Former garment worker turned golfer, Nadaraja Thangarajah beat all odds last Saturday to clinch the 124th Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championships at his favourite course, the Victoria Golf and Country Club in Kandy.
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| Thangarajah measures the Green |
This win comes as a great achievement for Sri Lankan golf as Thangarajah made his country proud by following the footsteps of his forerunners - K. Prabhagaran and Mithun Perera who won the titles in 2009 and 2010 respectively to make it three-in-a-row.
At present Prabhagaran and Perera are professional golfers along with Anura Rohana and Thangarajah is also just steps away from stepping into the next level. Five years ago Thangarajah never had the same intention and dreams that he is having today. Thangarajah (30) comes from a poor family background. He even had to quit schooling prematurely due financial difficulties.
He never proceeded beyond the ninth grade and with the help of an elder he followed a car painting course with the intention of maintaining a garage. But all occurred contrary to Thangarajah’s wishes and he ended up as a machine operator at a garment factory for eight years since 1998.
“My dreams then were never big. I always wished that I could build my own house and look after my parents. Me becoming a golfer was coincidental and all happened with the Will of God, I suppose,” said the modest Thangarajah.
In 2006 Thangarajah’s destiny took him to a different field. He quit as a garment worker and joined as a caddy at a star class hotel in Kotte. His intention was to look for better prospects. But it was the stepping stone which changed his destiny.
“We lived in the neighbourhood of the Royal Colombo Golf Club and my father and my elder brother worked there ever since I could remember. I had a slight knowledge about golf by helping out on my off days. So there were no double thoughts in changing my profession to a caddy,” he added.
Thangarajah completed a year as a caddy and with the help and consent of his superiors at the hotel he started playing the game. But last week he went to the extension of beating the reigning Indian Amateur Champion S. Chikkarangappa who is also a top rated golfer in the Asia and Pacific region.
“After constant training I was selected to the national squad in 2007. To be honest at the beginning I was not a good golfer. I was a keen cricket and football player. I practiced and played golf from seeing others play it. If not for Mr. Ana Punchihewa and Jagath Caldera, who were my towers of strength, the golfer in me would have never emerged,” recalled Thangarajah who is an emerging professional golfer from Sri Lanka now.
Winning the National Amateur Golf title is a big dream come true for any golfer in Sri Lanka, where there are just three courses and around 300 players. But Thangarajah’s achievement this year was never a fluke. His dedication, will and commitment in spite of many setbacks have guided him in the correct path which however is yet not a cruise. The greatest obstacle that dragged Thangarajah’s success according to Jagath Caldera was the poor family background which many of the top golfers in Sri Lanka hail from.
“I have been working closely with golfers as a physical and mental trainer for the past year. It was hard at the beginning and after introducing a proper structure with a long term vision things began to work optimistically. The golfers were not familiar for structures but they knew how to play golf and didn’t realize their own potential. I toured with them for the Asian Games and their performances were below par despite practicing daily for hours. It was a slight setback caused by minor setbacks where household work took preference. It’s an obvious reason for not performing well. I talked to each player individually and dug out their backgrounds,” said Caldera who is a professional martial arts instructor as well.
“I related what I discovered to Mr. Punchihewa and he was ever willing to help out with encouraging solutions. Thangarajah was the first to follow the instructions and achieve what was once thought impossible. I was not rich with my golf knowledge but I made sure to learn about the game as soon as I was appointed. After following this structure for eight months we are beginning to enjoy the results. In the near future there will be more competitive golfers coming out through this system,” added an elated Caldera.
The man behind the present successes of golf is Ana Punchihewa, who headed the then Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka when the islanders emerged 1996 World Champions in cricket. His long term visions which took cricket to the next level then are vastly applied at golf which is progressing day after day.
“Thangarajah’s win at the National Amateur Championship gives me a lot of satisfaction. The players now get the opportunity to play in amateur ranking tournaments every month. Earlier very few tournaments were available for the players. Thangarajah beat India’s No.1 player who also has a very good track record in the sport. This appraises his goals of becoming the best player in Sri Lanka and winning a South Asian tournament.
Then he can decide if he wants to become a professional. It’s nice to have talented golfers’ everyday around as amateurs but if and when they are able - that’s the time to move on as pros. We have a good and sustainable structure with a vision and the goal is to produce the best amateur golfer in Asia within the next ten years and to have a golfer among the top 20 in the professional circuit,” said Ana Punchihewa elated by Thangarajah’s success. (Pix by Amila Prabodha)
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