The most celebrated water polo rivalry in the schools’ arena, the Royal – Thomian clash for the Dr. R L Hayman Trophy is set to make a splash the Sugathadasa waters this Saturday for the first leg of the encounter.

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The first leg of the two-legged edition will be played on the 28th of September while the 2nd will be played on the 5th of October 2019. 

Played in memory of former sub warden of S. Thomas’ College, the two-legged series is the premier water polo encounter in the country, attracting over 3000 spectators to the Sugathadasa swimming pool complex. 

2018 witnessed a magnificent take over by Royal College after 5 long years of losing to the School by the sea to take back the coveted trophy. The ‘Isiwaruna De Silva’ magic last year in the Sugathadasa waters rattled the spectators and the edge will be with the Royalists when they make it to the 1st leg. 

Currently the Thomians lead the overall tally with 16 wins while the Royalists have themselves 8. Three encounters, including the 2017 game, ended in draws. 

This year will be a new challenge for both sides with two new teams taking the waters this weekend for the respective teams.

Coach Bilal Hassen of Royal will be a happy man walking into the 1st leg with Royal having won the last three games in the series. For S. Thomas’ and coach Zafar Zainudeen it will be all about making a strong opening statement in the series before they head to the decisive second leg that will be played a week later. 

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