What Kadirgamar had to say...

"Sports is a marvellous thing. It has to be encouraged by all," said Minister of Foreign Affairs, Lakshman Kadirgamar, who was the chief guest at at the Duncan White Foundation Awards Ceremony held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in March this year.Duncan White and his wife Angela, were there to mark the occasion along with Eddie Gray, Diamond Peiris and Alex Obeysekera, who were some of the members of the Ceylon team who watched the trail-blazing run in London that year.

Following are some excerpts of the speech made by Minister Kadirgamar at the Duncan White Foundation Awards ceremony. Mr.Kadirgamar also won a Trinity Athletic 'Lion' like Duncan White in the 110 Public Schools Hurdles.

* He was a model to young people. His elegance in sports, attitude, enthusiasm and simplicity in life is the hallmark of success.

* Unlike today's sportsmen, White's life was never a 'bed of roses'. He even found it difficult to buy a pair of running shoes. It was his sheer determination which paved the way to success

* White's secret to overcome these setbacks was his never-say-die attitude, which paved the way for him to put Sri Lanka on the world map. It was an era, where there were no sponsors and big money in sports.

* All budding sportsmen should emulate the willpower of the legendary Duncan White. For this officer and gentleman, nothing was impossible.

Duncan White, the gentleman

The man who represented Sri Lanka (Ceylon then) at the 14th London Olympic Games in the 400 metre race, winning second place (Silver) with a timing of 51.8 secs, passed away in, Warwickshire, England on Thursday. He celebrated his 80th birthday on March 1 this year.

This feat is unprecedented in the 50-year period of Sri Lanka getting her independence from Great Britain, as no Lankan had ever come so close to win ning a single medal at the Olympics.Such was the nature of Lankan sports.

This depicts the true nature of Lankan sports.

He was born in Lathpandura in Kalutara on March 1, 1918. He had his school career at Trinity College, Kandy which he left in 1937.

He shone at public schools meets winning colours and later joined the Army as an officer.

In recognition of his feat he was awarded a scholarship at the university he attended in UK where he continued to show leadership qualities winning the Inter-University Challenge Shield for his campus.That same year he received his MBE and also the Best Athlete in Asia title, for which he was awarded the Helms World Trophy.

He was 32 years when the British Empire Games were held in 1950 at Auckland, New Zealand. On a special request by Dr. Gerald de Saram, President, Lankan Olympics and British Colonial Sports Club, he ran the 400 metres hurdles with a timing of 52.5 secs, a record, which gave him a gold medal. It was only 3/10 ths of a second away from a world record in the event.

Finishing his degree at the University in UK, he returned to Sri Lanka in 1951 and started lecturing at the Teacher's College in Maharagama. Seven years later he was selected as coach of the Sri Lanka Schools Athletic Association, a post offered to him by the Education Department.

By this time he had joined the Army as a Major in the Volunteer Force. He married Angela Jeanne Siebel in March 1952 and fathered five children and eight grand children.

He took over as a lecturer at the Nigerian University in 1963. His family too accompanied him to Nigeria and one year later he moved to England.

He left England in 1983 and went back to Nigeria to serve a two-year stint as advisor in sports activities.

At the golden jubilee of the Sri Lanka National Olympic Committee which fell in 1987, White was the chief guest.

His Alma Mater too feted his return home on a grand scale.

It is 50 years since he won the Olympic Medal and no Sri Lankan has come anywhere near him, save P.Ramanayake and Mali Wickremasinghe, who excelled in shooting at the Commonwealth Games of 1995 by winning two golds.

It is sad that he had to pass away at a time when the country celebrates 50 years of independence which coincides with the 50h anniversary of his winning the Olympic Silver as well.

Duncan's death cameso suddenly: Angela

By Vijitha S.Fernando (Secretary, Duncan White Foundation)

Deshamanya Duncan White, who celebrated his 80th birth anniversary in Sri Lanka, died of heart failure, having complained of chest pains and inability to breathe, at George Elliott Hospital in his home town, Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England on July 3 at 12.30 am.

On April 4, President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaranatunga conferred the honour of a Deshamanya on Duncan White celebrating the 50th anniversary of the silver medal at the 1948 London Olympic games. The year that Ceylon gained its independence from Britain. Duncan White was a 400 metres hurdles specialist. An outstanding sportsman by any standard and held it for well-nigh fifty years. It is unbelievable, Duncan's death came so suddenly", said Angela White, Duncan's wife, in a telephone conversation with the Duncan White Sports Foundation.

