Repeating the results of the last Madras – Colombo regatta, the Colombo Rowing Club (CRC) won the prestigious Deepam Trophy for the men’s category, while the Madras Boat Club (MBC) took home the Adyar Cup for the ladies’ category.
The day was kick-started by the men’s sculls – despite going off course on unfamiliar waters’, Karn Rao from MBC won the B scull race (2 points). However, CRC quickly bounced back with Vishan Gunathilake wining the A scull (6 points). Ashan Pitiarachchi and Sriwanth Kothelawala secured another 4 points for CRC by winning the men’s B double scull and Sajeev De Silva and Shehan Muthugala added to CRC’s growing margin by clinching the men’s A double scull (6).
Tusar Kant and Rohit Ravindra pulled away from CRC, winning the B pair (4 points) with one second to spare. Another 8 points were added to CRC’s score board as Charles Leo and Visal Thennakoon won the A pair (8 points). Darshan Chowdary, Janeshwara Raja, Saketh Reddy, Siddharth Yadav, and Thomas Ananya bagged 8 vital points by winning the B four, ensuring that the winner of the Boat Race, which is worth 12 points, would also clinch the Deepam Trophy. The Madras-Colombo Boat Race, which is known for being one of the oldest inter-institutional boat races in the world, was won by the Colombo Rowing Club crew – Sanjiva Jayasuriya, Shehan Muthugala, Sajeev De Silva, Manilka Gunaratne, and Peter Christy. The final tally was 36 points to CRC and 14 points to MBC.
In the Ladies’ category CRC was off to a good start as Samaakhya Gajanayake and Janethri Marapana took home the double scull race (6 points). However, Ashwathy Nair and Adeiti Subramanian quickly secured 8 points for MBC by winning the pair. Janethri Marapana bagged the scull and 6 points for CRC by winning the scull.
Once again the Four was the deciding race (12 points) – The Madras Boat Club left CRC at the start and pulled away – ensuring that the MBC crew, comprising Ashwathy Nair, Dhitika Chowdary, Sankavi Puhazhendi, Adeiti Subramanian, Sanjeev Anirudh, won the race and secured the Adyar Cup. The masters four race was also won by MBC.
After weeks of training and a very busy day of rowing, both crews performed exceptionally well and will take home one overall trophy each.
