A Salute to sporting heroes

The National Sporting Honours Awards Ceremony conducted by the Ministry of Sports will be held on the 16 of July at the BMICH under the auspices of the Ministry of Sports and the Government of Sri Lanka.

The event will felicitate 219 sportspersons from across 15 sporting disciplines who hold the distinction of having secured glory and honour for Sri Lanka at international level. “National Sporting Honours is billed to be Sri Lanka’s biggest sporting awards ceremony paying tribute to our national sporting heroes. I would like to thank the Government of Sri Lanka for all its support in this endeavor and hope that this awards ceremony will provide our sportspeople the honour and recognition they deserve” said Minister for Sports Gamini Lokuge. “Significantly, the awards programme also honours differently abled sportspersons who have brought honour to our country at international level” added the Minister.

The event will comprise of a glittering awards ceremony where awards will be given to outstanding sportspeople who have excelled in various sports. Olympic representatives, Medal Winners and Diplomats of Commonwealth Games, Medal Winners and Diplomats of Asian Games and Winners of the 1996 Cricket World Cup and Runners-Up of the 2007 World Cup will be the main contenders for the awards.

The winners of the Most Outstanding Sportsman, Most Outstanding Sportswoman, Most Outstanding Junior Sportsman, Most Outstanding Junior Sportswoman and Most Outstanding Disabled Sportsperson categories will be decided by a panel of judges according to the nominations sent in by the National Federations. In addition special awards will be given to the winners in the categories of Most Popular Sportsman, Most Popular Sportswoman, Most Popular Junior Sportsman, Most Popular Junior Sportswoman and Most Popular Disabled Sportsperson. These awards will be based on popular votes received from the general public through local newspaper coupons and via SMS.

So far in the Most Popular Contests national boxer Anurudha Ratnayake and Table Tennis ‘star’ Deepika Rodrigo are leading the men’s and women’s categories. The winners of the three categorties – The Most Popular Sportsman of the year, The Most Popular Sports Woman of the year and the Most Popular Differently Abled Sportsman of the year will receive Rs. 300,000/- each. The winners of the junior categories of these will stand to win Rs.200,000/- each. Altogether 225 athletes who have done service to the country stand to be honoured at this occasion.

Speaking about the sponsorship, Group Chief Executive of Dialog Telekom PLC, Dr. Hans Wijayasuriya said, “Dialog Telekom is honoured to be associated with the Ministry of Sports and the Government of Sri Lanka in paying tribute to Sri Lanka’s national sporting heroes. As a committed sponsor of sports development in Sri Lanka, Dialog Telekom has played a key role in recognizing and developing Sri Lankan talent to international standards. It is our belief that this event will inspire and motivate all those involved in sports and sports development, to continue their good work towards reinforcing and enhancing Sri Lanka’s position on the world map of sporting excellence.”