Sports
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| 'Athletics
is our main forte' - Prema Pinnawela "The 9th SAF Games have been postponed twice and I only hope that these games will not be postponed yet again." lamented a concerned Pinnawela. "The reason for this postponement has been the threat of Al Qaeda and the possible conflict between India and Pakistan. The idea to conduct the SAF games was first mooted in 1983 in Nepal where Sri Lanka was one of the foremost teams in the region. Sarel Shar was the President of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) at the time and the first games were held in Nepal in 1984 where Sri Lanka came an overall second, which was very creditable to say the least. The next games were held in Dhaka because the games were to be held amongst the SAARC countries in alphabetical order after that so Dhaka came next." "The fifth games were held in Sri Lanka in 1991 and it is not just my opinion but the opinion of many that these games were the best organized. There were 1400 participants who took part from 7 countries. It was the late President R. Premadasa who gave a great fillip to this game. The Sugathadasa Stadium was upgraded and a new running track was introduced. Weight lifting was held in Kelaniya and Table Tennis at S.Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Indoor Stadium. President Premadasa took a personal interest and the hosts had to bear the cost but nevertheless the Government took a great interest and even A. Thondaman came to our assistance where the Athletes were all housed in 5 star Hotels. Sri Lanka came second only to India in the medal tally, which was an outstanding achievement. These games were the only ones where there were six heads of State from the SAARC countries present at the Opening Ceremony as President Premadasa organised the SAARC Conference at the same time." said Pinnawela. The 8th SAF games, which was the last to be held was held in Kathmandu, Nepal and this too was postponed twice due to internal problems. It will be Sri Lanka's term to host the 10th SAF games the next time around. "This year Sri Lanka will have a contingent of 250 in 15 disciplines. There are 3 mandatory sports at the games namely Athletics, Swimming and Soccer. To have the other sports as compulsory one needs to have at least 4 countries participating. At the moment there is no Women's Volleyball." "One of the features of the Women's swimming this year is that no men will be allowed into the Women's swimming area as it will be held in a separate Indoor Swimming Pool. Even the judges will all be women in keeping with the Islamic tradition of segregation." "Over the years many of our prominent Sportsmen and Women have gained recognition first at the SAF Games. Some that come to mind are Julian Bolling in Swimming, and of course the golden girl of the track, Susanthika Jayasinghe. The Indians first held the games in their country in Calcutta in 1987 and then in 1995 in Madras where they tried to emulate the untiring efforts of Sri Lankan President Premadasa when Sri Lanka held a very successful SAF Games in 1991. "Our best bet at the SAF Games is Susanthika Jayasinghe of course, but Sriyani Kulawansa and Rohan Pradeep are also expected to do well in Athletics. In swimming we have Conrad Francis. Shooting is another discipline where we should fare well and we should win a couple of gold medals in boxing. Our 4 x 400 Relay team should perform well. All in all we should perform reasonably well." concluded an optimistic Pinnawela. |
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