Sports
“You can’t take a break for education”-Lalith Priyantha

A table tennis legend speaks
by A Special Sports Correspondent
Table tennis was one of worst affected sports due to the pandemic. One reason for this could be that most players are also engaged in some kind of coaching; hence there being a loss in income.
Table tennis legend and veteran’s player Lalith Priyantha was one such player. He said that he survived a difficult period.
We can’t sometimes fathom as to how Priyantha stays in shape and contests the veterans’ events. Times were hard during the past one year without coaching and Priyantha looks back and can send a sigh of relief.
He coaches two schools and Methodist College, one of those schools, was good enough to release his salary in full despite table tennis activities coming to a standstill in the country. Life for table tennis coaches looked bleak for almost a full year because health authorities banned all sports in the island.
Exactly after March last year the table tennis players got an opportunity last February to access their growing skills when they contested the All Island Ranking Table Tennis Tournament conducted by the Western Province Table Tennis Association for the year 2020. Afterwards they played in another All Island Ranking Table Tennis Tournament in Kegalle which was conducted by the Sabaragamuwa Province Table Tennis Association, also of these being events in the table tennis calendar for year 2020.
Priyantha is one person who sought media attention for the sport during the pandemic. He organised press conferences and said table tennis would be one of the safest disciplines to conduct because the players positioned themselves at a safe distance during matches. He is of the opinion that the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (TTASL) must be innovative and shouldn’t wait till the government or the Ministry of Sports clears the path for them.
The sport over the years lacked the involvement of former national players as administrators. The reason for this is a rule brought by the Minister of Sports that individuals involved in coaching can’t hold office in national sports associations. That literarily ruined the chances of Priyantha serving the TTASL; which he once did in the capacity of president. But he states that he is willing to serve the TTASL in an advisory role if he along with past national players are drafted into a committee to help the sport. He states that much can be done to take the game to schools which have not had the table tennis experience.
One thing that is to his advantage is that he still plays competitive table tennis and contests all the veterans’ tournaments. “This helps me to be in touch with the players. I can also relate to them because I also coach schoolgirl table tennis players. A coach must be able to be the sparring partner of players and play his shots” said Priyantha who is still fit for a 55 year old veteran player. For the record he is the present singles champ and has won the doubles and mixed doubles events at the national veterans’ table tennis tournaments.
Priyantha is happy about the present facilities the players enjoy. Most tournaments are now played on carpet and the players play with the best rackets and shoes. But it was not so many years ago. Priyantha remembers wearing t-shirts which were not stretchable; which made playing shots all the more difficult. But the sun shone on him in 1987-1988 when Butterfly company (Japan) sponsored him offering him rubbers, rackets and t-shirts. That was a boon, but he had other advantages. He was squint-eyed so opponents struggled to read his movements. He finished off his opponents with his forehand play; hence his backhand rubber was rarely wasted.
If there is one word that describes this man it’s ‘versatile’. Of course during his playing days he was known by the press by a gamut of names: Piranha, Dark Horse, King of Ping Pong and King Kong of Ping Pong. But after retiring in 1993 after the national players’ tour to Germany he stepped on his coaching and also served the association as an administrator and Sri Lanka coach.
Describing his career in table tennis he compared it to following a map and not as a venture where he was achieving one goal after another. He enjoyed playing table tennis and one of the benefits or fringe benefits he received was winning medals. He won on most days he played, but there were also days where he lost. Winning a tournament and waiting anxiously overnight to read about it in the newspapers the next day destroyed his sleep.
He is a coach who creates bridges so that the younger generation of players can reach him. Apart from coaching the players at the two schools he is coaching Priyantha also undertakes private coaching. He would be mindful when talking with youngsters and avoid saying, at any cost, words like, “During my time things were different and we did things differently’. That would, according to Priyantha, burn the bridges that would connect the present generation with the past. “I never compare people in different eras because the present generation wouldn’t relate to that. I just appreciate and acknowledge their skills and effort” said Priyantha who during his youth was rated as the island’s number one player and also became the Sri Lankan male player with the highest world ranking.
