Thurstanite Brass 2006, Indoor Band Display organized by the Senior Brass Band of Thurstan College is due to go on stage on 15th July 2006 at B.M.I.C.H. Colombo 07. Being committed to the well-known traditions set by the brass band in previous years, Thurstanite Brass 2006 will also mark the farewell of the present bandleader and the welcoming of the new bandleader. In addition, the event will be a major fundraiser for the maintenance of the band. Thurstanite Brass 2006 is well known to gather novel talents across the country by inviting all major schools in Sri Lanka. This is the 4th Band Display organized by the Senior Brass Band. This year’s theme will be “Echoes of the Frozen Empire” which will depict a beautiful backdrop of an inside scenery of an 11th century gothic castle in winter. Similar to the band display organized in 2004, there will be a range of entertainment items, which will include, dances, singing and multimedia presentations. There would be dances by the famous dance troupe, Antonio’s Dance Circle lead by Mr. Tony Fernandez, which will include a beautiful Viennese waltz for an instrumental from the renowned Harry Potter movie, and a Hip Hop/ Freestyle dance. In addition, students from Colombo’s prominent school of dance, Deanna School of Dancing will grace the occasion with a ballet to the sounds of Tchaikovsky’s “Sleeping Beauty”. We would welcome any help given to us by you to make this event a roaring success. However, our main request to you is to come see our show and enjoy the evening. Tickets are priced, Rs. 500.00 and will be available from June at the College OBU office and the Swimming Pool Office. We would promise you an enjoyable and at the same time a memorable evening. Therefore, do accept our invitation and come see our show as this would be an event that should not be missed. The ticket you buy will contribute towards this event and towards maintenance of the instruments. It would be a contribution to your own school and you will have a memorable evening to remember. It would be an evening that would certainly go down in history books as one of Thurstan’s finest moments.
Thurstanite Mahinda Rajapakse was declared as the 5th Executive President of Sri Lanka on 18 November. Born to a family with a long tradition for politics, he was mainly educated at Thurstan College, Colombo (1957-1963). Hon. Rajapakse is an Attorney at Law. In his political career spanning nearly 4 decades, he has shown an unmatchable courage and determination.
PRESIDENT OF SRI LANKA
HON MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA
Mahinda Rajapaksa joined Thurstan in 1957 to grade 6 classes. Prior to Thurstan he was at Nalanda & Richmond. Mahinda comes from a well-known family from the Deep South, the RAJAPAKSA’S, His father; the late Mr D A Rajapaksa was a founder member of the SLFP with the late Mr S W R D Bandaranaike. The mantle of the good work that his father began fell on Mahinda who was later joined by his elder brother Chamal.Mahinda at Thurstan was just another mischievous schoolboy, although he was the son of a Member of Parliament who some times traveled from SRAVASTI, the official residence of MP’s.He was at the receiving end of the ire of our discipline master the late Mr Kingsley Fernando many a time. Mahinda was very fond of sports, he participated in athletics. Cricket & Rugby. At that young age he showed his prowess at public speaking, he was good & powerful debater. Mahinda Passed his OL & AL’s and left college in the mid sixties.He worked for some time at the Vidyodaya Campus before he took to full time politics in the late 1960’s and was elected as the youngest Parliamentarian in 1970 when the SLFP was swept into Parliament.Being a backbencher he did the wisest thing by enrolling himself in the Law College and passed out as an Attorney. When he was unseated in 1977 he began a very successful & lucrative practice as a lawyer with a large clientele.Not only did he practice diligently at courts, at this time his roving eye met I believe the pretty lady who had won the Miss Sri Lanka Contest a few year’s back and made her his wife. As the saying goes “behind a successful man there is a woman “and his wife Shiranthi has being a source of strength in his political life.They are blessed with 3 son’s who has outshone the father in sports, the elder two being versatile rugby players who have played with distinction to their school, St Thomas’ Mt Lavinia the elder even leading the Sri Lanka