by Hafiz Marikar
It was a good day’s cyclocross at the nature course of the Hotel Tree of Life over here in the hills at Yahalatenne, Kandy where the inaugural Mountain Biking Championships took place. It was well organized by the Hotel Tree of Life, in association with the National Mountain Biking Association.

In this inaugural event, Sri Lankan riders completely outrode the favourites from Japan and Britain, to pocket the first ever championship. Sri Lanka’s victory was due to the superb riding of Sri Lanka Navy skipper Sampath Krishantha, who took first place. Second place went to A. J. Milton Sports Club’s H. Priyantha Fernando. Sri Lanka Army SC rider D. M. S. Dissanayake took third place.

It was a fantastic show, where over 250 riders took part. The man who did a lot of spadework was the assistant general manager, Hotel Tree of Life, Timothy Paldano.

The winning team received the Tree of Life trophy from the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Lakshman Kiriella.