewhat of a paradox, with the satisfaction of retaining the title but unsatisfied with the manner in which the encounter ended (having one event left).

Click on the link to view the complete album – 6th Annual Royal – Thomian Badminton Encounter

The 40th Annual Regatta and 44th Boat Race went S. Thomas’ way, as they convincingly were the better crew of the day, winning 12-40. STC took the first five events, putting 28 points to their name and winning the T.N. Fernando Trophy before the crowd even realized the event was at such a stage. Royal’s comeback was too little too late, although the effort was impressive, winning the C-Four, B Doubles Scull (4 Points) and the U16-Four with a three event streak. Unfortunately only one event of the three carried points. Royal went on to win the B Four (8 Points), lead by Captain Ishan Perera and Co. S. Thomas’ went on to deal the final blow by winning the Boat Race to take the Crossed Oars as well. The 26th was a good day for STC. The Crew were obviously disappointed to come short after 10 months of total dedication, but we are certain they will learn from the result and comeback stronger next year!

Click on the link to view the complete album – 40th Annual Royal – Thomian Regatta

The final encounter in the Lineup was the 9th Annual Tennis encounter, at the SLTA. After a seven year win streak, 2012 saw the Thomians life the E.F.C. Perera Trophy for the first time since the beginning on the event. Naturally, this year’s encounter put great expectations in the hearts of the Royalists to bring back the trophy that had only seen one home for a better part of the past decade. The Junior events gave mixed results, with Royal taking the U13 category and STC taking the U15. The U19 matches kicked off with a bang, displaying fast paced attacking tennis along with a balance of tactical play as well. Both teams took a singles game each to make the tally for the day 1-1 and STC then went on to take the first doubles game to put them in front by one event. But unfortunately, the weather was not intending the contest to proceed, and play was abandoned due to rain. At the time of stoppage, Royal was leading the 2nd Doubles game 6-2(first to 9 games) and trailing the 3rd singles 1-2(on Royal serve and with advantage).

Click on the link to view the complete album – 9th Annual Royal – Thomian Tennis Encounter

The encounter will be continued on Sunday the 10th of November.