Marksman Daya Rajasingha won the National title at the age of 18

Daya Rajasingha

Daya Bertram Rajasingha who represented Sri Lanka in rifle shooting events at the Munich Olympic Games in 1972, had a wealth of experience for his age of 24 years at that time.

He was born on May 26, 1948 in Colombo as Daya Rajasingham and changed his name to Daya Rajasingha in 1972.

His father, who was a Major in the Sri Lanka Army, was himself a well-known marksman. Following his footsteps, Daya won the 600 yards Navy Shooting Competition at Trincomalee when he was only 16 years old.

He joined the Army in 1969 and at the age of 18 he won the National Rifle Shooting Championship that year.

He won this title once again in 1970 and from 1972 to 1980 he won the title every year. The record in this event belonged to Ravi Jayewardene while Daya was able to better that record in 1974.

From 1981 to 1984 he did not compete as he was suffering from a heart ailment but he returned to the fray in 1985 and participated in the event in 1985, 1986 and 1997 and set up a new record for this event in scoring 596 marks out of 600, the maximum marks obtained for this event.

Daya won the sixth place in the Asian Rifle Shooting Championships in 1970. In 1970/72 he won two Gold Medals in shooting competitions held in Canada but in the Olympic Games in Munich he was placed 62nd.

However, in the Asian Games in 1974 and 1978 he was able to secure the sixth position once again. In the Commonwealth Games in 1978, he was placed eighth and in the World Shooting Championships held in Korea that year, he was awarded a Silver Medal in recognition of his abilities shown in the contest.

At the Asian Games held in 1982 and 1986, he was placed sixth once again. He also participated in two shooting contests held in Russia and Germany and in 1987 he participated in the Asian Rifle Shooting Championships held in China and World Shooting Championships held in Korea.

In 1980, Daya was advised by his doctor to refrain from competing and till 1985 he was forced to give up the sport.

However, recovering in 1985 he commenced training again. In the World Shooting Championships, he was able to perform better than three world champions.

He was the Captain of the Sri Lanka Team for the 1988 Olympic Games. From 1968 to 1981 he served as a Major in the Sri Lanka Army.

Later, he left the island to take up an appointment as a Major in the Special Service Corps in Oman. He returned to Sri Lanka in 1986 and re-joined the Army as a Major and served as an Instructor in the Army Training Centre in Diyatalawa.