Udaya, a good material for the future – Coach Jothipala
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Sri Lanka national Table Tennis team that took part in the South Asian Games in India returned to the island having won 10 medals, a silver and nine bronze medals. In the 2010 games the national paddlers won two silver and seven bronze medals. In this edition too Sri Lanka would have won two silvers if not for the unexpected defeat of Ishara Madurangi to a Pakistan player in the Women’s team event. A strong and an experienced contingent left our shores to take part in this edition of SAG and much was expected from the schoolboy sensation Udaya Ranasinghe and skipper Rohan Sirisena. Ranasinghe, the only gold medal winner in table tennis came out with a remarkable performance at the last Junior South Asian Games when he beat Indias no. I and 2 players in the semi-finals and finals to win the gold. Sirisena the only long surviving national table tennis player with a load of experience in the national and international arena too failed up to his reputation going down to an Indian in the semis.
Sri Lanka played in the semi-finals of all segments but failed to go beyond that point as Indians dominated the games to win the highest number of gold medals. Sri Lanka defeated Bangladesh and Nepal in the preliminary rounds but when it came to semi-final and final as usual the Indian players proved their prowess in the game to overcome the Lankans. In the Men’s team event finals India scored an easy 3-0 win over the Lankans and in the Women’s team semi-finals Sri Lankan paddlers were very unfortunate to lose to Pakistan 3-2 after a close tussle. Madurangi’s defeat deprived the island nation a silver. Udaya Ranasinghe started off with a bang by beating Nepal’s no.1 but went down fighting in the semi-final but at the end the Indian player scored a 3-1 win to enter the finals. Jothipala Samaraweera, former Sri Lanka International ranked 33 in the world who accompanied the team as coach told the Sunday Times said that he is satisfied with our players performances and thanked the players for winning the highest number of medals in TT for the country.
He also said that he was surprised to see the improved standard of both Bangladesh and Nepal as they were completely new looking outfits than he saw them in the last South Asian Games. Samaraweera said to improve our table tennis we should have long term residential coaching camps and said they had only 19 days for preparation for the games. He went on to say if we can win 11 medals in just 19 days practice we would have more gold and silvers if we had more time to prepare. Referring to Indian players he said that they are involved in the game right throughout the year and their players were sent to all recognised table tennis playing countries to play top ranked players. The coach said that we too should have international exposure and he suggested that our young and upcoming players in the calibre of Udaya Ranasinghe should be sent to India to play in their top ranked circuit. There should be residential camps right through and on conclusion he said a bright future lay ahead for Sri Lanka if our players get more time for practices and more foreign exposure. - LR