Under 19 team. One significant aspect is that when the son’s of other politicians have used the political power of the father to indulge in mischief, the Rajapaksa boy’s have behaved roll model of good public behaviour. He made a significant contribution to bring PA back to power in 1994 and was rewarded with Cabinet portfolio and thus became the first Thurstanite to hold Cabinet rank. When the OBU felicitated him after he resumed office, the demand was such that all tickets were snapped up within 4 days and we had to disappoint many, those were the days when many who did not openly say they were old boy’s of Thurstan, identified themselves as ThurstanitesMahinda has crowned himself as a Cabinet Minister and his work at Labour & Fisheries has been much appreciated by the public at large & the officials.Mahinda has always identified himself as a THURSTANITE even though he had his primary education both at Richmond & Nalanda. If ever time permitted he never refused an invitation to attend any College function & has helped college and the furnishing the College hall with a set chairs costing over a million rupees was a testimony of his love for his alma mater.Mahinda was honoured with the title “ SRI ROHANA RAJANA “by the Buddhist prelates in 2000 for his vast popularity with the masses and also being a devoted worker. He is the second person to be honoured by the prelates, first being the late Premier Sirimavo Bandaranaike.In the year 2001 Mahinda was elected as the Leader of the Opposition as the majority felt that he is the person who could give leadership to the parties in the OppositionAt the conclusion of the election held on April on April 2nd , Mahinda was one of the two SLFPers who were able to win the District while in all other districts which the United People’s Freedom Alliance won, it was the Members of the JVP who topped the list.He was also the highest percentage wise of the polls received for an individual for a district in the whole Island.For his dedicated service to the party for well over 35 years, which his father, the late D A Rajapaksa was instrumental in forming with the late Premier S W R D Bandaranaike he was elevated to the position of Prime Minister in April 2004. The biggest contribution he made to College was that he gave the leadership role in the Fund Raising THURSTAN WALK held in October 2004.Not only much donation was obtained from the Corporate world due to his Chairmanship; he also flagged off the walk & walked the complete route. At one point he stood and watched the participants passed by which was much appreciated by all.The funds raised by this project helped the OBU to complete Phase 1 of the Ground Development Project. Thurstan grounds is perhaps the best school ground in Sri Lanka and recently even the SRI LANKA CRICKET hired the ground to play one of the Quarter final matches of the Premier Limited over tournament as other ground were waterlogged due to the heavy rains.Thurstan also staged its first “International match “when in the recently concluded ICC Under 19 Youth World Cup a practice game was played between Bangladesh & Zimbabwe was on February 5th 2005. Prior to that Thurstan met Namibia on Jan 30th . The nadir of Mahinda’s political career was when he was elected as the 5th President of Sri Lanka on November 17th on the eve of his 60th birthday which fell on November 18th. This was also not an easy task. Mahinda who has been a fighter all his life first managed to get nomination from his party amidst lot of in-fighting and used all his political acumen and formed the right coalition of many parties and projected his Vision for Sri Lanka in the form of “ Mahinda Chinthanaya “, which was endorsed by the masses. This was a practical & pragmatic approach to the many problems faced by Sri Lankan’s.He has been successful in recommencing the Peace Process which has stalled for the last 3 yearsHe now has huge task a head and let us wish that he will make use of his 35 + years of political experience and his practical and mundane approach will resolve the many complex issues that we as a nation face. I am sure he will not forget THURSTAN and her development amidst his many other demanding schedules. Priya Paranavitane A Class-mate2006 02 23
Popular stage drama “MAN THE MAN” starring Tennyson Cooray will be staged on the 11th December 2005 at Maradana Tower Hall, Show times are 3.30pm and 6.30pm.Tickets available at the gate. For reservations contact: Thulash-or Akalanka.
