Sri Lanka table tennis marks 75th anniversary Championships-BY ERIC MOTHA

Source:Sundayobserver

Pesi Pestonjee chronicled an article captioned “50 years of TT” in 1996 and rightly referred to himself as probably the last of the old brigade which has slid into history.

The former national Champion and administrator is no more and the mantle of penning this brief article has been referred to me.

Table Tennis in Ceylon started in the 1930s when the YMCA was the cradle where the sport made its debut and the winner of the YMCA Championship was crowned as the Ceylon Champion.

F. Rustomjee was the first to annex the Championship.

Records indicate that the All Ceylon Table Tennis Association was formed in 1944 with its first president being Homi Rustomjee and M. Balaji as secretary.

Rustomjee was president for 11 years with M Balaji, A. Vythialingam and J. Rajasingham serving as secretaries. During these formative years Ceylon was privileged to welcome World Champions Viktor Barna, Richard Bergman, Johnny Leach and the twins Diane and Rosalind Rowe.

Following Rustomjee, Justice A Vythialingam, M. Balaji and DL Salgado became presidents. The players who had emerged on top in the Championships were selected to represent us at the All India Championships held in Bombay, Holkar, Indore, Madras and Andhra.

In 1952 a team participated in the World Championships in Bombay. During this era Pesi Pestonjee and Dick Schoorman were the ‘stars’ with Norshir Lakdawala and Chrys Gunaratne heralding their entry at the National Junior Championships. In a random recollection the following were Champions in the women’s sector over the decades:

Belle Wirekoon (SL champion 12 times), Grace Somasunderam, T. Singham, Swarna Peiris, Namal Gunasekera, Tamara Doering, Frances Ratnayake, Nandini Daniel. Srini Lucas, Shyamalee Dias and Vajira Premaratne.

In the 1960s we witnessed Buddy Reid, Nimo Ramchand and Firoze Nilam followed by Suresh Melvani, NH Perera, Annesley Gomez, Sarath Gunaratne, Deepak Naraindas, Jothipala Samaraweera, Dr. GN Lucas, Angelo Santiago, MB De Silva, Rasakantha Rasiah, Lalith Priyantha and Shabbar and Shabbir Hussain.

Those who helped to administer the game in the 1970s and 1980s were: DL Salgado, M. Balaji, Major General Kamal Fernando, Pesi Pestonjee, GAS Ganepola, Charlie Daniel, Chandrakant Vasa, Minister Gamini Dissanayake followed by Sarath Gunaratne, Rajiva Wijetunge and Chandana Perera who by their dedication and commitment carried on the legacy of yesteryears.

Chandana Perera deserves accolades for his yeoman services as Tournament Committee chairman and president since the 80s. The secretaries who teamed up well with their presidents were Hemasiri Fernando, WA Chandrapala, R Kulasingham, LAA Fernando, NE Thangarajah, PV Gopalakrishnan, Anver Dole and Ajith Gamage.

The country has in recent years witnessed the emergence of several ‘stars’ in the schools and clubs and we wish them well.

My apologies for any omissions due to this hurriedly prepared recap within the limited time frame allotted to me.

(The writer is former Secretary Board of Control for TT in Sri Lanka and former President Mercantile TT Association)