The schoolgirls from Kolonnawa Balika Vidyalaya registered two shock wins during the under 18 Division A knock out stage of the 24th Milo Inter Schools Netball championship worked off here at Bernard Aluvihara Stadium Matale yesterday.
They beat third seeded Visakha Vidyalaya Colombo by 25 points to 23 in the pre quarter final, before registering the second upset of the day by defeating fourth seeded Hillwood College, Kandy (28-21) to book their berth in the semis.
Today Kolonnawa BV will be pitted against Kurunegala HFC targeting to enter the final for the first time. HFC beat Bandarawela MV in the pre quarters and Ananda Sastralaya in the quarters to reach the semis.
On the other hand, defending champions Kalutara Balika lived up to their reputation for yet another year by reaching the semis beating Dharmapala Vidyalaya (25-20) and Girls High School, Kandy (16-12) in the pre quarters and quarter final respectively. They will meet Maliyadeva BV, Kurunegala in the other semi final.
In the Under 14 (A) age group, Musaeus College, Maliyadeva BV, Kurunegala, last year’s runner-up Visakha Vidyalaya and defending champions HFC Kurunegala have reached the semis.
The second semi final between Visakha and HFC Kurunegala is going to be the toughest battle on today’s card, where both teams met last year in the final which was won by HFC. While HFC will try to maintain the status quo Visakha will go all out to turn the tables this time around.
Defending champions in the U-16 age group HFC Kurunegala managed to qualify for the last eight, while Kalutara BV who missed their chances last year, have qualified for the quarters by beating Gothami MV, Colombo (19-10). Last year’s champions HFC will anticipate a close fight in the quarters today when they take on Musaeus College.
