Royal felicitates one of its great all-rounders

Royal College Basketball Advisory and Management Committee Chairman Anshal Ambawatte welcoming Retired Major General Dr. C. Thurairaja to the event in the presence of Royal College Basketball Advisory and Management Committee member Madhava Siriwardena and old Royalist Vikum Siriwardena

Royal College Basketball Advisory and Management Committee Chairman Anshal Ambawatte handing over a plaque of appreciation to Retired Major General  Dr. C. Thurairaja in the presence of Royal College Senior Games Master Riyaz Alaher 

Past and present teachers in charge of basketball at Royal College

At the recently concluded Royal Cagers’ Night 2019, held at Havelock City Clubhouse, the first-ever basketball captain of Royal College, Retired Major General Dr. C Thurairaja, was awarded the Lifetime Appreciation Award for his contribution to basketball and other sports in front of an august assembly of more than 100 past players.

Dr. Thurairaja has represented Royal College in six sports, namely basketball, cricket, rugby, athletics, badminton and boxing, winning college colours in four of them and subsequently entered medical college and continued his sporting achievements by becoming the University Sportsman of the Year in 1961 and 1962.

He became a triple international, captaining then-Ceylon in basketball and representing the country in badminton and golf. He is the only Sri Lankan to have represented the country in two sports at the Asian Games - basketball in 1966 and golf in 1982 - while also being the Captain of the Sri Lankan contingent at the 1982 Asian Games. In addition to representing the country in three sports at the international level, he played international rugby as a member of the Defence Services Team.

Apart from his sporting achievements, his contribution to sports medicine has been significant. He was the youngest doctor of the Sports Medicine Unit of the Ministry of Sports when the unit was established in 1968. A pioneer member of the Sports Medicine Association of Sri Lanka established in 1992, he later became the Vice President of the Asian Federation of Sports Medicine and an Executive Member of the International Federation of Sports Medicine.

Through such recognition and events, the Royal College Basketball Management and Advisory Committee hopes to encourage superior performance and develop a passionate community to take basketball to the forefront. The event also recognised past and current teachers-in-charge who have contributed to taking the sport forward. The organisers revealed that they wished to continue this event as an annual ceremony.