Hilmy Cader - from TT Champion to Consulting Champion

TABLE TENNIS: To many in the corporate world, Hilmy Cader is synonymous with MTI, Strategy and Consulting, having worked his way up the corporate ladder to set-up MTI Consulting and the fame achieved for the company and himself alike.

To those in the table tennis fraternity and to his fellow school mates, he was the small-made, hard smashing ping pong champion, who went on to achieve fame for himself, his school and his country.

Hilmy Cader started his 'table' career at the age of 13 years and within a year, he became Sri Lankan No. 3 ranked junior player and also captained the first-ever table tennis team of D.S. Senanayake College in 1975.

Moving onto Royal College in 1976, he captained the junior table tennis team and went onto captain the senior team in 1978, also winning Royal College colours.

"My most memorable moment in table tennis, was captaining the Royal College team in 1978, during which year we won 5 of the 6 divisions and were runners-up in the 6th division. This is an unprecedented record, which has yet to be equalled," said the former TT Champ reminiscing his college days.

Captaining the Royal College team in 1978, during which year Royal won 5 of the 6 divisions and runners-up in the 6th division - an unprecedented record.

Not only did he excel at playing table tennis, Hilmy Cader demonstrated early signs of managerial capabilities when he almost single handedly organized the first ever Royal College Open Table Tennis Tournament that attracted over 100 participants, including some of the national champions of that era.

The Maharaja Organization in the 80's was well known for recruiting and harnessing sportsmen (not just cricketers) and Hilmy Cader was spotted and targeted for recruitment.

He recalls his job interview with Mr. Ian Wickremanayake (Director-Sports at Maharajas) and instructions given for him to focus on winning the Mercantile Table Tennis Championship, which he helped achieve in 1982.

Asked what he learnt from Table Tennis and how it helped his subsequent career progress, Hilmy Cader said: "Table Tennis taught me the fundamentals of counter strategies, speedy response and not taking the eye off the ball, all of which continue to help me in the equally fast paced corporate world."

Once a table tennis player, always a table tennis player, Hilmy Cader continued to take an active role as could be seen from the following achievements. 1978: National Senior Novices Champion, 1979: Represented Sri Lanka at the Binny's Indian Open Tournament in Madras, India. 1979: Played for Sri Lanka Under 19 against Nepal.

1983: First ever National Intermediate Table Tennis Champion. 1984: Led and Managed the Sri Lanka Table Tennis Team at the Asian Table Tennis Championships in Islamabad, Pakistan. 1984: Nationalized Services Singles and Doubles Champion.

1985: Represented at the World International Year of Youth Camp in Kathmandu, Nepal. 1986: Along with Angelo Santiago (the national TT champion), won the Mercantile Table Tennis Doubles.

"My parents always encouraged my sports and I am very grateful to them for that. My father (M. C. A. Cader), who played volleyball for Sri Lanka, had a profound impact on my sports career," were Hilmy Cader's parting words.