Paddler Chalitha does Ambalangoda proud

Sampath Bandara

Table Tennis Star K. S. T. Chalitha Ranjana of Seylan Bank achieved the rare honour of clinching the National Men's Singles title for the fourth time at the National Table Tennis Championship which concluded at S. Thomas' Indoor Stadium, Mount Lavinia recently.

Chalitha Ranjana is the third highest national title winner in Table Tennis history of Sri Lanka. He has bagged the national title in the year 2000, 2002, 2004 and 2009. He is a member of the current Sri Lanka Table Tennis team.

Chalitha Ranjana is an old boy of Sri Devananda College, Ambalangoda who started playing table tennis at the tender age of seven years under the guidance of his uncle-veteran coach Anura Lal.

Chalitha won his first table tennis tournament when he was only nine years old. He was adjudged number one ranked player of all age categories. In the year 1996 he won the Junior National Championship and clinched the National Championship Title four times. Later he joined 'City Bank' and won many mercantile titles for the City Bank.

In the year 2005 he crossed over to Seylan Bank and paved the way for Seylan Bank to be adjudged the best team in the year 2007 and also won the Mercantile Championship for three consecutive years (2005 to 2007).

He is currently working at Seylan Bank and he paid a glowing tribute to chief executive officer of Seylan Bank Ajith Pasqual President of Seylan Bank Sports Club Asanga Nanayakkara and Uditha Kaluarachchi as wall, and is ever grateful to his coaches A. W. Anura Lal and K. S. T. Lakshan Harshana. Chalitha is being sponsored by Nittaku Company for several years and he also thanked other players who support him in his training sessions Junior national champion Chathura Viskam, Shasi Fernando, Kanil Wickramaratne, Sajith Priyadarsana who have helped him to become a National Champion for the Fourth successive year.

He has represented the country in over 30 international championships and won nearly 300 local ranking tournaments.

In the year 2004 he bagged a bronze medal in a Commonwealth Championship held in Malaysia. This was the greatest achievement ever by a Sri Lankan in table tennis history.

Chalitha Ranjana is one of the Best Table Tennis Players to emerge from the Southern Coastal town of Ambalangoda the cradle of Table Tennis in Sri Lanka. His next target is winning a medal in the South Asian Games to be held in Bangladesh 2010.