"We were all together in the evening, my two daugthers and sons-in-law. Just before retiring to bed, Duncan complained of chest pains and the inability to breathe freely. Fiona, my youngest daughter, calmed Duncan and called for an ambulance. He refused to go to hospital. The ambulance staff gave oxygen and stabilised his breathing and on their insistence, took him to hospital, Around 12.30 am (July 3 1998) Duncan was fast losing his colour and collapsed. Earlier he had a bout of pneumonia and was able to recover quickly", she said sobbing, requesting that his death be notified to President of the Duncan White Foundation, Ken Balendra and Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar and other members of the Board and his friends who saw him in March and April this year.

Funeral arrangements will only be made once the City Coroner confirms that a post mortem should be held.

With Duncan gone, Sri Lanka's only Olympic Medallist, will now be permanently etched in the annals of sporting history, thus demonstrating the hopeless situation of our Olympic sports.

Kandy in cliff-hanger win over Havelocks

By Bernie Wijesekera

Rugby football was at its best at Hevelock Park last evening.

The Havies trailing 23-15, a last minute try by winger Uganthara Karunaratne and beautifully converted by Samoan centre Onie Toala saw them go down fighting to defending Carlsberg Trophy champions Kandy SC in a nail-biting 23 points (4 tries and a penalty goal) to 22 (2 goals, a try and a penalty) in a second round match.

At the turn around it was deadlocked at 15 all.

The scoreline was no indication of the battle that prevailed. Both teams fought out to the bitter end, producing exciting fare to the fans, where the spirit of the game prevailed sans incidents.

The game was the winner. The Kiwi cricket manager John Graham, an All Blacks captain, who watched the game, was full of praise for both teams - who played clean and hard rugby. He had a special word for the Havelocks back division, who were more enterprising and moved the ball beautifully.

The senior officials of KSC headed by Dr. Sarath Kapuwatte, Leslie de Soysa, Izwan Omar, Malith Fernando and Dudley Gunatilleke were present at the match.

The Kandy pack, despite not having the services of Priyantha Ekanayake (who was injured) and skipper Asoka Jayasena from early part of the second half (also due to injury) played a hard game. They gave a gritty display and constantly probed the Havies defence and planted four tries in the process. Three in the first half through flanker Harris Omar, winger Hettiarachchi, a scorching 30 metre run all by himself against a disarrayed Havelocks defence.

Both tries lacked the direction fired by Michael Collins. The third by skipper Asoka Jayasena, who used his power and strength to good effect when he barged over for yet another unconverted try.

The Havies first try came in the 12th minute through Sanjeewa Jayasinghe, who used his speed to roll over near the corner flag to equalize it. A nail-driving penalty by S. Jayakody over the cross bar helped the Havies to reduce the lead to 15-8.

Just before the short whistle Yuganthara Karunaratne, who had a good match, side-stepped beautifully to make it 15-all when Ibrahim made the conversion.

After the interval the Havelocks,playing a furious game through their back division, kept on hammering at the KSC goal line. They could have scored twice when fly-half Jiffry Saheed made two superb breaks. First with the line staring in the face, the ball was dropped. The second was aimlessly kicked to the no man's area.

Marikkar scored the fourth try. A penalty ensued. It hit the upright and came back to play. Marikkar was quick to grab it and darted his way to the corner flag for an unconverted try to lead 23-15 with the assurance of victory.

But the Park Club had other ideas. With a never-say-die attitude they stormed the last seconds before the long blast to add the sparks when full back Suranga made sure of the spot-kick when referee Dilroy Fernando blew no side to give Kandy a cliff-hanger win.

Bartleets outplay HNB

By Bernie Wijesekera

Bartleet S. C. with a spirited team effort, outplayed the strong Hatton National Bank 'B' team in the Mercantile 'B' final by five wickets, with six overs to spare, at the 'Sara' Stadium.

Bartleet S. C. president Susantha Fernando, a diehard supporter of sports - especially cricket, said that they were happy with the performance of the team where every member of the team contributed to this success. Right throughout this tournament they chucked well to win the final.

Bartleet, is fortunate to have at the helm of its affairs sports promoter, Eraj Wijesinghe, a key figure in the local sports arena.

Mr. Wijesinghe, was vice-president of the National Olympic Committee and president of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association for four successive years. In this sport the amiable president has worked tirelessly to uplift shuttle sport island-wide, with the support rendered by the Minister of Sport S. B. Dissanayake.

