It’s chilling to say what a mob waving Tiger flags would do to a Sri Lankan hockey team in Chennai, India. The mob shouting ‘Po Da’ (Get Out) had descended on the Sri Lanka Mercantile hockey team in Chennai whilst they were engaged in a match against an Indian Railways at a venue close to the Egmore Stadium in Chennai, India on February 10.
The crowd consisting of about 10 to 15 attackers had shouted “Po Da” (Get Out) or words to that effect and had threatened to assault the players. The Manager of the Sri Lanka team Ratnasiri Mahagalaella who had been watching the game from the balcony of the grounds had summoned the Tamil Nadu Police immediately with the help of Tamil Nadu Hockey Association officials. In no time the Police and Sri Lankan Embassy officials had appeared and had dispersed the vociferous and hostile crowd.
“All of us heaved a sigh of relief,” said an agitated Mahagalaella in an interview with the Sunday Times. “They threatened to kill us for all the atrocities allegedly done to Sri Lankan Tamils at the bloody civil war which ravaged our land for 30 years.
But the Tamil Nadu Police was magnificent. Three or four Police trucks appeared at the venue in no time and the situation was brought under control. The Policemen accompanied us to the Hotel Imperial, where we were lodged, and constant vigilance was maintained until we left the hotel and went to the airport to return to Sri Lanka. Police trucks were seen at the vicinity of the hotel until we left to the airport.
“None of us dared to leave the hotel. I went out to get a re-load for my phone. There was no animosity. Yet we did not want to take any chances. All players on tour were within the ages of 23 to 28. I did not want to take any risks. We were also in touch with the Sri Lankan Embassy in Tamil Nadu. These officials were constantly in touch with us and very concerned about our safety. They were very helpful to us,” said Mahagalaella.
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| Ratnasiri Mahagalaella: ‘It was a chilling experience’. |
The team has had a fairly successful tour. They lost the first game against Indian Overseas Bank 0-2 at the Ramakrishna Stadium on February 3 and thrashed Chennai Veterans 5-1. In the next game against Karnataka Hockey Academy the Mercantile stickers had scraped through to a 5-4 win. The next game on February 7 against Philomina College, the League Champions in Mysore, the local team triumphed by a thumping 7 goals to nil. Then on February 10 was the game against the Indian Railways.
Speaking on the Mercantile HA’s strength on tour Mahagalaella said that the team consisted of players from the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, Commercial Bank, Hatton National Bank, Seylan Bank, Airport Authority, Singer and Uni-Levers. Altogether there were 26 in the tour party including officials.
The most experienced was 26-year-old Anju Hewage, who had played extremely well on tour. The others had been Junior Internationals Pasan Wijewardena and S. Janith. It is also noteworthy to mention Esanka Jayasuriya, the goalie is the son of former international Rajah Jayasuriya and a grandson of Walter Jayasuriya, the man who had introduced hockey to Sri Lanka.
The Mercantile HA team which made the tour: S. Gajanayake (Capt), R. Padmasiri (Vice Captain),Chanta Senanayake, Esanka Jayasuriya, P. Wijewardenam S.U. De Silva, R.T. Wickremasinghe, Anju Hewage, Kulatilleke, Indumina De Mel, Dilshan, S. Sapugasgoda, , Danith, Rajmohan, Bandaranayake, S.B.Dissanayake. Officials: Ratnasiri Mahagalaella (President MHA, Chef De Mission, T. M. Jaldin (Manager), Asif Bari (Asst. Manager), Suresh Kumar (Umpire) and three officials: Susantha Fernando, Chandana Kulatilleke and Visal Rupasinghe. |
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