SACK celebrates 50 years of Badminton
St. Anthony’s College, Katugastota will be celebrating 50 years of badminton this year. As the person who introduced competitive badminton in this cherished educational institution, it gives me great pleasure to go down the memory lane to reconnoiter the path and direction taken to be a force amongst the badminton playing schools in the island.
It was 1974 when the principal of the school, the late Rev. Fr. Aiden de Silva appointed me as the coach and master in-charge of badminton in the school. There was no indoor court in the school and the game was played in the laid out courts outdoors. Having realised the need to train in an indoor stadium to be able to compete in recognised tournaments, I booked the court at the YMCA in Kotugodella Veediya, Kandy, in the afternoons on weekdays to conduct the training sessions.
It was not an easy task as the team had to travel using public transport and the time spent on the road was high when compared to the time spent on the court. Having observed that there is a flat area closer to the stage of the main hall of the college and more than adequate height for badminton purposes, I implored with trepidation the use of the hall for our practices from the principal. To my amazement and elation, he permitted its use on days when the hall is not booked for public performances or school functions. We were able to use it for about 15 days a month which was a real asset in the growth of the game.
I appointed Vasantha Wijesekera as the captain of the team and having him was a real asset as he was already an accomplished player who had previously been a team member of St. Thomas’ Prep School, Bandarawela. We gradually formed teams of various age groups and competed in the tournaments conducted by the YMCA and the Central Province Badminton Association. It did not take too long for our players to dominate and win titles in these competitions. Our next target was All-Island competitions and with this in mind, I was able to introduce a ‘Southern Tour’ with the help of the late Ariyadasa Silva, who was the Secretary of the Sri Lanka Schools Badminton Association. This annual tour of five days consisted of matches played in Colombo, Amblangoda, Galle and Matara. This opportunity of playing with leading schools in badminton such as Dharmasoka College, Richmond College, Rahula College and S. Thomas’ College provided impetus in raising our shuttling standards to a new high. We also conducted many coaching camps inviting reputed coaches such as L.R. Ariyenanda, Nandasiri Silva, the late K. Kanagarajah and the late Malik Jahn.
The school supported me in having the services of resident trainers in Darshana Fernando, who is now a leading badminton coach in Canada, and Ajit Jinedasa. By 1980, our players were winning titles in tournaments conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Badminton Association, and earned the approbation as a leading school in badminton in Sri Lanka. In 1982, they
were able to even win the overall championship title at the Junior National Championship.
The highest achieving Antonian player is undoubtably Udaya Weerakoon. His skillfulness and competence were shown even at a young age when he won the AllIsland Novices Championship title as a 14-year-old in 1979. He is the youngest to have won this title. He went onto win many junior national titles and was crowned with glory in 1988, when he won the National Championship. In the same year he grabbed the World Airline Singles Championship as a pilot attached to Air Lanka. He represented Sri Lanka in all major tournaments during the period from 1984 to 1992.
Perhaps the greatest gift for badminton in the school was the inauguration of the three-court Badminton Stadium by the Colombo Branch of the Old Boys Association in 1988. It is now a dominant playing venue where even Inter-Schools’ competitions are conducted. I had to leave St.
Anthony’s by the end of 1981 as I had to be in Colombo due to a postgraduate course that I was following. By the early 1990s I observed a lull in the success despite the magnificent facilities of an indoor stadium. In 1993, I requested the school authorities to organise a two-week coaching camp during a vacation and invited 22-year-old Chinthaka Fernando, who had just returned to Sri Lanka having undergone a one-year coaching course at the National Institute of Sports in India.
Rev. Fr. Stephen Abraham, the principal of the school being so impressed with the way the camp was conducted, decided to acquire his services as a fulltime coach. Fr. Principal’s foresight raised immense dividends. He built up the team so well that in 1997 an unbroken record was formed by winning four Singles titles out of the five age groups at the Junior National Championship and winning the championship titles of three of four age groups at All-Island Inter Schools’ Team Championships.
This can be considered as the golden year of the school in badminton due in no small measure to the dedication, enthusiasm and ability of Chinthaka Fernando. He made sure of the school becoming overall champions at the Junior National Championships for five successive years. He offered his committed service for 10 long years.
I had to leave Sri Lanka to take up an appointment in Hong Kong in 1995. In 1999, I was able to host the college team in Hong Kong where they played with some schools and also the Junior Badminton Squad of Hong Kong. The principal of the school Rev. Fr. Hilarion Fernando, the teacher in-charge Nilanthi Wijesighe and the coach Chinthaka Fernando accompanied the team and I am sure that it provided valuable exposure to the students. I hosted another team from St. Anthony’s College in 2005 and provided the students a similar experience.
The Antonians Badminton Club (ABC) formed in 1994, has been in the forefront in assisting the college to develop the game during these past years. The newly elected committee headed by the respected administrator Murali Prakash, have drawn up elaborative plans to commemorate the fiftieth year with the hope of another golden era for the shuttlers of the school.