In a major fillip for sports, tourism, and baseball, Sri Lanka are set to host India, Pakistan, Iran, Nepal and Bangladesh in the 14th edition of the West Asia Baseball Cup (WABC) from July 15-20 with the winners qualifying for the next Asian Games.
The ministries of sports and tourism have thrown their full weight behind the first ever international baseball tournament to be staged in the country.
It will also be the first major international sporting event to be staged in Sri Lanka since April’s Easter Sunday attacks.
Organized by the Sri Lanka Amateur Baseball/Softball Association (SLABSA), the Baseball Federation of Asia (BFA) and the World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) have given the green light by coming in as the Official Sporting Partners for this regional competition.
It will take place at the Japan-Sri Lanka Friendship Baseball Ground in Diyagama, which was donated by Japan through its international development assistance arm JICA (Japan International Cooperation Agency).
The tournament will also see Sri Lanka defend the title they won for the first time in 2017 under the leadership of Akalanka Ranasinghe who is wearing the mantle of team manager. Sri Lanka will be led by Sameera Ratnayake.
“This tournament is a testament to the growth of baseball in the country over the last few decades and we’re proud to be able to host it as defending champions, though our journey is not over yet,” stated Fazil Hussain, the President of SLABSA. “The achievement in 2017 was a momentous one, but we want to show that we can now be a consistent force and keep improving.”
IMPORTANT
“Why this baseball tournament is important for Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka tourism at this point of time is because we had a humongous issue after April 21. Having an international tournament in Colombo will prove that the environment is safe. It will send a strong message to the world that Sri Lanka is a safe place to travel,” said Kishu Gomes, Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) underscoring its significance at a press conference held at Jetwing Colombo Seven hotel yesterday.
“Baseball in my view is one of the best games for Sri Lanka. Being a sportsman and a national athlete myself, convincing me to come on board was very easy,” said Gomes who hardly needed any convincing having been associated for 13 years with SLABSA CEO Priyantha Ekanayake who headed Sri Lanka Rugby earlier.
VISION
Chulananda Perera, Secretary to the Ministry of Sports, also endorsed SLABSA as one of the few national sports governing bodies which had a clear vision and development plan.
“We have 66 sports associations and I have been discussing their progress and plans with about 50 of them since the sports minister and I took up office five months ago. Ninety percent of them only bring up petty personal issues, corruption of officials past and present or only complain. I can state that the SLABSA is one of the few associations that talk of development or have submitted long-terms goals for the sport,” said Perera.
FOUNDATION
SLABSA chief Hussain said he was humbled to see the strides baseball has made from just four clubs when it was introduced back in 1985 by the American embassy.
“Our success to be ranked second in Asia is due to the immense efforts of those involved in the sport, dedicated to building a strong foundation to ensure the sport of baseball climbs from strength to strength,” said Hussain is also Executive Director of BFA.
“This foundation is built upon creating a structure which now stands at 22 schools, 11 universities and 32 clubs. We are setting in place a new vision to further grow the sport to 50 schools and to hold a Mercantile league. Our plan is by 2025 to have 25,000 baseball players in Sri Lanka,” he said outlining their vision for the sport.
“The people and the government of Japan through JICA have been instrumental in the growth of the sport by gifting the country the only dedicated international standard baseball stadium in Diyagama. They also assist us by providing trained coaches equipment and imparting knowledge for the growth of the sport,” he said explaining the growth of the sport in Asia.
“The Baseball Federation of Asia with an ambition of growing the sport in the region introduced an East and West division in 2012 with the objective of increasing participation. Sri Lanka joined West Asia with our neighbours India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, Iran, Iraq, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Bangladesh. Pakistan dominated until 2015 with 2017 being a game-changer with underdogs Sri Lanka emerging champions. This achievement helped us win the honour of hosting the 14th WABC,” he said.
“Hosting the WABC is a testament to the commitment and cooperation of the ministries of sport and tourism, especially after what the country went through,” said Hussain expressing his gratitude to Chulananda Perera and Kishu Gomes for playing a key role and giving a helping hand for them to host this tournament.
CRICKET
SLABSA vice-president and parliamentarian Mayantha Dissanayake said baseball was treading a similar path to that of cricket, relating how his father late Gamini Dissanayake secured Test status for Sri Lanka when the International Cricket Council resisted saying the country did not have infrastructure. “Cricket was confined to the elite but after we attained Test status it opened the doors for people all over the country. It is played in every village and youngsters dream of playing for the country. Baseball is also on a similar journey and goes on to conquer the world. We have talent and skills for baseball, if not we could not have won the West Asia Cup in 2017,” he said.
Sri Lanka had twice emerged runners-up to Pakistan - in 2012 and 2013 - while they were outside of the top three as recently as 2015. Since then Sri Lanka has seen their global ranking rise to 41 out of 127 playing nations as per the latest WSBC rankings, though Pakistan remains the top-ranked West Asian team in 24th place, while Iran (53), India (65) and Nepal (69), are placed lower down the list.
0 comments:
Post a Comment