Since of late, the office-bearers of the Sri Lanka Motor Cycle Club (SLMCC), seems to be ignorant of the rules and regulations (even the constitution) of this body and are not willing to learn from past blunders. In the years gone by the Ceylonese Motor Cycle Club (now known as the SLMCC) had top class officials in the calibre of Andrew Mirando, Wally de Zilwa, Karu de Costa, Bruce Pate, Dudley Perera to name a few. Not any longer. These top calibre personnel knew the rules and regulations of the FIM and FIA (international bodies for motor cycles and automobiles) "inside out".

Veteran motor racing "ace" of the days gone by (1953 to 1986), Chandra de Costa (76 years now), told The Sunday Leader that after about 60 years there was no motor races at Nuwara-Eliya in April this year (2009) after he had issued a detailed report to the authorities concerned regarding the malpractices of the committee who consist of entirely motor car drivers!!

De Costa said: From the 1950’s the Nuwara Eliya motor races were run clock-wise starting from near the Grosvenor Hotel, but they later was run anti clock-wise. This is very dangerous and resulted in the deaths of Ranjith Dhanapala in 2007 and Dilshan Bandaranayake in 2008. The Nuwara Eliya track is suited only for motor cycles, and even former President, the late J.R. Jayewardene, banned motor car racing at Nuwara Eliya after Mike Rauff had a serious accident.

"Officials misled government officials and took them for a ride stating that small mini cars will race. The car is small. Manufactured in England by BMC they (Mini’s) have three engine types (1000 cc, 1200 cc and 1300 cc) with 35 to 40 BHP. There are factories in England that manufacture over 100 BHP engines, costing Rs. 1.2 million . They bring these engines to Sri Lanka and fit it into cars without suspension and break system. This results in accidents and enlightened the government officials, who cancelled the Nuwara-Eliya races this year (2009)" said de Costa, who further said that motor cycle events could have been conducted if the officials were genuinely interested in this sport.

Even at Katukurunda, which is owned by the Air Force, the start was from the "home straight", but was changed by these "stupid and ignorant" officials was the opinion of Chandra de Costa, who even wrote to President Mahinda Rajapakshe, who in turn instructed the Air Force, to have the start from the original point. This was about two years back.

"This was another stupid decision by an official to run the races anti clock-wise after SLMCC, SLMSC and SLARDAR spent monies to construct the "bands". This was yet another foolish decision, but I thank President Rajapakse for his intervention" said de Costa.

De Costa is a former All-Ceylon and All India motor cycling champion, Gulf Champion in 1975, Power Hydro plane champion in 1963, Power Boat champion of Kuwait in 1975. He also held course records in Kandy (1995), Nuwara Eliya (1959), Bangalore (1958), Pune (1958), Madras (1959), Kurunegala (1959), Katukurunda (1959/60), Coimbatore and Bombay too.

Internationally known Dilantha Malagamuwa have commented that these officials are like "frogs in a well", while Lucky Mirando has been quoted saying that "dogs have crept into the SLMCC"

We leave the readers to decide what ails motor racing in the country.

Many surprises at World T-20

The T 20 World Cup certainly held many surprises as did the talent search programme the Aravinda de Silva Academy sponsored by Coca Cola Inc. encountered. Let me reflect on the T 20 tournament first.

As this is being written the Sri Lankan team is preparing to meet the West Indies at the Oval in the second semi final. Much against the grain the South Africans who showed that they would be favourites to go into the finals crashed out against the Pakistanis.

This I suspected as the Pakistanis have shown sparks of brilliance when the team fires together. Then again they are also known to crumble without a fight at times. The talent amongst the Pakistanis is never questioned yet they fail to be consistent.

Sri Lankans with an unblemished record in this tournament has been the surprise package. The preparations of the Sri Lankans in this format seem to have been perfect. The batting has not been devastating but extremely efficient. It is in the bowling that our lads have found the key to this format.

Malinga and all the spinners have been unmatchable. The Irish certainly had our boys against the ropes but the experience of our bowlers undid them and a repeat was seen in the game against New Zealand. If Gayle is kept quiet the Lankans have a great chance of getting into the final. T 20 doesn’t allow all the top order bats to fire.

