Carlton Cup Cager Tourney from Oct.19

Anuradha ABEYSEKERA

The Carlton Cup Basketball Championship 2012, Sri Lanka’s biggest annual inter-club cager tournament will stage its fourth edition from October 19 and will continue till November 24 at two venues in Colombo- Police Park and the renovated Henry Pedris courts.

Altogether 12 local elite club teams along with an invitational team from Maldives, who bagged the Maldives national title last year will vie for honours in the ‘A’ division for the top prize while 26 teams will battle it out for supremacy in the ‘B’ division this year.

The ‘A’ division tournament will be worked off in two groups, group 1 and group 2 while the ‘B’ division will be conducted in eight groups (A,B,C,D,E,F,G and H) in the preliminary round.

With the objective of popularizing basketball at school level, an invitational under-14 inter-school tournament will also be conducted beside the main tournament where 31 boys’ and 20 girls’ teams have already confirmed their participation. Even though last year the school tournament was carried out in knock out format the organizers have made arrangements to conduct this year’s tournament on a league basis.

Tharunyata Hetak organization in collaboration with Hambantota Sports Club (HSC) is staging the mega tournament which is the only one of its kind of basketball tournament in the country that caters both to club and school fraternities.

Bharathi Airtel has stepped forward as the platinum sponsors for Carlton Cup Basketball Championship 2012 while Solex Pvt Ltd is the gold sponsor for the event.

Auto Base Enterprises and Y and Y Sportswear by Avian Group supporting the championship as strategic partners and the Galle Face Hotel being the official food and beverage partner. More significantly HSC has initiated the great task of adding international flavour to the local tournaments by inviting Maldives team and this will be a good omen for Sri Lanka basketball. More foreign team participation is expected in future editions which will be a major factor in bringing the sport on par with international standards while giving local players much needed experience and exposure at the international level.

The Henry Pedris basketball court has been fully renovated and converted into a state of the art court under a community and sports development project of HSC and Tharunyata Hetak organization and the surrounding schools who do not have their own courts will be benefited by the new facility. A basketball academy will also be established at the Henry Padris court with the aim of developing the sport at grassroot level.

The participating teams

‘A’ division - HSC blacks, Otter Aquatic Club, SL Army, SL Navy, SL Police, SL Air Force, Old Bens, Wattala BC, Red Line Club, Avent Garde, Peterites, HSC blues and Colombo BC.

‘B’ division - Old Thomians, Buffalos ‘A’, Buffalos ‘B’, Wennappuwa Knights, Colombo’s Intl’ Schools, Peterites, All Greens, Moratuwa, Old Anandians, Jaffna, Maroons, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Dhamso, Batticaloa, Royal College, Kurunegala, Old Senanayakians, Vasians Wennappuwa, Michellites, Wattala ‘B’, De Mazenod, Stallions, Navy ‘B’ and Army ‘B’.