State minister Herath elected to head Table Tennis Association
State Minister Kanaka Herath was elected uncontested as president of the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (TTASL) at the annual general meeting held at the Duncan White Auditorium, Sports Ministry on Friday.
The AGM was held to fill the vacant positions of the association and all office-bearers were elected uncontested. There were two candidates for the presidency but former national player Manzil Muthalib withdrew his nomination paving the way for Herath to get the top post.
Kanaka Herath in his first tenure as the president of the TTASL in 2017 hosted the Junior South Asian Table Tennis championship but he couldn’t complete his term as he was suspended from holding the position on a protest by a former president. The then Minister of Sports suspended Herath till the completion of the inquiry committee.
Chatura Jayendra was appointed as acting president till the end of 2018 and an interim committee was appointed in 2019 to conduct the National Championship and the Junior Nationals. The AGM was postponed on several occasions because various protests were lodged for the presidency nominees Lalith Liyanage and Manzil Muthalib.
The newly elected president speaking to the Sunday Times soon after his election said his main target is to take the association to a stable financial position. “Sri Lanka lies in second place in the South Asian rankings and in the other international competitions like Asian Games and Commonwealth Games, Sri Lanka failed to come up to required standards. We are planning to appoint a Strategic Planning unit to make research to look into the most required areas,” he said.
He also hopes to implement plans to popularize the game of TT in the outstations to win the attention of sponsors which will be a boost for the improvement of the game.
The elected TTASL officer-bearers:
President: Kanaka Herath
Vice Presidents: Vijaya Gunaratne, Manzil Muthalib, Lalith Liyanage, Prabath Nimesh, Ashen Sasanka, Namal Gunasekera, Sadisi Nirasha, Madushani Perera
Secretary: Srinath Wijethunga
Asst. Secretary: M.A. Mallawarachchi
Treasurer: Tinusha Dilhara
Asst. Treasurer: Ranil Dilrun