There simply is not enough overs to do so. The improvisation available within the top order holds the key to building a formidable score and we do have a proper mix in our team.

The way Dilshan, Sanga, Mahela and of course Sanath applies gives us the edge. It is in the death overs that we have failed to lift the rate. Often five wickets had fallen by then and only Mubarak has the ability to do so. So, good luck lads.

New rules: Our boxers yet in the dark

It would be difficult for national teams of most other sports to not feel envious at the range of opportunities the ABA lays before the country’s boxers. An all-found residential training camp tucked in a tranquil coconut grove in Pannala functions year-round – under the watch of a professional coach from Cuba, the land long acknowledged as world amateur boxing champions.

A majority of those in the training camp are provided with jobs in the garment factories of MAS Holdings in Pannala, which means there’s no distance between the pugilists’ workplace and gymnasium, a convenience most sportsmen would give an arm for. If anything, insiders say, the camp’s credo is the polar opposite of the old adage about the thing that makes "Jack a dull boy’’, which is, well, all play and no work, sort of.

If all this evokes visions of the notorious "sport factories’’ in communist countries during the times of the Iron Curtain, the imagery isn’t far removed from reality. Of course, the Pannala camp paymaster is a capitalist, but the aim is the same, to produce champions. So, as a sport training centre, to all intents and purposes, it functions much like a factory. There are schedules to keep, quality control to maintain and the target of international medals to achieve.

A new ABA management under the stewardship of Udeni Kiridena completes its first 100 days in office shortly, and though an audit of the Pannala camp’s achievements this early might seem premature, it is not without relevance. Since the assumption of power by the Kiridena administration in March, Sri Lanka’s boxers have been dispatched twice overseas: the eight-nation A K Misra Memorial meet in Chandigarh, India, in early March and the Asian Championships, re-named the Asian Elite Championships, concluded last week in Zhu Hai, China.

Sri Lanka flew out three boxers for the Chandigarh competition and four for the Zhu Hai championship. And regrettably, not one boxer could manage even a win; they were all eliminated in their respective first fights. Suspicions of a return to the old days of "one night stands’’ at once springs to mind. Those were the times when boxers were so starved of overseas exposure that when a trip came along, boxing became an excuse for a holiday – and "one night stands" in the ring was a convenient way of making time available for enjoying touristic delights.

That was then. But over the past decade or thereabouts the boxers’ fortunes have taken dramatic change. It is fair to say that our national boxers have seen more of the world than most other sportsmen/women. From Chicago to Soul and the many places in between, our national vests have been displayed. The boxers continue to fight overseas six to ten times a year. So, it begs the question: now that the novelty of traveling abroad has worn out, has the sport got just about appealing as a job-to-do so that food can be put on the table? If that were the case, then, boxers might’ve found participation in two overseas meets in less than three months a rather grudging prospect, leading to spiritless performances.

That probably will be how critics of the ABA will explain the failure of our national boxers to win a single bout in seven visits to the ring. But that is biased conjecture. Talk to some of boxing’s decision makers and with disarming unconcern they’ll tell the failures don’t disappoint or surprise them.

As ABA president, Kiridena explains: "We’ve undertaken the task of finding a new generation of champions to replace the present established set. The teams to Chandigarh and Zhu Hai had different personnel, except for one (Saman Silva) who fought in both places. The idea is to throw as many emerging champions as possible into international competition this year so that next year we might have a nucleus of young boxers who we could work on for the 2012 Olympics and beyond.’’

Skeptics, of course, will wave away Kiridena’s theory as flimsy. But a fib it is not. All but one of the six boxers who figured in the two recent meets were making their first appearance overseas; the solitary boxer with overseas experience was light-fly Chandimal Alexander, who was coming out of brief retirement anyway. Had the ABA been in serious pursuit of medals, then, there wouldn’t have been such preponderance of rookies. After all, the likes of Manju Wanniarachchi or Kamal Sameera would’ve been better medal prospects and, with both regarded as Olympic hopefuls; their inclusions would not have been in vain. But 2009 is all about infusing new blood into the national team.

