The CCs of carrom are now king and queen
View(s):By Naushad Amit
Chamil Cooray and Chalani Lakmali may come from different walks of life and they even might have differences as individuals but where carrom is concerned they do share common sentiments. Both Chamil and Chalani regained their respective national titles- which they lost last year-at the recently concluded 45th National Carrom Championships.
Chamil Cooray (left) and Chalani Lakmali (right) are looking forward to continue their dominance in local carrom with the guidance of national coach Langley Mathiasz. - Pic by Amila Gamage.
Chamil, a former national men’s singles winner from 2003-07 came back into dominance from 2008 until he lost it in 2012 to world champion Nishantha Fernando.
As far as Chalani is concerned, her story is rather different as a 21-year-old youngster, who took up this sport barely seven years ago. To date she has competed at four national championships and has finished amongst the top three at all these outings. In her debut in 2010, Chalani impressively reached the final of women’s singles but had to be content with the runner-up award.
In 2011 she pushed her way to the top by winning the women’s singles title at the carrom nationals but last year her form was not up to scratch. She failed to retain her national title in 2012 and was placed third in the rankings.
Despite sharing the identical tempo when it comes to commitment and passion in carom, the duo possesses uncommon aspects in life, much like their beginnings.
As for Chamil, he comes from a family well connected to carrom. Watching his aunt, Amitha Wickremasinghe, sweep carrom titles as a youngster may have given him some sort of encouragement to become who he is today. But Chamil makes sure to have his own style and trademark in the game. But certainly Chamil must have gained loads of experiences from his aunt Amitha and mother Nayana Wickremasinghe, who were national level players during their days. Chamil grew up watching his aunt win the national women’s championship on 20 occasions but his mother could not replicate that success. Chamil (27) wants to make sure he makes his mother happy and his aunt proud as he aims to rewrite Sri Lanka’s carrom history.
“Playing with them since being a kid may have given me this much experience, undoubtedly. This may have been the reason to skip other sports such as cricket and chess, two sports I was good at, at school level. I have won the national title so many times and even have certain records under my belt. With years left for me to indulge in this sport I hope I could maintain my stronghold on my way to reaching international glory,” were Chamil’s sentiments as he continues to receive tips and feedback on carrom from his aunt and mother.
Chalani, who is more or less a lone ranger in carrom, on the other hand, has a totally different story. She was a student of Anula Vidyalaya in Nugegoda; a girl’s school situated just a hop-step away from Chamil’s school St. John’s College. She was a keen basketball player before some senior girls of the school persuaded Chalani to tryout carrom when she was 14.
“To be honest, I did not have a bit of an idea of what I was doing but I liked it. There was this teacher, Mrs. Kamala Wickremasinghe, who taught me all the tricks of the trade. And here I am after seven years as a two-time national champion, a national and a world ranked player. It’s amazing to be an influential character amongst youngsters in no time. I guess it’s all about commitment,” assessed Chalani who is now a role model among youngsters at her former school, her family as well as the newcomers of the sport.
At the recently concluded sixth World Carrom Championship, both Chamil and Chalani performed rather impressively for the benefit of their country. Chamil beat the world number one, Yogesh Paradeshi of India in the quarterfinal but lost in the semi-final stage as Nishantha Fernando went on to clinch the world title without much pressure sans the top Indian. At the end Chamil was ranked overall No.6 in the world and interestingly making her way to the top young Chalani finished ranked as world No.8 after the championship.
Both are well-to-do players with the guidance of their present coach Langley Mathiasz who makes sure Chamil and Chalani like other promising slicers in Sri Lanka adhere themselves to the changing styles in techniques and other aspects of carrom. With plenty of years remaining in Chamil and Chalani both players aim to reach the top aiming to make Sri Lanka proud, a goal common opined by both. At the same time they share the similar concern of the plight and setbacks experienced by fellow players who suffer a lot as them. Chamil and Chalani are keen to move forward as top singles contenders among men and women in the country by maintaining their positions at the forthcoming Grand Slam, Federation Cup, President’s Cup and Ranger Cup tournaments conducted by the Carrom Federation of Sri Lanka (CFSL).
However above their personal glory both were highly concerned about the playing standards that CFSL offer to its players.
“We may win under hot, humid, noisy and appalling conditions at the CFSL headquarters in Maharagama but when we compete internationally things vary. As players we are highly concerned about the standards at practice and playing sessions available at CFSL at present. We know that it’s totally not their (CFSL) fault. We had a good facility at Race Course but it’s not the same here. We hope that the top authorities would consider these facts and come out with a permanent solution so there will be more opportunities for players like us to emerge,” was Chamil and Chalani plead.
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus