Sri Lanka men’s Hockey off to World League round 2

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The Sri Lanka men’s hockey team left the island for Bangladesh ahead of the World Series Round 2 championship that will take place from the 4th to the 12th of March 2017.

The Sri Lankan team that left the island will be playing in the World Series Round 2 championship alongside Fiji, Oman, Malaysia, China, Egypt, Ghana along with hosts Bangladesh.

Sri Lanka gets this opportunity after their successful campaign at last year’s World League competition that was held in March. They had the privilege of qualifying for the finals but fell short against China. That being the Round 1 of the World League, they got the chance to get promoted to the tier above and now currently are in Dhaka, in Bangladesh for the championship.

Sri Lanka is grouped in Group B along with China, Egypt, and Ghana and are set to face Egypt in the opening fixture of the competition tomorrow (4th) and will later face the other teams in the group stage.

The teams from each group will progress to the quarterfinals and later pave their path towards the decisive semi-finals and finals.

Sri Lanka would be a formidable force in the Asian circuit and their latest triumph was the silver medal glory from the Asia Hockey Federation cup that was played in Hong Kong where the Lankans took home the silver medal losing out only to Bangladesh.

Speaking to ThePapare, Sri Lanka’s head coach Anrudda Bandara Herath added that his team has the potential to give a good fight in Bangladesh and they will be wanting to make a mark at the tournament.

“We have been training for this for the last four months from December at the Astro Turf, the team has had a few additions and we are confident of this upcoming tournament”

Coach Herath also applauded the efforts taken by the ministry to empower the sport when compared to the earlier times and hoped that it would continue in the years to come as well.

“The tours are supported by the ministry, they paid for the past two tours and this time as well. Support has been coming and I think it is good for the sport”

Fixtures for Sri Lanka:

Sri Lanka vs Egypt – 4th March 11.30 a.m. (Bangladesh time)
Sri Lanka vs Ghana – 5th March 9.15 a.m. (Bangladesh time)
Sri Lanka vs China – 7th March 11.30 a.m. (Bangladesh time)