This is not to suggest that the ABA is contemplating sending Wanniarachchi and Sameera, who collectively count more than a hundred international fights, into enforced retirement. "Wanni and Sameera are some way away yet from retirement; too much has been invested in them to discard them at this point. The trouble is that they’ve outgrown Sri Lanka boxing – that is to say, if they are to get to another level, training here is not going to help them. Rather, they have to live and train in a more professional environment, say in the US, Russia or the UK," says ABA Secretary, Lt Col. Hemanth Weerasinghe. "This thinking is in no way a slur on our national coach from Cuba, he’s contributions have been significant – but there’s little even he can do when worthy opponents, let alone suitable sparring partners, can’t be found locally for Wanni and Sameera.’’

One half of that plan has already been put in motion: Wanniarachchi has enlisted with Red Stars BC, a Los Angeles based club that helps amateur boxers chart a professional career. "The club is run on very professional lines and is owned by a Russian. Wanni will live in the US where he’ll work, train and fight competitively. He’s already been training two months in LA and has set his mind on fighting in the US Open in July,’’ said Slimline BC honcho Dian Gomes. "Of course, Sri Lanka will be his first call and his name has been inked in for the World Championship in Milan, Italy, in September.’’

Plans for Sameera to enlist with a UK club were frustrated by the difficulties of obtaining a visa, but alternatives in other European countries are being pursued.

"You could say Wanni and Sameera are permanent members of the national squad; in giving the emerging champions overseas exposure we’re trying to add another one or two more into the ranks of permanency. Of course, it is nice to think that the emerging champions would be instant international successes, but it’s a tough world out there. If at the end of this year we have at least one boxer of Olympic promise, we have reason to be satisfied,’’ said Kiridena, ABA president.

And the one that promises most to graduate to the ranks of permanency in the national squad is Saman Silva. His two defeats in two outings might not be quite in consonance with his sensational triumph over the Russian junior world champion in the Sri Lanka Lions v. Moscow Bears duel in Colombo last November. But it has to be remembered the fight rules have changed since. As of this year, a fight’s duration is longer by a minute and the period of interval shorter, also by a minute, with three rounds of three minutes each replacing the old four rounds of two minutes.

"It’s gotten a whole lot harder for the boxers under the new rules and obviously, our boxers have been slow to make the adjustment. I officiated at the Zhu Hai meet and it was very clear that our boxers were worse for wear and tear in the last round. I don’t think a lack of fitness has much to do with their falling apart in the last round– rather it’s the way they approach the fight; we haven’t broken out of the four-round mindset,’’ said Kiridena, who is also an AIBA qualified referee and judge.

Saman Silva was a living example of that deficiency. In the Chandigarh competition, he led his Indian opponent, the eventual gold medalist, in the first round, trailed by two points in the second before conceding the fight, 6/10. The pattern wasn’t dissimilar in Zhu Hai, losing to the Japanese bronze medalist, 6/13, after being only a point behind at the end of the first and second rounds.

Silva admits that in both fights, his limbs didn’t quite respond to his thoughts in the final round. It is a connection that will be made – and seven defeats in seven outings is the first link in that connection.

"Laker" is a j.p. now

Bernie Wijesekera took oaths as an All-Island Justice of Peace recently, and if you tell him that it’s a title he deserves for his more than 50-year contribution to sports journalism, he’ll beg to differ.

"The journalists who deserve to be honoured are no longer with us. They were responsible practitioners of the trade who believed that to compromise on the profession’s principles was an unpardonable sin – they are ones who ought to have been handed JPs and awards that are now being so freely distributed. But then in those days titles and awards were never handed out to sport journalists,’’ said Wijesekera, one of few remnants of a forgotten era of sport journalism, in the 1950s and ‘60s.

