Minister must first clean up the game before improving it, says ex-national TT champ

Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka President Minister Kanaka Herath

Former Sri Lanka player and coach Nimal H. Perera

Nimal H. Perera, a former national table tennis champion and coach who has the game at heart, wants the newly appointed President of the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka, State Minister of Plantation Kanaka Herath, to clean up the game before embarking on any project to improve its standard.

Perera is of the view that the Minister should first appoint an independent committee and remove all the paper clubs holding membership of the national sports body.  

“You have only to go through the list of clubs and find out whether the same officials are holding office in another club, because it is happening,” said Perera, who holds a coaching diploma from the Asian Table Tennis Association in Osaka and the Peking Physical Culture Institute. “The Minister has to first eliminate the paper clubs that are currently functioning, because it is through these clubs that several individuals who have no knowledge of the game are holding office today.

“The association is also trying to appoint a national coach which is a good thing. But what we hear is that the five-man panel of judges appointed to select the coach have no experience or knowledge of the game. In my opinion a national coach should be able to train the players properly and have the experience of having taken part in a World Championship, or at least in about six international tournaments, to have a knowledge of coaching and the technology to develop the physical, emotional and mental aspects of a player.”

Perera said that the Minister has found funds to develop the game and has allocated funds to get down a foreign coach.

“Getting down a foreign coach is good. At the last Olympics it was the Asians who dominated table tennis and according to the players who have been playing the game, they say that our women’s standard is higher than the men’s, so it is better that we get down a women’s coach and trainer from China. We should get the support from the Chinese Embassy because Sri Lanka has a lot of connections with China,” said Perera.

“Our intention is to try and win a medal at the next Commonwealth Games, which is to be held in Scotland next year. At the last Commonwealth Games our women finished fourth, so it is better if we can concentrate on the women’s team. There is plenty of time to train our players to go and win a medal if we can start now and give them the proper training. Winning a medal at the Asian Games is very difficult because all the Asian countries take part, and they dominate table tennis.”

Perera said that there were several past national champions, who had represented the country internationally, keen to help raise the standard of table tennis, but that they were sadly overlooked by the present office bearers running the game.

“The Minister has a long way to go, and he should look into all these aspects if he is trying to promote the game,” said Perera, who has sent an email to the Minister apprising him of the current situation of table tennis in the country and is awaiting a response. – (ST)