From the 3rd to the 5th of July 2026, the halls of Viharamahadevi Girls High School in Badulla came alive with the sound of clocks and the silence of deep concentration, as the Uva Province leg of the Sri Lanka National Team Chess Championship 2026 brought together the region’s strongest clubs and schools. Organised by the Catalan Chess Club on behalf of the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka, the championship ran across five hard-fought rounds and crowned champions in both the Open and Women’s sections with two very different stories at the top.
In the Open section, there was simply no catching One Direction by Rawana Squad. The eventual champions were flawless, sweeping all five of their matches to finish on a perfect ten match points and twenty-six game points. Their strength ran right down the order. On board four, AIM Biman Koswattage was untouchable with a perfect five wins from five, and on board six Lohas Dewmina Rodrigo matched him stride for stride with his own five-from-five. Sethika Dinsitha Masakorala added a spotless four from four on board two. It was total, team-wide dominance.
Yet Catalan Chess Club made them earn every point. The runners-up finished on eight match points and a hefty twenty-four and a half game points, powered by a deep and talented line-up. AFM Sanuka Binal Weerasingha went perfect with four from four, while N M Thenura Yasendra Nissanka, J M Sanithu Vidunitha Jayasekara and AIM Induwara Weerarathna all posted strong individual scores that kept the pressure on. Rawana Rangers took the bronze, holding off Uva Wellassa University in a close scrap for third.
If the Open race was settled by a runaway leader, the Women’s section went right down to the wire. Three teams finished within touching distance of one another, and the destiny of the trophy came down to the finest of margins. Rawana Queens held their nerve to be crowned champions on eight match points and sixteen and a half game points, edging out Catalan Pride, who finished agonisingly close on seven. Uva Wellassa University completed a dramatic podium, taking bronze after a nail-biting finish that could have gone any of three ways.
The Women’s boards produced a whole string of perfect performances. For the champions, H P Onadi Seja Vinudini was flawless on board three and Kavitha Lakmini Mapa Mudiyanselage did the same on board eight, both winning all four of their games. Catalan Pride’s H M U Thasanya Herath was equally unbeatable on the top board with a perfect four from four, as was Uva Wellassa University’s Kihansa Kasun Liyanapathiranage on board four and Royal Crown Girls’ H R M Sahasna Vishwani on board six. Individual brilliance was on show everywhere, even among teams further down the standings.
Credit for a smoothly run championship goes to the organising and arbiting team. Tournament Directors FA K K N L Perera and Dilshan Charith, together with Chief Arbiter IA H N Chathuranga Gunasena, kept the rounds flowing fairly and professionally from the very first move to the final handshake.
As a provincial chapter of the national championship, this event carried real weight, a chance for Uva’s clubs and schools to prove their strength and stake their claim on the wider Sri Lankan chess map. The atmosphere across the weekend was everything the game should be: fierce over the board, warm away from it, and full of young players discovering just how much they are capable of.
A huge congratulations to Open champions One Direction by Rawana Squad and Women’s champions Rawana Queens, to runners-up Catalan Chess Club and Catalan Pride, and to Rawana Rangers and Uva Wellassa University for their podium finishes. And to every team and every player who travelled to Badulla and gave their all, you made this a weekend to remember.
