Ranjith Wijekoon a hockey player par excellence

S. M. Jiffrey Abdeen – Kandy Sports Correspondent

Ranjith Wijekoon from the famous Wijekoon hockey family from the hockey town of Matale is one of the greatest hockey players this country has ever produced. His achievements on the field are unparallelled.

In the sixties the Asian countries dominated the world hockey scene and the world hockey championship was decided between India and Pakistan. They had formidable sides and they were the pride of Asia in hockey. This was one team sport which brought world title to the sub continent till India won the Cricket World Cup in 1983 followed by Pakistan (1992) and Sri Lanka (1996).

To be included in the Asian team in hockey in the sixties is a honour and achievement which no words could describe.

Thats the achievement of Ranjith Wijekoon, who bestrode the hockey field like a colossus and that was over forty five years ago and the present generation may not have heard of it and it will be great if they are enlightened about it and also about the career highlights of the greatest hockey player this country has ever seen. It is always best to start from the beginning. Ranjith Wijekoon played hockey as centre forward for St. Thomas College, Matale from 1957 to 1959 and captaining the school in his final year. He also played cricket, soccer and athletics for his school winning his colours in all the sports making him a versatile sportsman at school level.

Hockey was his pet sport. As a schoolboy his talents and skills were clear and that a great hockey star was in the making. The national selectors saw his well balanced movements and the slimly built Ranjith Wijekoon spelt danger every time he was in possession of the ball, they cast aside the thoughts of attack and were compelled to defend. That was Ranjith Wijekoon and as a schoolboy walked into the national team. Here was a ‘podian’ who was virtually unstoppable. From here onwards he was an automatic choice to national team but international matches were very few.

He said that we played our hockey in hard and rough surfaces and there was no money in the game. We had to spend our own money to play in matches and when there were injuries, our parents had to settle the medical bills. But there was healthy rivalry and the dedication by players were great as they were spending their own money to keep the game alive. There was pleasure in whatever you did.

In 1962 he played in the fifth Asian Games held in Indonesia and they played both India who were the champions and Pakistan who finished runner-up. The team was captained by Lou Adhihetty.

His national representation spread for over 16 years which is a reflection of his dedication to the game in an era it was not commercialized.

He played for Matale Hockey and Football club and captained it for two years and helped the club to win many championship titles. During this period he did not desert Matale as he played regularly for his home town in the hockey nationals captaining it one year. He has the record of having played in 17 hockey nationals. He also represented the Government Services and captained it in 1973 when he was in the twilight of his career.

He also played in the 1966 and 1970 Asian Games under goal keeper Freddie White and the Pre-Olympic Games held in Lahore, Pakistan in 1968. That team was captained by Corky Abeysekera. His other tours were to India in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1972, 1973 and 1974.

These tours and the matches against the Asian giants India and Pakistan helped him to catch the attention of the Asian selectors and the result was he was selected for Asian XI in 1966 and 1970. Wijekoon found himself in the big company of Singhs from India and Khans from Pakistan. This was his greatest moment and a great honour for Sri Lanka. This meant that he could have easily found a place either for India or Pakistan who were top runners for the World Championship title.

When the Indian team under Gayan Singh toured Ceylon (Sri Lanka) he was amazed by the skills of Ranjith Wijekoon and commented that Ranjith Wijekoon was the Best player in Ceylon.

Another great moment of his career was in 1964 when Matale Hockey Association won the Men's Senior Hockey Nationals and this team was captained by his elder brother Douglas Wijekoon, Mercantle Services virtually had a Sri Lanka outfit and they beat them 3-2 in the finals. The goal scorers were Ranjith Wijekoon, Douglas Wijekoon and Ananda Liyanage. Matale had three Wijekoons in that team with the other being Herbert.

His first coach was his elder brother Herbert who honed his skills. He is married to Pushpa who is also a national women's hockey player. His daughters Niluka and Nadeera too played for Sri Lanka women's hockey team.

The Wijekoons from Matale have a record in hockey which cannot be easily emulated. The four brothers Herbert, Douglas, Chandra and Ranjith played for Sri Lanka.

The two sisters Manel and Sujatha also played for Sri Lanka Womens team. Ranjiths wife Pushpa and her two daughters Niluka and Nadeera too played for the country. Manel went one step further to represent Sri Lanka at netball. Can any family ever beat this record.