He wants the present players to do well and bring glory to the country. According to Priyantha winning a medal outside South Asia is extremely difficult for Sri Lankans, but not unthinkable if the right contributions and exposure are provided for the players. In one rare instance of comparing eras Priyantha said that players during his time played in about 10 domestic tournaments while the present generation players are contesting as little as 3-4 domestic tournaments per year; hence lesser opportunities for the present players to grow and much easier to secure player rankings.
He is also concerned about education clashing with table tennis in a country like Sri Lanka. “Players in this country think very differently and take a break from the sport to pursue exams. This is an unhealthy practice and something of great concern. In other countries players manage both table tennis and education and this method of balancing sports and studies continues throughout their sports careers till they complete their degrees,” reminded Priyantha.
The veterans table tennis player wishes to work with the younger generation of players for many more years. He wants a player to come up from the present set of players and make Sri Lanka proud. He wishes them to be better players and at the same time be educated individuals. But he wishes them to see the thin dividing line that separates those who receive an education and end up as average performers and those who receive the same education and become extremely successful and to be in that second group he wishes his chargers to cultivate intelligence.
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Australia surge to clinical 2-0 series victory

Steven Smith completed an outstanding series at the helm with his 200th Test catch, but he wasn’t needed with the bat as Australia clinically sealed a rare series victory in Asia early on day four.
After wrapping up Sri Lanka’s second innings within the opening 20 minutes of the day’s play, Australia only lost opener Travis Head in pursuit of the 75-run victory target to win the second Test by nine wickets and sweep the series 2-0.
Usman Khawaja who set the tone with a double century in the first Test, finished unbeaten on 27 while Marnus Labuschagne made a fluent 26 not out in a confidence boost with his place in the side attracting some scrutiny.
Frontline spinners Matthew Kuhnemann and Nathan Lyon claimed four wickets apiece in Sri Lanka’s second innings to cap their brilliant series. They combined to take 30 of the 40 Sri Lankan wickets in the series.
It was Australia’s first Test series victory in Sri Lanka since 2011 having lost four of five matches across the 2016 and 2022 tours. Australia’s only other series victory in Asia since 2011 was in Pakistan three years ago.
The only concern for Australia will be the fitness of Smith, who looked sore in the field in what might be an aggravation of an elbow injury that he suffered ahead of the series in the BBL. But he remained on the field and was padded to bat.
Sri Lanka’s hopes of setting a tricky chase rested entirely with Kusal Mendis , who had raced to 48 in a counterattack late on day three. Resuming at 211 for 8 with a lead of 54, Sri Lanka promoted Lahiru Kumara to No. 10 after he survived 26 balls in the first innings in a 33-run last wicket partnership with Mendis.
Mendis on his second delivery of the day’s play reached his second half-century of the match, but he fell two balls later to vicious bounce from Lyon as a top-edge ballooned to fine-leg where Smith became the first Australian to claim 200 Test catches.
With Sri Lanka’s hopes dashed, the only remaining interest centered on whether Kuhnemann or Lyon would finish with a five-wicket haul. Lyon had two big lbw shouts on Nishan Peiris turned down by umpire Adrian Holdstock as Australia reviewed unsuccessfully.
Lyon’s frustrations grew after Kumara edged low down to Beau Webster at second slip only for replays to show it didn’t carry. Webster took it upon himself to end the innings when – just like late on day three – he unfurled his offspin and clean bowled Kumara on his first delivery.
It completed a strong allround match for Webster, who showcased his versatility with the ball and he also took several sharp catches.
Desperately needing early wickets, skipper Dhananjaya de Silva went straight to his offspinners and Peiris produced sharp spin, but Head pounced when the bowlers missed their lengths.
After a nervous start, Head whacked Ramesh Mendis down the ground before Khawaja hit a couple of boundaries as Australia started to cruise. De Silva had to quickly resort to left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya, who promptly dismissed Head off the top-edge.
