Missing Athletes Destroy Medal Glory

By Harsha Amarasinghe

Sri Lanka sports fraternity were thrilled last week when Yupun Abeykoon and Palitha Bandara landed two Commonwealth medals for Sri Lanka in a matter of seconds after Isuru Dilanka had secured the island’s first medal in Birmingham.

The 18-year-old Nethmi Ahinsa then became the youngest ever Sri Lankan medal winner in the competition, but all that glory has now been demolished by a bunch of athletes who have gone missing in the United Kingdom.

As of Monday, the number of Sri Lankan sports personalities to have decamped rose to ten which is an absolute embarrassment for the country that the global followers of Commonwealth Games 2022, will now remember Sri Lanka for gone missing rather than the sheer brilliance of athletes such as Abeykoon who lit up the stadium with that fabulous run.

The current financial crisis in Sri Lanka certainly makes it a very difficult country to live in, but as an athlete who represents Sri Lanka in a high-profile event like the Commonwealth Games, one should look at themselves in the mirror and realize what they have done to the motherland.

On the other hand, the authorities must hang their heads in shame that they have been unable to prevent incidents of this nature which have tarnished the pride of this nation, well, if there is any.

They should have seen this coming because it is not the first time, and with everything happening in Sri Lanka - this could have been prevented had they anticipated it. This once again goes on to prove that it is not just the government or the politicians, Sri Lanka are a very unorganized place from top to bottom.

Hasaranga’s Manchester adventure denied 

Sri Lanka spin maestro Wanindu Hasaranga has been denied the opportunity to take part in the Hundreds competition in England which has seen the leg-spinner being left with no other option but to pull-out of what was a staggering deal worth 100, 000 pounds offered by the Manchester Originals.

It has been reported that the Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) had made the decision considering they needed their talisman to be in best physical conditions ahead of the Asia Cup which starts later this month.

While the call for blocking Hasaranga’s participation in the Hundreds has been praised by thousands of Sri Lankan fans, the former Richmond College Star would not be pleased to be missing out on a fortune. 

While his frustration is quite obvious, losing such a huge amount of foriegn currency would not even please the President Ranil Wickramasinghe or anyone in the government for that matter.

However, in 2011 SLC had permitted stars such as Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardane to miss one of the tour games ahead of England tour as they were taking part in the Indian Premier League. Amazing how times change.