Yet another glorious chapter of the regatta legacy between the University of Moratuwa and the University of Colombo was revealed on 30th November as the Inter-University Rowing Championship 2022 was successfully concluded at the Colombo Rowing Club. The event spread across 15 different formats where Colombo clinched the overall men’s championship while Mora being the winner in the women’s championship.
University of Colombo made the perfect start for the day dominating the first two men’s event of the day as W.A.P.P.S Wickramasinghe and P.H.G.P Kulathilaka from Colombo conquered the Men’s A singles and Men’s B singles events respectively, both clocking a time of 4:40.
Things started pretty differently in the women’s events where Mora women’s squad clinched victory in the first women’s event of the day. W.M.R.M Wijethunga and L.S.L Perera from the University of Moratuwa rafted in brilliance to win the women’s A pair with a time of 5:30.
Shortly afterwards, Colombo pulled off yet another victory in the men’s battle with T.M.S.S.R Weerasekara and M.G.S.D Wijethilake winning the men’s B pair with a blazing time of 4:03. Meanwhile Mora women did not let Colombo women to gear up for a victory as S.P.U Sinharage of the University of Moratuwa oared for a comfortable win in women’s B singles clocking 5 minutes and 55 seconds.
It was G.C.D Dharmarathna and H.D.G Abeysekara from the University of Moratuwa that rowed to prevail over the first men’s victory for the day for Mora with a healthy lead of 29 seconds against their opposition. In the very next event, Colombo women’s squad were able to turn the tables and clinch the first women's victory of the day. S.Ganeshiny from the University of Colombo secured the Women’s A Singles with a time of 5:15.
Mora couldn’t keep up the winning momentum further in the men’s regatta as Colombo made an instant comeback in the men’s A doubles after a neck-to-neck encounter with Mora. W.W.M.A.T.B Medawatte and W.A.T Rupasinghe crossed the line setting up 4 minutes and 37 seconds which was just a 4-seconds lead. The men’s group of Colombo propelled for another two comprehensive victories of 4:14 and 3:46 in the men’s C4+ and men’s B4+ events respectively, putting up a huge lead in the men’s scorecard.
But Mora women’s regatta group held their nerves to pull off another remarkable win in both women’s B 4+ and A 4+ events dominating the women’s points table.
The women’s B doubles event concluded with a close finishing but unfortunately, the game has to be restarted due to a lane-crossing objection by the Colombo pair in the middle of the game. Even though the officials decided for a rematch, University of Colombo didn’t send the players for a rematch as a safety step considering the upcoming set of events and as the final decision, the UoM women’s pair emerged victorious in the event.
The men’s A 4+ event was concluded as the most iconic event of the day and it made the perfect end for the day. It was a neck-to-neck battle right from the start and even the final whistle couldn’t separate the two teams as both finished the game in 3 minutes and 40 seconds. So, the officials had to watch the replay to make a final decision and after all, it was the bow ball of the boat that decided the victory in favour of Mora.
After fifteen high-spirited events throughout the day, the University of Colombo claimed the overall men’s championship and the University of Moratuwa finished on top of the women’s championship. Congratulations to all the regatta champions for their remarkable performances and MoraSpirit wish them all the very best in their future endeavours.
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