Punch - SPORTS

Young 'King' on 'board'

Anuradha Abeysekara

He has always been a silent observer who speaks a little and thinks a lot. Eventually this attribute gave Movindu the opportunity to excel in the game of kings. Chess became his favourite since he learned his first moves on the chess board from his first 'Guru' Akhila D Miraj when he was just seven. A I M Movindu is a grade five student of Rahula College, Matara. He emerged in the National Schools' chess scene two years later, when he became the under nine first runner up in 2010.

Movindu was a member of the first Sri Lankan team that has participated in the World Schools' Chess Championships which held its sixth championship tournament in Kayseri, Turkey last year.

"The Tournament has been an unforgettable experience as it provided us with the opportunity to compete with many ace players from other Nations.

I am very grateful to Rahula College OBA and all who supported me with sponsorships. If not for their help I would have not been able to participate in the Championship," said little Movindu.

Proving his talents once again Movindu has been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the Seventh World Schools' Chess Championship, which is to be held in Poland from April 29 to May 8. He is practicing hard and is hoping to be at his best to win a medal at this year's tournament.Movindu brought honour to Sri Lanka by winning the Bronze medal as he became the second runner up in the under nine age category at the Sixth Asian Schools' Chess Championships, held in Colombo recently. It was Movindu's first ever international medal and he showed the medal with a sense of pride on his face. Movindu is the Junior Deputy Head Prefect of the college and engaged with many extra curricular activities.

He owes his inherent music and dancing talents to his mother who is a dancing teacher, Movindu has performed as a Thabla player in the Mal Mal Waram musical program which broadcast on Ruhunusevaya. He is also keen on painting and has won awards in local arts competitions. The multifaceted lad has participated in long jump and running events at school sports meets and is also a member of the Rahula Cricket Academy.

He thanked his school chess coaches S Wanigabadu and Anuradha Galappaththi for the guidance they provided. He also appreciated the hard work of his private coach Tharindu who did a great job at bringing him to the Asian level within a very short period of time.

Cycling for unity

Yasaratne Gamage

Young scouts in every part of Sri Lanka have showed their contribution to the Nation's unity by participating in a friendly cycle parade across the country, from Point Pedro to Point Dondra which will conclude today.

The Scout movement in Sri Lanka celebrates its centenary in the year 2012. As a prelude to this the Sri Lanka Scouts Association has made elaborate arrangements to celebrate the event in grand scale.

As the first stage of this the Association has organized a Cycle Tour with the participation of scouts from all parts of the country.

The tour which commenced on February 14 included seven stages and will cover a distance of 660 kilometres.

The young scouts rode from Point Pedro through Killinochchi, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura, Matale, Kandy, Kegalle, Nittambuwa, Colombo and to Kalutara and will proceeded to Dondra today via Galle and Matara.

On their way, they held Camp Fires in Killinochchi, Vavuniya, Anuradhapura, Matale, Nittambuwa, Kalutara and Galle in association with the Scouts of the area, educating and entertaining the general public along the way.

Sri Lanka Chief Scout Commissioner C Batuwangala officially marked the start of the parade.

Scouts showed their strength by continuing the parade to Galle and then to Matara where they conclude the parade at Dondra today, where the National flag which they brought from Point Pedro is to be handed over to the Chief Scout President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Cricket World Cup is here!

Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa

The ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 started on February 19, 2011, and will continue until April 2, 2011. This is the world's leading men's one day international (ODI) cricket tournament, organized by the sport's governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC).

National teams of 14 countries are participating in this tournament, being hosted jointly by Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka. In terms of television audiences and media-linked sponsorship money, the ICC Cricket World Cup is the world's third largest sporting event: only the FIFA Football World Cup and the Summer Olympics are bigger than this event.

Cricket is not just a game of players and matches, but a whole cultural and social phenomenon, especially in South Asia.

If the English invented cricket, the one-time British colonies have vastly globalised it. To mark the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, we give you a cricket special where we probe your knowledge of World Cup history, as well as the wider subculture of cricket.

1. There have been nine Cricket World Cup tournaments since the first one in 1975. England has single-handedly hosted four of these tournaments. Nine other cricket playing countries have also hosted past tournaments, mostly in joint hosting arrangements. Interestingly, only one country has so far won the Cricket World Cup while also being a host nation. Which country, and in what year?

2. Only five players have scored centuries in a Cricket World Cup final. Four of them are: Clive Lloyd (1975), Vivian Richards (1979), Ricky Ponting (2003) and Adam Gilchrist (2007). Who is the other (and only Asian) player to have scored a century in a final?

3. Sri Lanka's cricket administrative body is known as Sri Lanka Cricket. The entity was registered with the Ministry of Sports in June 1975, and was known as the Board of Cricket for Sri Lanka (BCCSL) until it was rebranded in 2003. Who was the Chairman of BCCSL when Sri Lanka Cricket Team won the World Cup in 1996? He played a key role in enabling this historic victory, and among other things, was responsible for hiring Dave Whatmore as official coach.