?Thustanites 2004? emerged winners of the annual Old Thurstanites six ?a- side cricket tournament 2005 organized by the Junior Old Boys Union (JOBU) of Thurstan College, which concluded at the Race Course grounds on Sunday (6 November).
16 teams took part in the tournament and Thurstanites 2003, Thurstanites 2004, Thurstanites 90 and Silver lines qualified to play in the semi finals.
Thurstanites 2004 beat Thurstanites 2003 in the first semi final match by 10 runs while Thurstanites 90 beat Silver Lines by 4 wickets in the second semi final to reach the finals.
Thurstanites 2004 beat Thurstanites 90 by 15 runs in the final encounter and took away the JOBU Challenge trophy . Dulith Wickramasinghe of Thurstanites 2004 became the ?man of the final? while Gamini Nanayakkara (?90) and Indika Liyanage (2003) bagged the best batsman and best bowler awards respectively.
Chief Guest Shirosha Gunatilleke, an old Thurstanite gave away the wards.
CRICKET Astra trophy under 17 2nd row final Thurstan colege 169 over 45.4 st.Patrick college 170/9 over 49.3
Astra trophy under 17 1st row 1 st innings Thurstan 222 over 54 umesh karunarathne 122* 1 st innings D.S Senanayake colege 314 over 72
2nd innings Thurstan 89 umesh karunarathne 24 2nd innings D.S senanayake won by 03 runs
CHESS All island inter school chess championship organized by Thurstan college held 2005/ 08/19,20,21 first place Mahanama college Colombo second pace Dewananda college Ambalangoda third place Pilimathalawa college Pilimathalawa forth place Thurstan college Colombo.
All island debating competition (organized by UNESCO) 2nd place- Thurstan 2005.10.07 All island debating competition (organized by Richmand colege galle) 3rd place – Thurstan 2005.08.30
Teachers day 2005.10.06 – organized by Buddhist society
Commerce day 2005. 10.21 – at college main hall 2.30 pm
Science day 2005.10.13 – at college main hall 2.30 pm
Western province debating tournament final round (Thurstan vs. Ananda) 2005/10/19 10.am at panadura sri sumangala girl school
FIRST ELEVEN CRICKET SEASON 2005-2006
Thurstan 1st XI cricket team made an auspicious start to the season with a good performance in their opening match against St Sylvester’s Kandy at their home ground at Bauddhaloka Mawatha just missing an outright win This match was also the Christening of the ground by the 1st XI team.
St Sylvester’s 1st Inn : 206 – R Karunaratna 101, S Nadjudeen 20, C Silva 33 n.o., Kanishka Elvitigala 4 for 51, Lahiru Gamaga 3 for 39. Thurstan 1st Inn : 303 for 8 dec – Buddhi Samarawickrama 103, Geeth Kumara 84, Shehan Perera 54 n.o C Ranaweera 2 for 28, C Kolamboge 2 for 31. St Sylvester’s 2nd Inn : 86 for 9 at close – Umesh Karunaratna 6 for 27, Shehan Perera 2 for 31
Match Drawn.
St Sylvester’s batting first were all out for 206 with opener Ravi Karunaratna holding the batting together scoring a patient 102. At one time the visitors were in dire trouble with 7 down for 128, but a life given to Karunaratna proved to be very expensive. For Thurstan, the two fast bowlers Elvitigala & Gamage shared the wickets
Thurstan were not too happily placed at the end of the first day with 4 down for 60. The overnight pair of Samarawickrama [ 103 ] & Kumara [ 84 ] with another unbeaten 54 by experienced Shehan Perera helped Thurstan to declare at tea on the 2nd day on a healthy 303 for 8..
Buddhi Samarawickrama is the first Thurstanite schoolboy to score a century in the new ground.
