Kaweesha Fernando, the goalkeeper for Sri Lanka’s Men’s Under-21 Hockey team, was named the Best Goalkeeper of the Men’s Junior AHF Cup, which concluded in Singapore on Sunday.
Despite the Sri Lankan team’s overall low finish in the 11-nation competition, Fernando’s impressive goalkeeping brought pride to his country. He stood out as the Best Goalkeeper in the entire tournament.
Fernando, an alumnus of St. Thomas’ College Matale, currently plays for the Hatton National Bank team in the Mercantile Hockey Tournament. He earned the Player of the Match title in the match against Thailand, even though Sri Lanka lost that game.
The Sri Lanka Men’s Under-21 team did not qualify for the Junior Asia Cup, finishing 11th after losing all four matches against Bangladesh, Thailand, Indonesia, and host Singapore, ending last in Pool ‘A’. In contrast, the Sri Lanka Women’s team secured a spot in the Junior Asia Cup, finishing fourth overall.
Both the Sri Lanka Men’s and Women’s Under-21 hockey teams are scheduled to arrive at Katunayake Airport at 12:50 PM today (Tuesday).
SAJEEWA JAYAKODY
