When Ceylon’s stickers beat world-class Madras and Mysore-BY DENNIS DE ROSAYRO

hockey teams

Before continuing from my series on Ceylon/Sri Lanka’ great hockey players, I would like to touch on some noteworthy performances by our hockey teams.

After not being able to participate at the 1960 Rome Olympics, the Federation’s next target was the 1962 Asian Games in Djakarta.

Freddie White, who was the vice captain on tours to India in 1957 and 1959, was selected as the captain of Ceylon for the 1963 Asian Games. Unfortunately, he withdrew from the team, citing the non-selection of two players, whom he felt were automatic choices. The reserve goalie, K. Tharmarajah, whose idol was Freddie, followed suit.

This was a huge blow and our performances were below par, losing to lower ranked teams, Indonesia 0/1 and Singapore 0/3, among others.

Ironically, Freddie was selected to captain the 1966 Asian Games team to Bangkok and again against the touring Indian team in 1967, where he shone brilliantly, still Asia’s best.

K Tharmarajah was selected both as captain and manager of the 1970 Asian Games team to Bangkok.

In 1953, Ceylon commenced a series versus the Madras and Mysore Hockey Associations and regular visits were exchanged and played for the ‘Corera Cup’.

From 1928 to 1956, India won every Olympic gold medal. In 1960 they won the silver, losing to arch rivals Pakistan 0/1, but regained the crown in 1964 beating Pakistan 1/0. In 1968, they lost to Australia 1/2, in the semi-final and won the bronze beating Germany. In 1972 they lost to Pakistan 0/2 in the semi-final and beat The Netherlands to win the bronze. It was also a tradition that every Olympic team during these eras played the Madras HA before leaving the shores of India for the Olympics.

Ceylon gained a great deal of experience and acumen when playing Madras or Mysore Associations as these State teams could have beaten many countries. So, Ceylon for the first time beat Madras HA 1/0 at Madras in 1966, during their tour to South India and North India, led by none other than the great Freddie White.

This historic team was DD Abeysekera, MI Jumar, DE Harvie, GH Rupasinghe, K Tharmarajah, A McIntyre, R Heyn, SA Selvarajah, Stanley and Homer Fernando, RanjithWijekoon, F Assisi, M Zarouk, CA Kottinkadduwa, TS Ettipola, Raja Jayasuriya and Royce Van Twest. (I have no record of the team that played).

Again in 1978 we beat Madras HA 2/0 in Colombo.

Against the Mysore HA, Ceylon had a better record, drawing in 1969, 1970, and 1971 – 1/1, 2/2, and 2/2, respectively, and in 1973 beat them in Colombo 3/1, and in 1975 beat them in Bangalore 2/1.

In 1973, the team was Ranjith Wijekoon (captain), AL George, MI Khan, HLM Mitrapala, M Ayub, S McLelland, Annesley Xavier, MI Jumar, Stanley and Subhas Fernando, and AM Ansar.

The 1975 contingent was Subhas Fernando (captain), AM Ansar, HL Mitrapala, Annesley Xavier, BMR Preena, A Rafaideen, Sarath Wimalasinghe, S Serasinghe, PS Deegahawatura, TM Rizvie, R Alahakoon, A David, R Selvakumar, John Martin, JM Jhan, and GWI Premachandra.

On the international scene, Ceylon hosted the Indians in 1967 for a series of three Tests.

The first Test was indeed a memorable one, led by Freddie White at his brilliant best. We lost 0/1, our best ever performance versus any Indian team to date. Others in the team were A McIntyre, Richard Heyn, Stanley Fernando, GH Rupasinghe, DD Abeysekera, SA Selvarajah, RanjithWijekoon, Subhas Fernando, DE Harvie and Homer Fernando.

Still hailed as Asia’s best ever goalie, Freddie White ended his illustrious career in a blaze of glory.

The famous Fernando brothers of Old Ben’s fame Stanley, Homer and Subhas created history by playing together in two of the three tests. Stanley and Homer played in all three Tests.

Another match worth mentioning was in 1976, when after losing the 1st test 0/3, we almost created a huge upset when we held West Germany to 0/0 unto 8 minutes before full time when bad light stopped play. Germany was rated No. 5 in the world ranking and No. 4 after the 1968 Olympic Games.

The team was led by Subhas Fernando and included A Rafaideen, R Selvakumar, A Xavier, AM Fowzie, S Wimalasinghe, PS Deegahawatura, Mervyn Preena, Ranjith Alahakoon and RJ Rizwie.

In 1964, led by legend Ivan de Kretser we lost 0/1 and 0/2 to Great Britain who were ranked No. 7 in the world rankings.