Indians to compete here in Tug-of-War championships

by Bernard Perera

Sri Lankan sports fans will get the opportunity for the first time to witness an international Tug-of-War competition on local soil when the two Indian teams compete at the International Gold Cup tug-o-war championship due to take place at Sri Bodhi ground, Gampaha on September 10 and 11. This was disclosed by Jayantha Wickramaratne President of the Tug-of-War Federation of Sri Lanka.

Three men's, women's and three mixed teams will compete at the Gold Cup championship along with the Indian teams. The Indian teams are due to arrive in the island today, said Wickramaratne.

Secretary of the Federation M. T. Fernando explaining the details of the sport said this is not a new sport to Sri Lanka. This was a sport participated by many in this country specially during the Sinhala and Tamil festival season. But the people of Sri Lanka did not know the new set of rules set out for the sport as this is considered as an Olympic discipline.

That was the reason the Federation was formed to educate and promote the sport to reach international level, said Fernando. Sri Lanka has reached the world through sports on many occasions. This too is of vital importance specially for the rural folk to reach the world.

Continuing he said the Federation conducted a tournament for the first time in order to select teams for the Gold Cup championships. Thirty six men's teams and 12 women's teams competed in this tournament which was also named as the national championship.

Three teams in the men's category to qualify for the championship were Vavuniya Police SC, Moratuwa United SC, and Army SC. These teams qualified to compete at the national after preliminary rounds worked off at district level.

The women's championship saw school teams compete and reach the top level. The teams that qualified are Buddhist Ladies College, Colombo, Ratnavali Balika Vidyalaya, Gampaha and Yasodara Devi BV also from Gampaha. They all competed as under 19 group.

Fernando said the highlight of the Gold Cup championship will be the mixed event (4 women, 4 men). The mixed event will be competed at this championship by Minhal International School, Thakshila Maha Vidyalaya, Horana and Parakramabahu Maha Vidyalaya.He said according to international rules a team consists of ten members of which will have two reserves and eight playing members. Men's team of eight has to have a total weight of 560 kg while the women's under 19 have 480 kg. The mixed team too should have a total weight of 560 kg, said Fernando.

The secretary also added that Thushara Sampath, P. Jayaweera and A. Wijenayake toured India to follow a coaches programme under qualified coaches, specially to gain the knowledge on the rules of the games. On their return they imparted their knowledge to coaches in Sri Lanka. They held seminars for local coaches in Trincomalee, Matara, Kandy, Galle and Anuradhapura to educate the coaches and all others interested in the sport.

Dr. Pratha J. Shaw the Indian coach was the tutor for our coaches while they were in India. M. J. Fernando said if the sport catches up with the masses it will definitely attract sponsors.

The sponsors appearance could also add colour to the sport in many ways while getting their due mileage. The Indians participation is sure to give the local players the much needed exposure against an international opposition.

Invitation

Fernando disclosed that already the India's Governing Body has extended an invitation to compete at the all India Tug-of-War Championship held for the Rajiv Gandhi Trophy scheduled to be held in New Delhi in mid November.

To select a team for the tour the Federation hopes to conduct a training programme and also few trials during the month of October. If the Lankans pick up the sport quickly it has all the chances to move further into the world sports arena. To achieve this status the local body and the players and the officials have to sweat hard", said Fernando.

The Gold Cup Tug-o-War Championship is to commence at 3.30 p.m. on Sept. 10 after weighing in and the opening ceremony scheduled for 1.00 p.m. Pandu Bandaranayake, Deputy Minister for Public Administration and Home Affairs will be the chief guest on this day. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Anura Bandaranaike is to grace the second day as chief guest for the finals and give away the awards.