Kandy’s sporting stars have delivered the goods!

By Hafiz MARIKKAR

Successful sportsmen and sportswomen from Kandy, the heritage city of Sri Lanka can be very proud of their achievements over the years.

Records reveal that Kandy has produced some of the best sportsmen and women in the field of Rugger, Cricket, Hockey, Football, Athletics, Table Tennis, Iron Sports, Netball, Volleyball, Lawn Tennis, Badminton, Cue Sports (Billiards and Snooker), Cycling, Swimming, too has caught up in recent times.

What Kandy requires now is an additional playground, where Rugger, Football and Hockey can be played. For cricket there are sufficient grounds, only these three games are affected. Sports lovers in the field of Football, Rugger and Hockey hope that this necessity will be fulfilled in the near future by those in charge.

Many great sports enthusiasts have emerged from this hill capital in the generations gone by, schools in Kandy continue to produce sportsmen and women who represent the country in various sports.

RUGGER: Has become the king of local sports, as the speed and intensity of the game increases and the number of phases of play multiply, players tend to become somewhat oblivious to their basic roles in retaining possession and maintaining continuity of the game. Kandy Sports Club has been dominating the rugby scene for over two decades. They have won the League, Clifford Cup and the Sevens tournaments for many years, which no other club has done so far. Kandy have also fed the National Team with the most number of players.

In the schools sector in Kandy, the following schools play the game at the highest level with teams in Division ‘A’ and ‘B’ - Trinity, Kingswood, St. Anthony’s, Vidyartha, Dharmarajah, Sri Rahula, Sri Sumangala, Mahanama, Akurana International, CIS and a few others will come up soon.

CRICKET: The game of cricket takes pride of place; There are a number of schools that have hit the top, namely, Trinity - the Schools champions, then St. Anthony’s, Dharmarajah, St. Sylvester’s, Sri Sumangala, Kingswood, Sri Rahula too have done well.

However, the standard of club cricket has dropped last year. There seemed to be lack of facilities and the clubs were unable

to sustain the teams as maintenance of these clubs in Kandy have become a ‘white elephant’. Hence, the best products from schools join clubs outside Kandy.

Kandy should be proud at cricket. They have produced the best spinner in the game Muttiah Muralitharan and also a world class bat Kumar Sangakkara.

The origins of the game of cricket are lost with the passage of time. There is a reference in the household accounts of King Edward I in 1300 of a game much like cricket being played in Kent. The English game originated in the sheep-raising country of the South East, where the short grass of the pastures made it possible to bowl or roll a ball of rags or wool at a target. That target was usually the wicket-gate of the sheep paddock, which was defended with a bat in the form of a shepherd’s crooked staff.

The 1st recorded cricket match took place in Kent in 1646 and, by the late 1600s fines were actually handed out for those who missed church to play. Cricket was popular and widely documented in England during the 1700s.

FOOTBALL: It was at one time the most popular sport, known as the poorman’s game. It has sadly taken a back seat in the recent past. This is because of the substandard management and officials having ulterior motives. Today football in Kandy has lost its appeal.

In the early days, football was the most popular sport in the hills, and it was Tom Ossen who became the first from Kandy to lead Sri Lanka, then the next captain who led the country for a long spell was Mahinda Aluwihare, at one time, Sri Lanka’s best dribbler Tuan Amidon, Tom Deen, M.E. Marikar, Kalu Sirisena, H.B. Ekanayake.

The year 1964 was a memorable year for Kandy football, as the world famous German DFFA played at Bogambara against Kandy League, before a mammoth crowd never before seen. The signal honour of scoring a goal for Ceylon against the visitors fell to Kandy’s skipper M.T.A. Ossen.

HOCKEY: This game has become very popular among the schools. Girl schools dominate the game in Kandy, boys schools too are somewhat on the same level, but the girl schools are on top. Club hockey continues with tournaments organised by the Kandy District Hockey Association. This year, the association have agreed to review the oldest hockey tournament” P.T. Rajan” Tournament.