With just 37 runs needed, there wasn’t a lot to gain for Labuschagne who had missed out in this series amid a century drought stretching back to the 2023 Ashes.
He eased his nerves with a superb drive to the boundary and he whacked another off Jayasuriya to bring up Australia’s 50. After a tough tour, Labuschagne had the satisfaction of hitting the winning run as Australia celebrated their first clean sweep in Asia since beating Bangladesh 2-0 in 2006.
Contests between the teams in Sri Lanka had been traditionally competitive, but Australia flipped the script with consecutive ruthless performances that felt out of the Steve Waugh era.
Their selections worked well and Australia had contributions across the board with four centurions and an attack that was all over Sri Lanka’s struggling batting-order.
Lone quick Mitchell built on his outstanding record in Sri Lanka, while Kuhnemann claimed a series-high 16 wickets at 17.18 to prove why he has been deemed so valuable in these conditions. He also showed plenty of grit to play through a sore thumb he injured in a BBL game on January 16.
After having little to do during the seam-dominated India-series, Lyon as expected shouldered plenty of responsibility and finished with 14 wickets at 22.5.
But this battle for the Warne-Muraliduran Trophy will be remembered for stand-in skipper Smith. He issued a reminder on his mastery in Asian conditions with brilliant back-to-back tons as his renaissance continues. Smith led superbly in the absence of Pat Cummins with his tactical nous coming to the fore as he made all the right moves in the field.
In contrast, Sri Lanka were bitterly disappointing in a sad end for retiring opener Dimuth Karunaratne as they slumped to their fourth straight Test defeat.
Brief scores:
Australia 414 (Carey 156, Smith 131, Jayasuriya 5-151) and 75 for 1 (Khawaja 27*, Labuschagne 26*) beat Sri Lanka 257 (Kusal 85, Chandimal 74, Starc 3-37) & 231 (Mathews 76, Kusal 50, Kuhnemann 4-63, Lyon 4-84) by 9 wickets
(Cricinfo)
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Yared Nuguse breaks world indoor mile record in New York

Little more than an hour after Grant Fisher’s historic performance in the 3000m, Yared Nuguse made history of his own at the Millrose Games, winning the Wanamaker Mile in a world record of 3:46.63* at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in New York on Saturday (8).
Just hours before the meeting began, world champion Josh Kerr announced his withdrawal from the race due to illness. But despite the Briton’s absence, the race produced a fitting climax to the world’s leading indoor one-day meeting.
Abe Alvarado paced the field through 1000m in 2:20.49, then Nuguse maintained the tempo with world road mile champion Hobbs Kessler tucked right behind. After passing through 1500m in 3:31.75, a significant improvement on his own North American indoor record, Nuguse dug deep to hold on to victory in 3:46.63. Kessler took second place in 3:46.90, also inside Yomif Kejelcha’s world indoor record of 3:47.01.
In third, Australia’s Cam Myers set a world U20 record of 3:47.48* with France’s Azeddine Habz setting a national indoor record of 3:47.56 in fourth.
[*Subject to the usual ratification procedure]
[World Athletics]
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Grant Fisher breaks world indoor 3000m record in New York

USA’s Grant Fisher broke the world indoor 3000m record at the Millrose Games, clocking 7:22.91* at the World Athletics Indoor Tour Gold meeting in New York on Saturday (8).
The double Olympic bronze medalist had been locked in a battle with Olympic 1500m champion Cole Hocker for most of the way. They passed through the first 1000m in 2:29.08, then Fisher led through 2000m in 4:58.01 before Hocker hit the front with three laps to go.
Fisher stayed close behind, then kicked hard off the final bend to win in 7:22.91, improving on Lamecha Girma’s world indoor record of 7:23.81. Hocker finished second in 7:23.14, also inside Girma’s record.
[*Subject to the usual ratification procedure]
[World Athletics]
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