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by our Kandy sports correspondent

Kandy Young Men's Christian Association - a name synonymous with weight-lifting, body-building, and weight training in the hill capital may have to find an alternative place to carry out their training sessions if a move by the Kandy Municipal Council to take over its Lakeside Gymnasium is implemented on Monday September 30 at the expiry of the lease.

The Director of Kandy YMCA and former National Weight Lifting coach and retired Director of Sports of the Central Province S. A. Wijewickrema said that all his efforts to renew the lease has failed and they have no alternative but to quit in keeping with the lease agreement. But he regretted that the Kandy Municipal Council could have taken steps to extend the lease as this is a training place for sportsmen from the hills who have brought honour to the hill capital and country too. Kandy YMCA has produced 72 medalists at various international competitions and two of them represented Sri Lanka at the Olympic Games (Asela Wijewickrema and S. M. de Silva).

Wijewickrema added that over the years the YMCA had trained nearly 25,000 weight lifters and body builders at this location and some of the top names are Mahes Sabaratnam, Niyaz Majeed (both double internationals), Gamini Weerasinghe, R. B. Wickremesinghe, Gamini Gunatillake (present president of the SL Weightlifting Federation), I. M. Mohideen, Athula and Asela Wijewickrema, Maurice Windus, Sackman de Silva and triple international D. U. M. Jayatillake - just to name a few.

Wijewickrema said that YMCA is a Christian Organisation only by name as 247 out of the 253 permanent members are non-Christians and he himself is a Buddhist and therefore this institution has helped the non-Christians in their endeavours to further their sports. Until an alternate place is found, there is a possibility, that training sessions will have to be suspended as do not even have a place to store the equipment.

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