The Royal College chess team has been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the World Schools Team Chess Championship, which will be held in Washington DC, USA from 2-7 August. The team comprises of Saniru Atulugamage, Induwara Thisarindu, Minura Sathsindu, Nethsara Dias and Vinuka Wijeratne and is accompanied by the head coach, Muditha Hettigama and the Teacher-in-Charge Ms Enoka Kulawardane. A total of 55 teams will be competing in this apex team event for schools in the global chess calendar.
It is noteworthy that two of the players, Induwara Thisarindu and Vinuka Wijeratne, played in this year’s Nationals where they were placed 4th and 5th respectively. The top five are selected to the National Team and as such these two young Royalists are set to earn national colours if Sri Lanka fields a team at the Asian Team Championship this year. Induwara is just 14 years old while Vinuka at 12 is the youngest ever to make it to the national team.
Muditha Hettigama, who has coached Royal for 28 years, was confident about the team’s chances at this world event.
‘We have a strong and balanced team. They are all talented players, but more importantly have shown the drive and discipline to put in the hard work that is non-negotiable for success. They have performed extremely well in individual events in their respective age groups and in open tournaments, local and international. They are obviously quite excited at this opportunity, but are very much aware of the honour and responsibility of representing Royal and Sri Lanka. I am confident they will give their best.