The Carlton Rugby 7s tournament is officially underway – with the Auctions for the Franchise Captains being held yesterday with Tournament Chairman and Member of Parliament Namal Rajapaksa chairing the bidding process.
The evening saw competitive bidding, with the minimum bid set at Rs. 500,000 and thereon, an increase of Rs. 100,000 up to Rs. 2 MN, after which increments of Rs. 500,000 up to Rs. 5 MN and an increase of Rs. 1 MN thereafter.
The first player on auction was current Sri Lanka National Seven’s Captain Fazil Marja. Northern Gladiators outbid the North Central Typhoons and Central Kings, bidding Rs.3 million for his services.
The Southern Sharks won the second Bid to land Srinath Sooriyabandara for Rs. 2.5 Million, managing to retain their former Sharks player.
Central Kings finally got their reward by winning the Bid for arguably Sri Lanka’s in-form Seven’s player in Nigel Ratwatte for Rs. 2 Million.
The Eastern Eagles got their man in Havelock’s Superstar, Shenal Dias for Rs. 2.5 million.
The most hotly contested player was Sri Lanka’s Asian 5 Nations Captain Yoshitha Rajapaksa. The bidding came alive with North Western Blacks and Western Warriors going head to head for his signature. However, the Blacks bowed out at Rs.8 million. Huge turn of events when the Stallions came in with a whopping Rs. 10 million bid only to lose to the determined Warriors who Bid Rs. 11 million.
The Blacks eventually got Kandy Captain Gayan Weeraratne for Rs. 2 million and the Typhoons secured teammate Pradeep Liyanege for Rs. 1.3 million.
The Jaffna Challengers and Uva Vipers bid Rs. 800,000 apiece for Sajith Saranga and Chamara Dabare.
The last remaining team, the Sabaragamua Stallions, had their pick of players and chose Rohitha Rajapaksa for Rs. 800,000.
|
|
Team Name |
Captain’s Name |
Bid Amount Rs. |
|
1 |
Western Warriors |
Yoshitha Rajapaksa |
11,000,000.00 |
|
2 |
Northern Gladiators |
Fazil Marija |
3,000,000.00 |
|
3 |
Southern Sharks |
Srinath Sooriyabandara |
2,500,000.00 |
|
4 |
Eastern Eagles |
Shenal Dias |
2,500,000.00 |
|
5 |
North Western Blacks |
Gayan Weeraratne |
2,000,000.00 |
|
6 |
Central Kings |
Nigel Ratwatta |
2,000,000.00 |
|
7 |
North Central Typhoons |
Pradeep Liyanege |
1,300,000.00 |
|
8 |
Jaffna Challengers |
Sajith Saranga |
800,000.00 |
|
9 |
Sabaragamuwa Stallions |
Rohitha Rajapaksa |
800,000.00 |
|
10 |
Uva Vipers |
Chamara Dbare |
800,000.00 |