St Sylvester’s going for the second time were soon in trouble against some heady off spin bowling by Umesh Karunaratna 6 for 27 & leg Spinner Shehan Perera 2 for 19. At close they were 9 wickets down, the last pair survived 2 overs to force a draw, thus Thurstan did not have the satisfaction of gaining an out right win in their first outing at their new Cricket ground
The previous week Thurstan won the Inaugural 20 Twenty tournament organized by St Joseph’s College Colombo. The remaining games for the third term is as follows • Sep 26th & 27th VS Kingswood at Police grounds Kandy • October 1st & 2nd – Old Wesleyite’s Sports Club annual 6’s for the Lemonade trophy • October 3rd & 4th VS St Joseph’s at Bauddhaloka Mawatha • October 7th & 8th VS Dharmapala at Pannipitya • October 21st & 22nd VS Rewata Vidyalaya at Bauddhaloka Mawatha [ arranged by – SLSCA] • October 28th & 29th VS St Thomas’s Mt Lavinia at Bauddhaloka Mawatha • November 18th & 19th VS Taxila MV at Bauddhaloka Mawatha [ arranged by SLSCA ]
September 19th, 2005 will go down memory lane as a historic day for rugby at Thurstan. For all Thurstanites there was a dream !! – to beat Isipathana at the Annual Abdul Jabbar Trophy. This dream had eluded Thurstan rugby players for 38 long years, but on this day 15 lads made this dream a reality.
Yes, Thurstan beat Isipathana 15 points [ one goal, one try & one penalty ] to 6 [ two penalties ]
The closest that Thurstan had come was a draw in 1975 under Tissa Wickramanayaka, but Thurstan had twice beaten Isipathana in 1998 & 2000 at the President’s Trophy and also in 1963 in the infancy of rugby at both colleges when it was not played for a trophy.
There was much drama before the game itself, when the Old boy Rugby section of both schools could not agree on the venue for the match. But saner counsel prevailed and it was ultimately agreed that this traditional game was much more important for the two schools and for the set of players of both teams than other trivia.
Both Schools had much to play for. The winner was assured of a place on this year’s President’s trophy and also promotion to Division 1 next year.
Hence the game had all the ingredients of a tight match with no quota asked & none given.
The rugby players of both teams did not disappoint the large crowd that thronged Longden Place to witness this game with clean ferocious play.
Thurstan opened scoring within the first 5 minutes when they worked the three quarter line and drawing the Isipathana defense and a perfectly timed grubber kick was chased by the two Thurstanite centres and Thilina Lakmal scored mid right towards the CR hockey ground end. Thurstan place kicker Dilan Perera’s kick just veered out of the left upright and Thurstan was leading 5 points to Nil.
Next 20 minutes saw play between the 25 meter mark of the two halves, each team trying to probe the defenses of the other but not successful in penetrating it. Almost on the stroke of half time, Isipathana were awarded a penalty for an infringement 30 meters out almost at the centre which the Full back Reza Mubarak duly obliged. At the breather Thurstan were leading 5 points to 3.
Soon after resumption, Thurstan missed a golden chance to increase the lead when Dilan Perera fluffed an under the post penalty 30 meters out much to the disappointed of the Thurstanites.
Thurstanites were really dominating the game in this half, both territorially and with some threatening moves, but mistakes at vital moments deprived them of scoring opportunities which were there for the taking
In one of the rare moments when Isipathana took play to the Thurstan half, a missed clearance by the Thurstan full back Munna & at the subsequent melee, Isipathana were awarded a penalty almost at the same place where Thurstan place kicker missed the conversion. But Isipathana place kicker was spot on and Isipathana were leading for the first time with 6 to 5 with about 10 minutes to full time.
With Isipathana taking the lead with only a few minutes to go, thought were haunting the Thurstan supporters – will this be another year ” so near but yet so far ” as in the mid 90’s when Thurstan leading till the very last minute saw Boran the illusive Isipathana scrum half picking the ball from a scrum mid way and slipping one tackle after another to score a match winning try under the post.
