The State Minister of Plantation Kanaka Herath and former National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) Treasurer Reza Latiff were elected President and Secretary respectively at the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (TTASL) held yesterday via zoom.
All officials were elected uncontested. Herath who was the former President of the TTALS is an Alumni of Trinity College and Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Australia where he pursued his bachelor in Aerospace and University of New South Wales, Australia reading for his Msc in Tech- Aviation.
As the former President, Minister Herath, had a clear vision of rolling out many programmes for the betterment of the sport.
However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic engulfing the world and Sri Lanka, these programmes could not be implemented.
But under his guidance, the TTASL conducted two ranking tournaments for both Men and Women and two ranking tournaments for both Boys’ and Girls’ of age groups Under-18 and Under-15.
The Junior and Senior table tennis nationals were expected to be held during the first week of June but now it has been postponed with this pandemic situation.
However, Minister Herath is expected to kick-start the Provincial and District pool practices as soon as the situation is normalised and make arrangements to spread the sport to schools by providing equipment and coaches where possible.
He is also instrumental in facilitating the lease of the Bandaragama Indoor Sports Complex to house the Headquarters of the TTASL and is thankful to Minister of Sports Namal Rajapaksa for granting his permission.
As of now, table tennis is the only sport that does not have an indoor hall and has to depend on renting premises for conducting tournaments and pool practices.
This move shall enable the sport to see national players regularly attending much needed training under the supervision of qualified coaches and be ready for competitions at regional and international tournaments.
Meanwhile, Latiff who is representing the Western Province is not new to the TTASL. Reza represented Isipathana College during the 1980s and Commercial Bank SC during the 1990s, held various senior positions in the association including that of the General Secretary in 1995/96 and was the Treasurer of the National Olympic Committee from 1997 to 2005.
He was the Chef-de-Mission of the Sri Lankan contingent at the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in Pakistan in 2004, Deputy Chef-de-Mission at the SAF Games held in Nepal in 1999 and Administration Manager of the Asian Games in Busan, South Korea in 2002.
A qualified banker by profession, Reza wants to implement a professional and target oriented culture within the association and supports the vision of the President to take the sport to the rural areas of Sri Lanka and to establish a dynamic feeder base of players to the national team.
He was away in Abu Dhabi for nearly 17 years for overseas bank employment and is once again back home and involved in sport development. The TTASL President and his committee also proposed the following future activities:
To finalise the lease agreement for the Bandaragama Indoor Stadium and a pool complex, amending the existing TTASL constitution.
Provide table tennis tables to schools, conduct a South Asian Table Tennis Tournament in 2022 and conduct table tennis tournaments throughout the Island.
To launch the District wise table tennis training pools for District ranked players, preparing a long-term and short-term development plan and commencing the High-Performance Development (HPD) Programme. To commence the senior and junior national training pools, start a welfare programme for players and provide advance training to coaches and umpires.
Meanwhile, there were nine nominations for the post of eight vice-presidents. However, Madushani Perera withdrew her nomination and the other eight officials were elected uncontested.
The TTASL Office-Bearers:
President: Kanaka Herath, Secretary: Reza Latiff.
Vice-Presidents: Namal Gunasekara (Women's Working Group), Sadisi Nirasha (Three Star Sports Club), Lasantha Sanjeewa (Nuwara Eliya District TTA), Oshadee Gunasekara (Tibhar SC), N. B. M. B. S. Niyarepola (State Services TTA), H. D. S. P. Wijayagunaratna (Kelaniya University), Lalith Liyanage (Stag TTC) and a representative from Sri Lanka Schools to be appointed.
Treasurer: Saman Rathnayake (Future Spin TT Academy) Assistant Secretary: Prabath Nimesh (Playgrounds TT League), Assistant Treasurer: M. A. E. S. Mallawaarachchi (Sabaragamuwa Province TTA).
Representations for the 20 clubs for Executive Committee: Playgrounds TT League, North Western TTA, Tibhar Sports Club, Josephian TT Club, Nugegoda TTC, Three Stars Sports Club, GSM TT Academy, Women’s Working Group, Western Province TTA, Wellawatta TTC, Ratnapura District TTA, Dudley Senanayaka Parents TTA, Sri Lanka Schools TTA , Nuwara Eliya District TTA, Kegalle District TTA, Premadasa Sports Foundation, State Services TTA, Future Spin TTA, University of Kelaniya and Sabaragamuwa Province TTA.
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