Ex-TT champ submits plans for upliftment of the sport

Namal Gunasekera, an old girl from Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and former National Table Tennis Champion and Captain of the Sri Lanka Women’s team, has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Coaching and Development Committee of the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka.

Having played the sports for 31 years, of which she has represented the country for 26 years, Namal won the National Women’s Singles title in 1981, the National Women’s Doubles title 17 times and the National Mixed Doubles Title on seven occasions.

One of the main reasons for the deterioration of the game is that there is no table tennis training hall for the association. Discussions are underway with the Ministry of Sports for the allocation of a suitable playing area for the players and to house the association.

Currently she is the Vice President of the TTASL and has submitted several proposals to uplift the game in the country, as follows:

• To take the sport to district areas where table tennis is not played and develop players long-term.
• Appoint a coach for all districts.
• Select 10 schools in district where the game in not played and introduce the game to children through the Schools Table Tennis Association.
• District players who show potential to be selected and further trained in provincial training pools under qualified coaches.
• To have at least 200 players taking to the game from the newly-introduced districts during the first year.

To develop the standards of the national players, the following areas need to be given prominence:

• Continuously hold training pools for senior and junior players.
• Decentralising these training pools in selected provinces for the convenience of players of those regions.
• Appointing a national coach.
• For national pools;

a. Appoint a physical instructor for fitness, endurance and agility training.

b. Appoint a nutritionist and for players to follow a disciplined food plan.

c. Seek assistance from sports doctors.

• Subject the national pool to physical fitness tests every three months.
• Engage a foreign coach to train the national pool along with the national coach and for players to train overseas where possible.