ITTA happy over local development

Anuradha ABEYSEKERA

International Table Tennis Association (ITTA) in its official web site praised Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association (SLTTA) Secretary Chandana Perera for his untiring service for the development of Table Tennis in Sri Lanka after the Tsunami devastation. ITTA in their web article' Table Tennis Thrives as Sri Lanka Recovers from Tsunami and civil war' commended the recent tournaments held in Jaffna and Kegalle.

Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association (SLTTA) Secretary Chandana Perera. Picture by Sumanachandra Ariyawansa

When contacted by Daily News Chandana Perera to gather more information on new developments and future plans for Sri Lanka Table Tennis.

He said "we have conducted two very successful Novices and Intermediate tournaments in Kegalle and Jaffna Districts. Nearly 500 children participated at the Kegalle tournament in 16 events on December 27, 28. The matches were played at St Mary's College hall. Under the patronage of Sabaragamuwa Province Chief Minister Maheepala Herath, 14 TT tables were distributed among the schools in the district. This will be a fore runner to popularize the game in the country. Due to the good organizing skills of Kegalle District TTA President and Member of the Parliament Kanaka Herath the event was a great success", said Chandana.

"The Jaffna tournament which held on December 29,30 was disturbed by heavy rains. We have lost nearly 35 entries from Mannar, Vavunia and Batticaloa districts and had to confine the tournament for a single day. Former president, Board of Control for TT in Sri Lanka and Abans Senior Director P M Pestonjee sponsored the Jaffna event. There was a keen contest between Jaffna and Trincomalee players during the matches. Jaffna TTA Secretary J Mohan, the one who is also do coaching in the Jaffna district must given the credit for moulding these freshers to become fine paddlers.

"We have been conducting regular training sessions in Trincomalee with the support of the Asian German Sports Exchange Program Chairman D Doering who is a resident in Sri Lanka for the past 25 years. While helping our paddlers over the years have also arranged many international tournaments for our local paddlers. Unfortunately the Trinco training program came to abrupt end due to lack of funds. We have requested Doering to re-start the training sessions and expect a good response from him.

"After the Tsunami in 2004, the Norwegian TTA and ITTA built Sri Mathumai Ambal College, a new school in Trincomalee comprising of a hall specially for TT practices. They have donated internationally approved TT tables and eight tables which can be accommodated in the hall. The Nilaveli Peace Village Indoor Stadium has also brought many into the sport. We have witnessed new talents emerging from the area. Even though Trincomalee is well equipped with material assets but the TT development program came to standstill ue to financial difficulties.

"Pestonjee has agreed to sponsor another North and East Tournament and we are making arrangements to conduct the same in September. As we have seen a great potential in Jaffna and Trinco we hope to support them in every sphere to reach National level. There will be a large number of ranking players from Jaffna and Trincomalee in the future tournaments.

"When compared with schools in other districts, it is much easier to popularize this game in Jaffna and Trincomalee schools. School children in these areas have so much of free time but less opportunities to participate in sport activities. Our focus is to bring them into TT. "When I joined as an administrator of TTA in 1993 the game was only popular in Colombo, Kandy and Ambalangoda. With great effort we have brought the game to Kegalle, Kurunegala, Galle, Matara, Ratnapura, Gampaha and Kalutara Districts. Even when the war prevailed in the country, we carried out TT programs in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara districts.

"We have a very high standard of TT in school level in Sri Lanka, specially up to under-18. But the progress of a school players often weaken by the high competitiveness in crucial exams. Many talented youngsters partly or fully give up the game in order to prepare for the year five scholarship exam. Then at the O/Ls stage we lose another batch. The worst period arises at the A/L stage as most of the players do not participate in tournaments during these two years. But this is the best period for them to become a ranked player. A ranked player is given marks at the university entrance. Many players and their parents are not aware on this matter. We have come across many incidents that very talented players have lost this marks as they didn't participate in tournaments during O/L and A/L classes. This situation is common to all sports in our country", said Chandana.

Speaking about Sri Lanka's position in the international TT scene Chandana told that we are number two in the South Asian region. "We got very close to number one at the South Asian Games in 2006 here in Colombo when Deepika Rodrigo played the final against India. Till 2009 we didn't have fully committed professional TT players. But thanks to the three Forces nearly 20 National level players have given jobs in Army, Navy and Air Force. As the war has ended those players will be able to commit themselves to the sport and bring a couple of gold medals at the South Asian Games 2011. We are expect a high standard of play in the ranking tournaments when the season begins in March," told the Secretary.