The Signal Corps of the Army celebrates 75 years in 2018. This is one of the oldest regiments in the army with a rich heritage. Among this band of soldiers are some exceptional sportsmen and sportswomen who have represented Sri Lanka and the Army. I met up with this vibrant group of young people at their regimental head quarters at Panagoda.
One of the youngest officers present was Captain Kavinda Liyanage who excels in table tennis. A past student of St.Benedicts College, Colombo he has over 70 medals (including gold) to his credit. He explains “I joined the Army in 2009. I have been playing tennis since grade 4 at school. Going back in history we had an old boy of our college Angelo Santiago, who won a national title in 1972. Since then I am the only officer who matched this feat. We are both from the same school and same regiment”. Liyanage has represented the National team in France at the World Table Tennis championships.
Up next was another champion in a different sporting realm - carom. Lance Corprol M. Sherrifdeen aged 27 years was placed World Champion in 2016, displaying his talent in Birmingham, UK. This multi talented soldier is also an expert in snooker and is graded 5th in the National level and is the current Army snooker champion. Sherrifdeen has a unique record of being Junior National Champion (carom singles and doubles). This year he sustained yet another magnificent win to take the 2018 Defence Services Championship.
At 28 years Nilanthi Thilekeratne is a quiet and gentle girl. I was surprised to find that her sporting discipline- Wushu, is a combination of martial arts. Lance Corporal Nilanthi went onto explain “I am happy to serve the Army, I have been able to become women’s National Champion in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016. Through hard work and training I have got 12 gold medals”. The young woman has represented Sri Lanka at the World Championship where she was ranked 8th in a list of 123. Nilanthi is testament to equal opportunity in the military, where teamwork yields positive results.
Army life is about facing tough challenges and that’s when we met a vision impaired athlete Corporal Nalin Kumara. Despite having totally lost his vision Nalin has a Gold medal in 100meters National event and Gold medal in the 200 meters Army event. He explains “I joined the army in 2007 and in 2008 I lost my sight at Nochikkulam, I was in Ranaviru Sevana for 2 years. The Army encouraged me to move forward. I thank all my comrades. I started training with my helper who is my “eyes”. At the start we used to have our hands linked together with a band, so that I can run within the lane markings (sports track). He has to maintain my speed, and with time I got used to the style of running. Today though I can’t see, I can run. I am free”. His powerful words render the hall into silence.
By now a young man with the muscle disposition of a Roman gladiator is taking his seat. Lance Corporal Senaka is a power lifter. He is ranked 5th at the 2017 Asian Power lifting Championship held in Indonesia.
Senaka says “I began with 93 Kg and gradually moved to the 105 Kg weight category. At present I have the Army record for the squat where I lifted a weight of 285 Kg”. Senaka has also been awarded Signals Corps colours for 2016/2017 having a medal tally of 9 medals.
In sporting action one needs endurance and it doesn’t get tougher than competing in the ironman Triathlon events. Lance Corporal Asitha Perera is a double gold medalist. The triathlon is a demanding sport where one has to swim, cycle and run. Asitha explains’ I did my last event where I had to swim 2 kilometres, cycle 91 kilometres and run 21 kilometres within a time frame of 5 hours”. Some of the other athletes present were army women rowing team star Iresha Perera, sprint queen Rumeshika Ratnayake (who represented Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games in Australia) and army rugger hero Prabath Kumara (flanker). The Signal Corps riding star Buddhika Silva was away on a training task.
Buddhika has won many awards for his outstanding riding and is a great sporting entertainer at the Super Cross events. These young athletes have brought honour to the nation and to their regiment.
WUSHU WARRIOR
NILANTHI THILEKERATNE