TT Senior Nationals in Kandy

S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen - Kandy Sports Corr

Top fare is in store when the 66th Table Tennis Senior Nationals organized by the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka is worked off at the Jagath Rajapakse International Table Tennis Stadium at Mahakande off Peradeniya today and tomorrow with play commencing at 8 a.m. each day.

According to the organisers over 250 paddlers will vie for top honours in the various categories for men and women and the very best will be in the fray with an eye on the forthcoming SAF games to be held in India.

The events which are scheduled to be worked off on the two days are Men's Singles, Ladies Singles, Men's Doubles, Ladies Doubles, Mixed Doubles, Veterans' singles, Master's Singles and the Disabled Men's Singles and Doubles.

Another feature of this championship is that players who lost in the first or second round in the ladies and men's singles need not be disheartened as they will qualify to play in the Consolation tournament giving them another opportunity of proving their mettle.

Sri Lanka women's team captain and one of the best padlers ever produced by Sri Lanka, Ishara Madurangi is the top seed in the National Championship for ladies and the bottom seed is 18-year-old schoolgirl from Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda Erandi Warusawitharne, last year Ishara Madurangi won the national title for ladies by defeating Erandi Warusawitharne in the finals. Then there are others like Umaya Tharaki, Srimali Wimalaratne, Shanika de Silva and Ruwini Kannangara who could create an upset.

The defending champion and Sri Lanka men's team captain Rohan Sirisena will once again go out as the top favourite for the National Champion title and he is top seeded in the men's singles Nirmala Jayasinghe of MAS Intimates who is bottom seeded could pose the main threat to him. Both paddlers are in spanking form and if they happen to take on each other before the finals, a gruelling battle is in for the table tennis fans and will be as good as the finals.

Apart from this duo the others in running for the national title are Dinesh Deshapriya, Lalith Priyantha and Udaya Ranasinghe.

At the last Table Tennis Nationals Ishara Madurangi won a triple crown and it will be left to be seen whether she could repeat this success this year too. She will be representing the Sri Lanka Air Force which has helped and encouraged many a up and coming paddler. It is worth mentioning that Ishara Madurangi is top seeded in the Ladies Singles, Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles.

Another feature of this championship is a tournament under various categories for disabled persons who are mostly from the forces who were disabled while fighting the separatist war. This championship was held for the first time last year at Peradeniya and it was a moving sign to see these soldiers playing it out in wheelchairs or with their disabled limbs which they lost in fighting the war, so that peace could dawn in this country and for us to live a better life.

With the construction of the Jagath Rajapakse International Table Tennis Stadium at Peradeniya, there has been a growth in table tennis and more children are taking to it though the prophets of doom will deny it. The infrastructure is the best in the country constructed to international standards. Sixteen tables with a carpetted floor could result in matches being worked off quickly.

It was this stadium which brought the top players to play in the hill capital and the nationals was conducted for the first in the hill country last year. There is an Academy for training the system has been totally revamped with the construction of this stadium for table tennis.