Veteran Sports Journalist Palitha Senarath no more-by Anuradha Abeysekara

Palitha Senarath Yapa

The head of Sports, Sri Lanka Rupawahini Corporation, Palitha Senarath Yapa passed away after a prolonged illness on March 7 at the age of 57. His funeral was held yesterday (March 8) at the Thalawathugoda general cemetery amidst a large gathering.

Palitha is an Old Boy of Ananda College, Colombo and has entered the big screen as a child cinema actor with the guidance of his grandmother, late veteran actress Denawaka Hamine.

He was cast in few local films during his school days before he stepped into Media world in 1983 by joining Sri Lanka Rupawahini Corporation (SLRC) as a member of its first batch of Trainee Production Assistants.

He was one of the long standing senior Media personalities at the SLRC. During his 38-year tenure at SLRC he has served in many capacities. He was wounded by a LTTE gun shot while on a coverage of the Katunayake LTTE attack in 2002 when he was attached to the News Section. Palitha also has served as the Acting Director of the SLRC Programme Section for a short stint.

His contribution to Sports Journalism has been remarkable and Palitha’s journalism career was studded with many elite local and international coverages including South Asian Games, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, Olympics and Cricket World Cup. SLRC won the Presidential Sports Award in 2015 with his leadership.

His commitment towards duty, experience and humanity made him an exemplary senior journalist who was always willing to help his fellow journalists.

Palitha was more focused on his duty at SLRC after his wife Sagarika Herath passed away about an year ago and rendered a great service to Sports Media by serving as the Senior Vice President of the Sri Lanka Professional Sports Journalists Association until his demise.