"I’ll be dishonest if I don’t admit to feeling a sense of guilt at being honoured. My thoughts are with my mentor A. V. Fernando (Times cricket writer in the ‘50s) – he was such a patient teacher of commonsense sport journalism.’’ Another departed journalist who Wijesekera remembers fondly is Christie Seneviratne, the former Daily News Sport Editor and cricket writer.

"I admired Christie for his outspokenness. It’s sad he didn’t live to see the country play Test cricket. He would’ve been the happiest because no one espoused our Test cause more than Christie – he was making claims through his bold writings even as far back as the late 60s,’’ recalled the veteran reporter.

Wijesekera, who still free-lances for the Sunday Times, is not without achievements of his own. He was the first Sri Lankan sport journalist to provide on-the-sport cricket reports from England, covering the first ever World Cup in 1979. He also turned out to be a competent rugby correspondent.

Outspoken himself, Wijesekera might not be everybody’s cup of tea. But no one will begrudge him his new-found title: over 50 years in one job is a commendable feat, but to walk the same paths to the same cricket and rugby grounds and write the same old stories for over half-century is, well, calls for a title. Congratulations Bernie Wijesekera, J.P.

Maurice Perera heads Central Province RFU

Sports Ministry turns down AAA request

Lasitha fails to respond for fixtures yet

Over 150 shutlers from overseas for Asian Junior

Over 150 shutlers from about 15 countries will compete for honours at the Asian Junior (Under 16) Team Badminton Championship at the S. Thomas’ College Indoor Stadium from August 3 to 9.

The Secretary of the Interim Committee for the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA), S.Veerawagu, told The Sunday Leader that the IC are conducting this tournament on behalf of the Badminton Asian Confederation (BAC), who are assisting with "some finances," while the balance will have to be found through local sponsors. The Mount Lavinia Hotel is the official hotel for the touring players and officials and are offering rooms at concessionary rates.

"Last year this tournament was held in Brunei. A team will consist of a minimum of eight players (Four boys and four girls) and two officials. One of Sri Lanka’s players will be Achini Rathansiri (14) from Lindsay BMV. She is a good prospect who had beaten Olympian Thilini Jayasinghe in the semi-finals of last year’s nationals, before stretching the ultimate champion, Chandrika de Silva in the Final," said Veerawagu.

Veerawagu also said that eight boys and eight girls have already started training under Chinthaka Fernando at the SLBA Indoor Stadium on weekends and also in the evenings on Mondays and Wednesdays. They will be reduced to six each after a series of trials.

The Team event will consist of two singles and one doubles match.

Badminton will also be a discipline at the South Asian Games to beheld in Dhaka, Bangladesh in January next year (2010).

Thilini, Achini win all doubles matches in China

Sri Lanka beat Turkey by three matches to one to finish in 7th position at the Sudirman Cup World Team Championship of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in China.

In the group matches, Sri Lanka beat Mongolia (5-0), but lost to Portugal (1-4), Lithuania (1-4), and Iceland (1-4) and beat Turkey 3-1 in the play-off for the seventh and eighth positions.

Sri Lanka’s women’s doubles pair of Thilini Jayasinghe and Achini Ratnasiri had the honour of remaining unbeaten in their five matches. The others who represented Sri Lanka were Hasitha Chanika and Rajitha Dahanayake.

Professor Ranjith de Silva, Chairman of the Interim Committee of Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA) was elected as member of the Executive Committee of the BWF at its AGM in China.

CR and FC survived a fierce second half rally before registering a hard fought 17 points to 10 points victory over their traditional rivals CH and FC in their SLRFU Caltex inter club ‘A’ division league rugby tournament first round fixture worked off at Maitland Crescent on Friday.

CR and FC also maintained their unbeaten record while collecting their points from one try, two penalties and two drop goals after having led 14-7 at half time. CH and FC came back strongly in the second half and responded with one goal and one penalty.

Manori leads Hilton Grand Prix

After the 4th round Mrs. Manori Jayakoddy who is the Captain of the Royal Colombo Golf Club Ladies Section leads the Hilton Grand Prix with 383 points. She is followed closely by Mrs. Yvonne Abeyratne, former Sri Lanka Open Champion with 354 points and Mrs. H.R Bang with 352 points.

