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. |