A former Wesley College all-round sportsman Nilam Hallaldeen has been elected the new president of the Amateur Sepak Takraw Association of Sri Lanka (ASTASL) at their annual general meeting held recently.
Hallaldeen was elected for a four-year term after receiving 25 votes as against 17 by his rival Azmin Ahamath following a contest for the top post.
A former sepak takraw national player and national coach, the 57-year-old finance professional pledged to spread the game island-wide and also in schools through the Education Ministry.
Sepak takraw has been confined among Malay associations in Colombo, Kandy, Hambantota, Nawalapitiya and Puttalam largely because of its Malaysian origins.
Hallaldeen represented Wesley at basketball, cricket and athletics (high jump) before pursuing a career in financial management but continued to represent his employers such as AMW, Mercantile Credit and SAGT in the Mercantile Cricket Association tournaments. He holds an MBA from the Postgraduate Institute of Management, is a member of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) and Life member of the Association of Accounting Technicians of Sri Lanka.
He was first attracted to sepak takraw in 2009 as a recreational activity being a member of Kumpulan Melayu Kotikawatta (KMK) before taking up the sport seriously in 2016 when he toured with a Sri Lanka team as manager cum player for the invitational Tournament Festival Sukan Dunia Melayu Dunia Islam (DMDI) held in Melaka, Malaysia.
He represented KMK at the Sepak Takraw Nationals from 2016 as the player cum captain of the team until January 2021. He was a regular national player since 2016 until 2019 playing as tekong or server, representing Sri Lanka at the World Sepak Takraw Championship (King’s Cup) from 2016 to 2019 in Korat and Bangkok, Thailand, South Asian Sepak takraw Championship in 2017 in Colombo and in 2018 in Kathmandu, Nepal. He captained the Sri Lanka team to the South Asian Sepak takraw Championship 2018 held in Nepal and won a bronze medal for ‘Regu’ event. He was a member of the Sri Lanka team which won the bronze medal at World Sepak takraw Championship (King’s Cup) 2018 in the Team event (Tier 2 category).
He accredited himself as a coach, following a seven-day course conducted by Sepak takraw Federation of India (SFI) in collaboration with Asian Sepak takraw Federation (ASTAF) and also obtained a Level 1 International Coaching Certificate from Asian Sepak Takraw Federation (ASTAF) in 2020. He was appointed as the sepak takraw national coach for 2020/21 but could not function in the aftermath of the Easter Sunday bomb attack and Covid pandemic lockdowns.
He became an Executive council member of ASTASL, governing body of sepak takraw in Sri Lanka, filling up a vacant position during the latter part of 2021. He was instrumental in introducing the SOLO Ball Control Championship as the chairman of sub -committee for the project to promote the sport virtually with a display of individual skills. This may be the first time such a field event was done successfully in Sri Lanka. The second round of the SOLO Ball Control Championship is scheduled to be held on June 25.
He plans to popularize the sport throughout the country by forming district associations. Schools too will introduce the sport through the Education Ministry.
They are preparing to participate at the 35th King’s Cup in Thailand but due to a lack of support from relevant government authorities due to the current economic crisis their participation has become very doubtful. Donors are welcome to come forward and support the team.
Following is the ASTASL executive council for the years 2022 to 2026:
President - Nilam Hallaldeen
Vice Presidents - Saman Priyankara, HAY Sudarshana
General Secretary - Thassim Junkeer
Assistant Secretary - Shibly Marjan
Treasurer - Sunil Wanigabadu
Assistant Treasurer - Jeewana Pradeep Malgahagamage
Executive Council - Mohamed Ali Careem, Hemantha Dissanayake, Fredrick Romesh Kandiah, KAU Kodithuwakku, Suranga Sampath Perera, Anver Falill