BILLIARDS AND SNOOKER: The Cue game has taken a nosedive in Kandy. There are no tournaments as in the early days. The past there were Inter-club matches, but now with its deterioration, it was only - the Lanka’s Plate, that was played. But this year it was not played in Kandy. In the early days, Kings Cue Club, Catholic Club, Lawn Club, Public Service Club, Mahanuwara YMBA, Kandy YMMA, Kandy Garden Club, Kandy Club, Kandy Sports Club, Peradeniya Faculty Club took the game very seriously and the tournaments were a great recreation to many sportsmen in the evening.

SWIMMING: Kandy schools, specially Hillwood College, Mahamaya Girls College, Trinity College are currently dominating the sport, and they have produced several top champion teams, with individuals ranking at the top.

BOXING: This sport remains a popular sport among the schools yer. One time king makers of the sport was St. Sylvester’s and they continue to be at the top. Since of late schools like Vidyartha, Kingswsood, Dharmaraja, Peradeniya MMV, Sarasavi Uyana have taken to the sport and are doing well. Now the king maker of boxing Dayan Gomez has come forward to give a big hand for boxing. He has sent in the message, saying that he is there to help boxing in Kandy.

NETBALL: Schools in Kandy are doing well in this sport and have taken part in most of the tournaments organised by the governing body. It was Kandy’s Girls High School who started the sport followed by Hillwood College. Kandy’s Netball President Shanthini Kongahage is going all out to popularize the game.

ATHLETICS: All schools in Kandy have athletics in the curriculum and are doing very well in this field. In the early days it was Trinity’s Duncan White who brought fame to the country when in 1948 at the Olympics won a Silver Medal. Bereavates College, Ampitiya produced several long distance runners some of them are V.D.C. Batapola, K.B.L. Perera, L.C. Dias, K. Wimaladasa, M. Vincent and S.L.B. Rosa who won the Gold in the Asian Games. He also participated in Olympics.

St. Sylvester’s had Felix Samarawickrema, George Fernando, S. Wickremasuriya, Cyril Ranatunga, St. Anthony’s produced a champion middle distance runner in Leslie Jayakody. At present all schools, boys and girls are performing well.

TABLE TENNIS: In Kandy this game was very popular, but all of a sudden, it nosedived. There is some hope as there are many schools and clubs who are capable of bringing the game up.

BADMINTON: There is somewhat of a lack of interest in this sport. Something must be done to lift the game up. There are not many coaches and should the schools take the cue, then the game can pick-up. If the schools take interest, then the game can pick-up.

VOLLEYBALL: It is the National Sport of Sri Lanka but Cricket has gone ahead and is the most popular sport. It a certain time Volleyball was a popular game, and today the much needed support is not there for the game, if proper backing is there, this game too, should be in news. The first Volleyball League was formed in Kandy in 1941. There were annual two tournaments, one on a league basis and other as a knockout tournament.

IRON SPORT: Bodybuilding and Weightlifting are too sports in Kandy, hence their domination several national title holders have been produced. Iron sport is one of the oldest in the world.

BASKETBALL: Kandy continues to produce talented players at Basketball. Most of the schools who play basketball have done well and have won many tournaments.

CYCLING: This sport has been popular in Kandy and they had been races on many an occasion. For it to be competitive, there has to be sponsorship and then the sport will spread all over.

CHESS: Although chess has been popular at schools for quite a long period, last year Trinity became All-Island Champions. Dharmaraja, Kingswood, Vidyartha, Sri Sumangala, St. Sylvester’s and St. Anthony’s did their best among the boys. Mahamaya, Hillwood, Girls High School, Pushpadana, Swarnamali, Hemamali, Seetha Devi, did well in the girls tournaments.

KARATE: This is a sport for youngsters. The youngsters have done well in tournaments held in Sri Lanka and abroad.

SOFTBALL CRICKET: It is very popular here in Kandy. Over here in Kandy, every Sunday tournaments for various trophies, are being played. Sundays are booked for softball cricket.

CARROM: Is also a popular sport in Kandy, mostly played by the government departments. This is a re-creation sport. Kandy’s Carrom Association gives a big hand to promote the sport.

LAWN TENNIS: One-time it was a very popular sport in Kandy. It is Kandy Lawn Cub, Kandy Garden Club, University of Peradeniya, who were giving the best for the sport, and also Trinity, Hillwood are involved in big way. A ‘big hand’ should go top former Municipal Commissioner and All Ceylon cricketer D.H. de Silva for his support.