Lincoln Boys' Basketball Team Make Another Finals!

Lincoln Boys' Basketball Team Make Another Finals!

The Lincoln School Boys' Basketball team turned on the heat and turned up the volume in the Lincoln gym last week as nine other teams came to compete for this year's SAISA title. In the first game of the tournament, our boys - the defending champions - played against a well-drilled and good shooting team from TAISM. Although the boys never quite hit top gear, they were still able to just do enough to grind out a 44-40 win, with Avi hitting some clutch free-throws towards the end of the game. In what would prove to be a very competitive pool, this win proved crucial. 

In our second game of the day, the Snow Leopards took on the latest addition to our league - the Scorpions from Amman, Jordan. This team turned out to be a powerful group of athletes and basketball players that proved too strong for Lincoln on this occasion. Final score: 56-42. 

With ACS Amman winning the rest of the games in their group, Lincoln needed beat both the Geckos from Colombo and the Eagles from Mumbai to finish 2nd in their pool. They did not disappoint. First, they took care of the Geckos in their first game on the outdoor court, winning 50-17. The Eagles from Mumbai were next and the Snow Leopards came out with an intensity that the Eagles were simply unable to match, eventually wearing ASB into submission and winning 45-29. 

Finishing 2nd in the pool meant that our semi-final was against seed 3 from the other pool, the Raptors from Chennai. This team played some well-structured basketball and had a difficult defense to breakdown. However, the resilience of our Snow Leopards continued to shine through, earning a place in the semis with a 39-30 win. 

Our semi-final game was a repeat of last year's final - the Snow Leopards vs the AISD Tigers. Dhaka was a well-rounded team with some strong guards and athletic big men making them difficult to stop. By three quarter time AISD was up by 10 points and it was not looking good for the Snow Leopards. However, a fast start to the final quarter showed that Lincoln wasn't going to give up without a fight and successive three point shots from Avi Rajkarnikar quickly closed the gap. As the clock ticked towards the end of the game, Lincoln took the lead with another Avi three and the crowd went wild. All the momentum was with the Snow Leopards and the atmosphere in the gym was electric. 

The final was a re-match of the LS vs ACS Amman game in pool play and the Snow Leopards started well, taking an early lead. However, the Scorpions would not go away and their top players started to catch fire with some excellent shooting and powerful fast breaks. Although our Snow Leopards could not defend the championship trophy, they played with dignity, skill and passion for the Lincoln shirt. Thank you to everyone who made this tournament such a smooth, exciting and memorable one. 

SAISA Girls' Football Team Rises to the Challenge!

SAISA Girls' Football Team Rises to the Challenge!

Karuna Sakya-Hooper

Our girls’ football team 2017 showed true determination and heart at this years SAISA Girls Football Tournament in Mumbai, India. Going into the tournament, we only had 11 traveling players, most of whom were in middle school. This meant we had very few options on the bench and we were in a stacked pool, just like last year, with the defending champions (ASB), Dhaka, as well as the SAISA team.

We started out with an easier game against the SAISA team, winning a cool 9-1 and after lunch we would face off against Bombay who had earlier tied Dhaka 3-3. A win in this game would assure us a spot in the semi-finals. We were the underdogs of the tournament and the Eagles came out confident that they could defeat us. Still upset from our loss last year, our team seized the opportunity to reclaim our pride and we defeated Bombay 3-1. This game gave us the boost we needed and carried us through our only game the next day versus the Tigers. It was a tough matchup played at the hottest time of the day, but we didn’t give up and eventually came out victorious, winning 2-0.

In the semi-finals, we faced off against a new SAISA team, the ACS Scorpions. This wasn’t our best game but we came in with a win or win mindset so we did whatever it took to keep ourselves in the game and did just that with a 1-0 win. We made it to the finals undefeated to face TAISM!

As we waited for the final match-up, we felt the butterflies build up in our stomachs, but when game time arrived, we were ready. We studied TAISM’s game and played a defensive strategy that helped us hold them to 0-0 at the half. We just had to score once and then hold them again. But unfortunately they scored 10 minutes into the second half and the game ended 1-0. It was a crushing loss, but throughout the tournament it felt as if we had avenged last year's terrible debacle and rose up to regain our confidence at this year’s SAISA tournament.

Snow Leopards Stay on Track in Colombo!

Snow Leopards Stay on Track in Colombo!

SAISA Track & Field was a very extraordinary experience. Although we had a small team this year, we made the best of it, and worked as hard as we could. I believe that all our hard work paid off in Colombo; we survived the blazing heat, and the very tiring plane ride there and back. We all stuck together like a team and we conquered our fears and personal best times together.

There were many memorable experiences from our time in Colombo. For example, watching Coach Craig run as the anchor of the SnowGeckos in the coaches relay! We also had some amazing wins for our team: Zoja Mancek won gold in the 15-19 girls high jump, and Isabella Murphy who won both the 10-12 girls 3000m and 1500m runs, as well as winning silver in the 800! The Powell sisters did incredibly as well, with Izzy Powell winning the girls 10-12 long jump and earning bronze in the 1500, while Niamh Powell won silver in the 400m. For the boys, Tomas Sharkey came 5th for the 10-12 800m and earned a bronze in the 3000!

We definitely improved on our performances from last year. During SAISA, we were half the size of the other teams, but the fight we put up and our energy was enormous. Our overall experience was amazing and I am lucky to have shared one of my favorite SAISAs with this particular group of people, and I’m excited for what’s to come from our team next year.

Akshara Singh

Both our girls' football and boys' basketball teams are in the finals!

Both our girls' football and boys' basketball teams are in the finals! The girls will kick-off on the livestream at about 4.55 pm KTM time. 

Because of the weather and the need to move outdoor games indoors, the boys final will be held in the Lincoln gym - expected start time between 6.00-6.30. 

It is a SAISA Weekend!

Follow the action! 

• Boys Basketball at Lincoln: http://saisa-boys-basketball.blogspot.com/p/welcome.html
• Girls' Football at Bombay: http://saisaliveasb.weebly.com/
• Track and Field in Colombo: http://osc.lk/saisa/

LS Ready to Host SAISA Boys' Basketball!

After a very successful SAISA Swimming Championships in October, Lincoln is all set to host its 2nd big SAISA event of the year - Boys' Basketball - this April 20-22.

The Snow Leopards are defending champions and will play the first game of the tournament vs TAISM on Thursday, April 20 at 9.00 am, just following the Opening Ceremony.

All the live action can be followed on our tournament blog here:
http://saisa-boys-basketball.blogspot.com/p/welcome.html

Results will be posted here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1A6pjDzq28OjKt8Q8_HYpKPKDe3amnP2_2sKg-fA2hnc/edit?ts=58f59b50

Meanwhile, our Track and Field team will be competing at the Overseas School of Colombo, while our Girls' football team will be participating in the SAISA tournament hosted at the American School of Bombay.

Go Snow Leopards! 

Shashwat Finishes 2nd at RNGC 100th Anniversary Golf Tournament!

Lincoln's Shashwat Pradhan (Grade 7) came second in the junior section of the Royal Nepal Golf Club 100th Anniversary Tournament on April 14th, 2017. The Royal Nepal Golf Club is the oldest club in the country and most of the nation's top junior golfers participated in this tournament.

13-year-old Shashwat has been playing golf since the age of seven and is considered as a formidable player in the junior golf circuit in Nepal. Some of the other major tournaments he has taken part in in were the Nick Faldo Nepal Championships and the qualifier for the 2016 National Games after getting selected through the pre-qualifiers in both of these tournaments. We do expect to hear more about this young golfer in the future!