Sri Lanka Handball aim to win medals at international events

The newly-elected President of the Handball Federation of Sri Lanka (HFSL) Upali Rajapaksa is confident that they could win more medals at international level in the next two years.

“Our first target is to popularise this game and search for new talent to uplift the sport,” Rajapaksa told the Daily News yesterday.

“The outgoing President Retired Major General Dampath Fernando did a fine job to upgrade this sport and we won the Bronze Medal at the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal,” he said.

“The previous handball administration was able to get down the services of two European coaches Nedeljko Metic and Nenad Kraljevski for the national team in preparation for the South Asian Federation Games.”

“The four-month training was very important for the local players and we want to maintain the national pool continuously,” he emphasised.

“The lack of domestic tournaments is the major issue for the local handball players. The Schools Association and the National Body should have a good relationship to build up this game as already more than 58 schools are involved in this sport.”

“We want to popularise this sport at school level, which is very important and the officials have to work hard to achieve their goals,” he stressed.

“Sri Lanka have already participated in three South Asian Games but the lack of international exposure is a major concern for us,” he lamented. “Handball is the second fastest sport in the world and an Olympic sport since 1936. It is a great sport to develop in Sri Lanka.”

“The new administration always has plans to develop the sport and we hope to achieve successful results in the future,” he noted.

“The Sports Ministry and the National Olympic Committee have given us support to uplift this sport from the beginning and we hope they will continue to do so,” he added.

The officials of the HFSL:

President: Upali Rajapaksa. Secretary: H. A. M. S. B. Senanayake. Vice-President: C. A Maydunna, L. A. A. Kumara, K. Yogaratnam, H. M. N. Madushan and one post from the Schools Handball Association to be appointed. Treasurer: Roshan Nilantha. Assistant Secretary: T. A. J. Perera.