4. Cricket World Cup involves the national teams of 14 countries, of which only 10 have been assigned 'Test cricket' status by the ICC up to the end of 2010. This mix can be seen in the history of the World Cup. Which Test cricket playing nation did Sri Lanka beat in the 1979 Cricket World Cup, which was two years before Sri Lanka gained its Test status (1981)?

5. Up to 2007 Cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka held the record for the highest score in a World Cup cricket match: it was 398 against Kenya during the 1996 Cricket World Cup. In the 2007 World Cup, the Indian team surpassed this, scoring 413 for 5 wickets in 50 overs. Which country's team were they playing against?

6. Up to and including 2007 Cricket World Cup, the lowest score recorded by a country's team was during the 2003 World Cup hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Which country's team scored 36 runs before being bowled out by Sri Lanka, which won that match by nine wickets.

7. The ICC Cricket World Cup trophy is presented to the final winners of the cricket World Cup tournament. The trophy weighs approximately 11 kilograms and has the names of the previous winners inscribed on its base. (There is still room for another ten teams to have their name inscribed.)

The actual trophy is kept by the ICC in its offices, but a replica, identical in all aspects apart from the inscription of the previous champions, is awarded to the winning team and remains in their possession. In which city is the actual Cricket World Cup trophy located (clue: it is at the ICC Headquarters)?

8. The choice of an elephant's image as mascot for the 2011 World Cup was disclosed in April 2010. The ICC sees the attributes of an ideal cricket player in the mascot's personality: it loves playing street cricket; worships cricket heroes; understands there is much to learn; believes in hard work; and is learning to master the art of concentration. The mascot's name was unveiled in Colombo in August 2010, chosen from an online competition. What is his name?

9. The R Premadasa Stadium will be the Colombo venue of World Cup games hosted by Sri Lanka, including one semi-final. Built in 1986, it is now named after former President Ranasinghe Premadasa. Built on a swampland, it is the biggest stadium in the country in terms of seating capacity. What was this stadium's original name?

10. Cricket, through its sheer popularity in the playing nations and mass media appeal, can be used to raise awareness on social issues. THINK-WISE has been established by the ICC, in partnership with the United Nations and the media industry, to use the power of cricket to help tackle key issues around which global problem?

11. International cricket requires not only the playing teams, but umpires, referees and a vast system to ensure the game is played according to its well defined principles and rules. There is one West Indies umpire who is the only person to have officiated in five consecutive Cricket World Cup finals (in 1992, 1996, 1999, 2003 and 2007). Who is he?

12. Who is the 'event ambassador' for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, in which capacity will he be called upon to promote and support a variety of ICC initiatives for the tournament?

13. Cricket has inspired not only widespread television coverage and dedicated websites, but also other products of popular culture. Among the cricketing fiction is a novel titled The Match written by Sri Lanka-born author who has been living in England since 1971. The novel, set between Sri Lanka, Manila and London, reflects the moves that the author himself has made in his life, and says 'draws on the dislocation he felt growing up in an expatriate environment'. Who wrote The Match, first published in 2006?

14. Not only fiction writers but scholars too have been studying, analyzing and chronicling the game of cricket and its wider social, cultural and political implications. A Corner of a Foreign Field - An Indian history of a British sport was written in 2001 by a well known Indian sociologist and writer whose research interests have included environmental, social, political and cricket history. Who is he?

15. Cricket has become such an integral element of South Asian life that some among us might even forget that it originated in faraway England. In 1930, an Englishman who spent many years in Ceylon as a tea planter, civil servant and archaeologist wrote these prophetic words: "Some future observer will doubtless note what is selected for survival from among the manifold ways of the British. To hazard a prediction, I would give my vote to cricket." Whose words were these? Answers will be published next week

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Last week's answers

1. Last La Ni¤a developed in mid 2007 and lasted until early 2009
2. Peruvian fisherman originally used the term
3. Sir Gilbert Thomas Walker (1868-1958)
4. Christa McAuliffe
5. The Hyoid bone
6. Hamburg, Germany
7. Joanne Kathleen
8. From Manchester to London
9. Godfrey Harold "G H" Hardy (1877-1947)
10. CNN - the Cable News Network
11. Trinidad and Tobago
12. Usman Tariq Khawaja
13. Pierre Curie and Henri Becquerel
14. Radium and Polonium
15. Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation

Answer our Wiz quiz and win valuable book vouchers from Sarasavi Book Shop. Mail your answers to Wiz quiz, Daily News, Lake House, No 35, D R Wijewardena Mawatha, Colombo 10 or email to [email protected] with your address, ID and contact numbers to reach us on or before Friday.

In case there are more than one entry with equal number of correct answers, winners will be picked by a draw. Winners can get their vouchers from the Manager of new Sarasavi Book Shop Nugegoda.

Last week’s winners

First place – Harsha Dissanayake, Kottawa
Second place – Shanthini Ramachandran, Dehiwala
Third place – R D J Amath, Boralegamuwa