The Grand Prix is sponsored by the Hilton Hotel and is played over 16 rounds. With another 12 rounds to go, further excellent golf is to be seen.

The Grand Prix is considered a major event in the Ladies Golfing Calendar with many players vying for the top ten placings. It has been sponsored by the Hilton Hotel for many years

Old Bens Golden Jubilee Hockey

Twelve clubs and 16 schools will vie for honours at the Golden Jubilee Club and Schools Hockey Tournament of the Old Benedictines Sports Club on Saturday (June 27) from 8 A.M. at the school grounds in Kotahena. This is being sponsored by British Studies and Independent Educational Advisory Services, Maria Jewellers and S. Mariampillai Pawn Brokers, and co-sponsored by Tigo and former hockey players of the school.

The 12 club teams include Old Bens, Army, Navy, Air Force, Police, CH & FC, BRC, Wennappuwa HC, Old Zahirians (Matale), Old Anandians, Old Peterites and Gymkhana SC.

The 16 schools are St. Benedict’s, Ananda, Nalanda, Royal, St. Joseph’s, Christ Church (Matale), Vidyartha College (Matale), St. Thomas’ (Matale), Wesley, St. Sylvester’s, Dharmaraja, D.S. Senanayake College, Joseph Vaaz (Wennappuwa), Maris Stella, Zahira and Richmond (Galle).

The Chief Guest will be Dennis de Rosayro, while Rev. Bro. Granville Perera (director of St. Benedicts) will be the guest of honour.

Nishantha, Roshita top slicers

Nishantha Fernando and Joseph Roshita from All Saints College, Borella won the Men’s Singles and Women’s Singles titles respectively at the 10th President’s Cup Carrom Championship of the CFSL at its headquarters.

Fernando won the Men’s Singles beating Chamil Coory in a trilling three set match (18-25, 25-14, 25-10). He also won the Men’s Doubles with Viraj Fernando defeating Chamil Cooray and Germain Goonewardene (25-10, 25-9).

Rodhita won the Women’s Singles beating Madushika Kanchanamala from Anula Vidyalaya (25-16, 25-6). She also won the Women’s Doubles with Shashika Sandamali beating Buddhini Dias and Nethmi Umanga (0-25, 25-23, 25-20).

Sri Lanka different class at "Emirates Flying Catch"

Sri Lanka players and the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires were a class act as they posed for pictures and signed autographs for a group of school children at the Emirates Flying Catch inflatable. The Sri Lankans took time out from their training session at Lord’s to give kids from UCS school in North London a special treat ahead of their Super Eight clash against Pakistan in the ICC World Twenty20 tournament.

Emirates’ ICC Official Partner status gives the airline sponsorship rights to all ICC major tournaments, including the 2011 and 2015 ICC Cricket World Cups, ICC Champions Trophy and ICC World Twenty20. It also sponsors the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, ICC Under-19 World Cup, ICC Intercontinental Cup and the ICC Women’s World Cup.

In partnership with the ICC, Emirates will continue sponsoring the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires and Referees. This agreement will see the Fly Emirates logo prominently displayed on the umpires’ clothing at all ICC events until 2015.

Emirates also supports the Lord’s Taverners, the cricketing charity whose team, featuring TV personality Chris Tarrant and former England star Darren Gough, will face the airline’s Fly Emirates XI at Windsor Castle this weekend.

Five a side soccer social at the Colombo Hilton

The Hilton Colombo Sports & Fitness Club will host yet another five a side soccer social. 16 teams will participate this year and it will be held at the pool lawn tennis court. The event is sponsored by Mohan Audio Vision. Picture shows from left to right Desmond Silva – Director Sports & Fitness Club Hilton Colombo, Mohamed Naushad – General Manager, Mohan Audio Vision, Mohan Dass – Managing Director Mohan Audio Vision, General Manager Hilton Colombo Jerome Auvity, Tyronne Perera – Member of the organizing committee and Palitha Weerasinghe – Assistant Manager Sports & Fitness Club, Hilton Colombo at the Captain’s meeting.