But this year the Thurstanites were made of much sterner stuff, and they kept hammering at Isipathana line & were awarded a penalty mid left on the 25 meter line. When Dilan Perera placed the ball and took steps back to steady himself for the kick, players as well as the supporters were all glued & biting their finger nails to see whether his kick will go between the post or kick awry as he had done on 2 occasions already in the match. But this time he got it dead centre much to the relief of all the Thurstanites and Thurstan were leading 8 points to 6 with less than 5 minutes of play including injury time remaining before the referee Orville Fernando will blow for full time.
Isipathana were not going to go down without a fight and immediately took play to the Thurstan 25 in front of the CR Pavilion and worked the line to the left winger who was bottled up near the touch line. In the ensuing melee, Thurstan right winger, the tall Shane Aravinda picked up the ball virtually out of the blues and ran a good 75 meters along the right touch line evading desperate tackles from 2 Isipathanians and once he crossed the touch line ambled along to touch down under the post and bury the traditional rivals and to put the issues beyond doubt. This try was converted for Thurstan to lead 15 Points to 6.
Within a few minutes after the Kick off, full time was blown and throngs of Thurstanites both old & young swamped the ground to hug the 15 lads who all made this possible.
Thurstan fully deserved the victory as they looked the side always on the look out for tries as Isipathana cut a sorry figure with their outside backs playing senseless rugby much to the disappointment to their supporters and the two coaches Hisham Abdeen & Champika Nishantha. Only their forwards made forages but were stopped by a determined pack ably lead by the Skipper Amila Eranda who was in the thick of things and urging the team mates to drive towards the Isipathana goal line. He has had a fine season and will join the select band of Thurstanites who had been successful in sports as well as in academic studies as he has passed his AL’s with 2 A’s & a B.
The most happiest person on the ground could have well being the Chief Guest, Thurstan Old Boy Noel Joseph who was mainly instrumental in arranging the Sponsorship from the Orange Group of Companies for RS 1 Million for Thurstan Rugby for 2005 & 6.
Orange Group too must be happy they have backed a winning team
There were many behind the success of the team. First, the two coaches, Gamini Indrasena former Isipathana & Havelocks player & Asanga Rodrigo the current Sri Lanka & CR player, former Royal & CR Player Vipula Dharmadasa was always at hand to give some valuable expert advice.
Thurstan OBU handed the destinies of Thurstan Rugby to the Junior OBU and they formed Junior OBU Rugby Development Committee headed by Sujeewa Perera with the Rugby Captain of 1993 Suranga Kulawickrama as the secretary.
Their credo was to ” Honour & Glory ” and the Vision was to revive Rugby at Thurstan and thus be among the best in schools & their Primary Mission was to win the Abdul Jabbar Trophy. This they have been successful in the first year itself. For this I am sure they have sweated much, many trials & tribulations and they were also successful in obtaining for the first time Sponsorship for any Sports at Thurstan.
You could feel the joy & happiness of the committee members when the final whistle was blown.
There were many Rugby Captains & players of yesteryear to witness this historic achievement and I am sure their eyes would have become moist as this team of 2005 achieved what was becoming ” mission impossible ” to win the Abdul Jabbar Trophy, which eluded them when they represented College. This series of matches commenced in 1967 under the captaincy of Managla Ratnayaka [ now domiciled in New Zealand ] for Thurstan & Juranghan Savangan for Isipathana, both being dashing wing forwards for their respective Schools and Savangan after college played with much distinction for Police. This match for the trophy was played continuously except in 1972 when Isipathana did not play Rugby due to a ruling by the SLRFU. Thus in 38 outings, Isipathana has won 36 times, one being drawn and the loss this year.
The Annual “Greation Gunawardhana” – Challenge Trophy Rugby match between Thurstan college and D.S Senanayake College will be held on Monday, 12th September 2005. The venue will be CR & FC Grounds-London Place. Kick Off: U 13 – 3.30pm / U 15- 4.00pm / 1st XV – 4.30pm. FIXTURE CARD / THE TEAM
