Royal Leopards, led by experienced forward Hareendra Herath won the A. J. Medichem Royal Hockey League-2025 by defeating Royal Cheetahs 1-0 in the final played at the Colombo International Astro Turf.
Undefeated Leopards met Royal Cheetah in the Cup final after defeating Royal Bulls 1-0 in the semi-finals. There was no breakthrough in the evenly poised final.
However, left inside P. M. T. B. Wickremsinghe, who came into the field in the last five minutes of the game, scored the winning goal for the Leopards in the 16th minute of the game.
Runners-up Royal Cheetahs edged Royal Eagles in the semi-final 1-0.
The A. J. Medichem Royal Hockey League (RHL) saw 12 teams participating with the presence of some former Old Royalist national hockey players. This was the fifth edition of the tournament, which was originally started in 2013.
The title sponsor for the tournament was A. J. Medichem International, one of Sri Lanka’s leading healthcare service providers of modern solutions in the field of neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, vascular surgery, blood transfusion, general surgery, critical care and blood therapeutic products.
Clive James, Director of A. J. Medichem International was the Chief Guest at the closing ceremony.
Singer Sri Lanka partnered as official jersey sponsor for the tournament while Lankaila Hotels, Sri Lanka was the official hospitality partner and gave away one-day complementary full-board stay at Oga Reach Yala for the best players chosen in the tournament.
Organised by Royal College Hockey Club (RCHC), the nine-a-side tournament was aimed at gathering all past hockey players, at both international and national level, produced by the Reid Avenue School.
Each team consisted of 12 players aged between 16-62 years. For the first time in its history, the tournament featured 36 past female hockey players from leading Girls’ schools in Colombo: Bishop’s College, Janadhipathi Balika Vidyalaya, Musaeus College and Visakha Vidyalaya.
The players were chosen through an auction with franchise-based ownership.
The inaugural edition was held in 2013, followed by three more editions in 2018, 2020 and 2023. The tournament is a platform for all past hockey players of Royal College to rekindle their old memories on the field while strengthening the hockey fraternity for upcoming events such as the Blue & Gold Hockey Sevens and the All Island Seven-a-side hockey tournament.
Results: (Cup final): Royal Leopard beat Royal Cheetahs 1-0. (Cup third place): Royal Bulls beat Royal Eagles 1-0. (Plate final): Royal Lions beat Royal Tuskers 1-0 (penalty). (Plate third place): Joint winners – Royal Rhinos and Royal Sharks. (Bowl final): Royal Zebras beat Royal Panthers 1-0. (Bowl third place): Royal Wolves beat Royal Tigers 1-0. (Individual Awards):
Best Player (Schools): Ahamed Fayaz/Navindu Liyanage. Best Player (Women’s): Chanalee Guruge (Janathipathi Balika Vidyalaya)
Best Goal Keeper (Men): Malith Abeysundera
Best Goal Keeper (Women): Subodha Jayasinghe (Janadhipathi Balika Vidyalaya).
Best Player (Veterans Over-45): Sampath Subasinghe. Most Valuable Player: Aloka Amarasiri.
