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| Wednesday, 16 July 2003 |
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Sports | |
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Farewell Ram Ratnavel The livewire behind the activities of Mercantile Basketball, Ram Ratnavel is no more. After the Draw meeting last Friday, he went home with all the files. As the General Secretary of the Mercantile Services Basketball Association he had a burden to bear-the inter-company league championships for men and women. Through Sunday night and until dawn, he worked on the match schedule and typed it. Monday morning, 14th July, should have been like any other day for Ram, who hardly complained of any illness. What began as giddiness soon made him unconscious. On admission to hospital he was pronounced dead. The final whistle for Ram came unexpectedly. At home the neatly typed tournament schedule was on his table bearing testimony to his untiring service to basketball in rain and shine, through thick and thin, for over twenty long years. His inspiring leadership, despite the usual confrontations, coupled with tireless toil to make every match special and every detail important rendered him as a star sports organiser worthy of emulation, even at international levels. Ram's love for the game was evident, way back in the sixties when he represented Ceylon Cold Stores as a gutty player in the newly established Mercantile Basketball Association. Since then he never looked back, serving earlier the Sri Lanka Basketball Federation and later the Mercantile Services Basketball Association. Assiduously he built a loyal and dedicated band of officials to transform mercantile basketball to a glamour sport, paving the way for ample job opportunities for players. For this Ram's name will be long remembered and his services fondly cherished. Ram Ratnavel's mortal remains lie at Mahinda Funeral Parlour, Mount Lavinia and will be cremated at the General Cemetery Mount Lavinia at 5 p.m. on Wednesday 16th July. On behalf of the basketball family I bid farewell to this great sportsman with a prayer that his athma will enjoy the endless bliss of Moksha. Francis D'Almeida, Former National Basketball Coach |
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