Fittingly the cricketers look assured of making a tour abroad after winning the MCA 'B' div. title for '98. If this becomes a reality, then it's a just reward.

There are quite a number of talented youngsters in their fold, namely Samantha Dodanwela (SSC) an utility allrounder also a Sri Lanka poolist and old Trinitian Dhammika Rajapakse and A. Ranaweera (BRC), Bloomfield's S. K. Perera and skipper Sanjaya Rajapakse to name a few.

The players are given three days a week to practise. Now Bartleets have been elevated to the top division in MCA cricket, they are bound to give more job opportunities to talented youngsters to work and play and further improve their skills.

In the final HNB batted first and made 160 all out.

Seylan shuttle champs

Seylan Bank emerged Badminton champions for the third year in succession, defeating Sampath Bank in the final of their Inter Bank Badminton Championships. The tournament was concluded at the S. Thomas' Indoor Stadium Courts, Mount Lavinia, and was organised by the Bank of Ceylon.

In the men's final, Seylan Bank beat Sampath Bank by 3 matches to 1 winning two singles and a double and losing one single. The Champion men's team comprised, Mahinda Jayaweera, Prasad Abeysundera, Chaminda Geeganaga, Devinda Warnakulasuriya and Manjula Perera.

The Seylan Bank women's team also emerged winners making it a double defeating Hatton National Bank by 2 matches to 1.

Women's cricket: Slow motion

By M.H.M. Manasique

Women's cricket appears to be stranded between the wickets with the Sports Ministry allegedly dragging it's feet for almost three months on the recognition of a national controlling body.

On January 13 this year Sports Minister S.B. Dissanayake issued a gazette notification officially recognizing women's cricket as the 51st national sport in Sri Lanka and called for applications from groups or clubs. A deadline for April 13 was set.

One group comprising seven clubs which have been involved in women's cricket applied for recognition, giving a draft constitution and plans to promote the game. The Women's Cricket Association of Sri Lanka headed by a former minister's wife Gwen Herat did not apply for recognition. Ms. Herat said her association is already recognized by the International controlling body and claimed the minister's move had political under-tones.

Almost three months have now gone by since the deadline, but a directress of sport in -charge of these areas said she had received the file only on Wednesday. She said she has not even opened the file still. Other Ministry officials said it took time to process such matters, but observers say that taking three months to study one file was a sign of lethargy or mediocrity. Another enthusiast involved in the game said there appeared to be an undue delay for some reason.

Sports Ministry Secretary Dr. R.M.B. Ratnayake, the official directly responsible for such transactions, was not available for comment. 'The Sunday Times' tried to contact him several times but the stock reply was at some meeting or another.

Meanwhile Women's cricket is hanging in the air with cricketers and lovers of the game wondering who will be appointed to do what and when.

6 athletes for Pre-C'wealth Games

Six athletes were picked by the Amateur Athletic Association (AAA) and approved by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, S. B. Dissanayake, to take part in the Pre-Commonwealth Games in Malaysia from July 12 to 15.

The six athletes picked and their events are:

L. Galappati - 800 metres and 1500 metres.

Shantha Mendis - 3000 metres steaple chase.

Nelan Siriwardena - Triple jump.

Nimmi de Zoysa - 200 and 400 metres.

Jayamani Illapperuma - 400 and 800 metres.

Sujeewa Nilmini Jayasena - 1500 metres and 5000 metres.

Rover Pinpoints....

Is it good or bad?

Two junior Sri Lanka cricketers, were seen accompanying two girls to a hotel off Galle and were turned away as the Hotel was full.

They were then seen visiting another hotel during their day-off.

What do the Manager and Coach have to say?

Not interested

A leading Cricket Board official was heard telling some journalists he was not interested in what the Sinhala papers wrote as he does not read them.

Ducking the event

A leading swimmer who won a scholarship, has ducked the event in which he qualified for the scholarship fearing he would be beaten. What have the authorities to say?

Officials hog tickets

Rover learns that a gymnastic team is to go to Russia to take part in a gymnastic contest.

Tickets for the trip have been hogged by the officials and the participants have to collect Rs. 115,000 for the trip. Some of them are juniors who will have to find more money to take their chaperones along as well.

Rover also learns that one of the officials is making use of the 'free ticket' to visit a family member in Russia. Over to you Mr. Minister of Sports... for action!

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