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Jagath Welikala[/caption]
“Legend” is a very loosely used word these days. In fact, because of the frequency of its use, it has lost some of its lustre as well. But from time to time, we come across “real” legends who just get on with their work without ever looking for or caring about if they receive credit or not. Last week, such a legend received a very well-deserved recognition from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in recognition for his work for the development of wheelchair tennis in the country. The ITF “Coach of the Year” award was awarded to Jagath Welikala this year.
So far, the only Sri Lankan to receive this extremely prestigious award in more than a century of the history of tennis playing in Sri Lanka.
Amal Jagath Welikala, or “Jagath”, as he is popularly known by all in the Sri Lankan tennis fraternity, hails from a very respectable family. Jagath’s father retired as the principal of Carey College, Colombo, having formerly been the Headmaster of St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela. Jagath’s mother, Zirka, known as “Auntie Zirka” to all tennis players of a certain age, was a teacher at Royal College, Colombo. Being a Royalist himself, Jagath has truly got the qualities that Sri Lankans assume from Royalists. Quiet and unassuming to a fault, Jagath goes about his business without a care in the world.
Having been the tournament director of various international tournaments in Sri Lanka for more than 10 years in the recent past, one of the first things that this writer does when he has to get the organisational team ready for any tournament, is to ask Jagath’s availability. This is because of the fact that he is dependable, trustworthy, and a true team player. He is always to be seen around the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) with his trademark luminous-coloured T-shirts and all his fancy glasses. Don’t get me wrong, he is never obnoxious, but he is truly funny and remarkable.
There have been numerous conversations regarding Jagath’s fashion sense at the SLTA, most of it happening in the office of the tournament co-ordinator of the SLTA, Zareena Saleem, with the active participation of the man himself. And almost all of these conversations end with all of us asking him why his wife hasn’t thrown him out yet. Jagath is, in fact, married to Jacintha, who has been Jagath’s rock for a long time.
Jagath has two daughters, one of whom is working in Canada, with the other daughter doing her master’s degree in molecular biology at Baylor University, Texas. Jagath is truly a remarkable man.
He started as the coach of the wheelchair tennis programme of Sri Lanka in 2002 and has been continuously the coach of the programme for the last 20 years. He has produced numerous high-ranking players in the world arena.
Suresh Dharmasena was ranked 38, D.M. Gamini 45, Upali ajakaruna 42, to name a few. To put this into context, the highest-ranked able-bodied Sri Lankan tennis player in the recent past was the “great” Harshana Godamanna who was ranked top 850 at one time.
The all-time best-ranked player in Sri Lankan tennis history is the legend Arjun Fernando who was ranked top 250. Of course, comparing able-bodied players and wheelchair tennis players is like comparing apples with oranges, still it is a remarkable achievement.
Sri Lankan wheelchair tennis team has participated in every Olympics since 2004. After participating in the 2004 Athens event, they participated in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2021 in Tokyo. Apart from this magnificent feat, the Sri Lankan wheelchair team won a bronze medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian games. They capped all of the above achievements by finishing in sixth place at the recently concluded world championships.
In the 2018 Asian coaches conference in Hong Kong, the International Tennis Federation invited Jagath to make a presentation regarding the development of wheelchair tennis. This is not the first time that he has won an ITF recognition either. He was appointed to the extremely prestigious world coaches commission in 2010 where he served until 2012. He is in fact the only Sri Lankan who has been appointed to the coaches commission as well.
No coach can perform to a high level without the support from the local governing body. Jagath is in fact very thankful to the SLTA as well as to the Sri Lanka Army and the National Para Olympic committee whose support he has received in abundance in his journey as a wheelchair coach. In his own words: “I have to thank so many people who would have helped me in my journey to receive this award. Since they are too numerous to mention by name, I would like to thank every single one of them sincerely for all their support and hope that they will extend the same support to me in the future as well. I am in fact thankful to the honourable minister specially, because of the fact that the support received from the high performance programme has been invaluable to me personally.”
Short in stature and tall in deeds, Jagath Welikala is a true legend. But having associated with him for more than 25 years, sometimes this writer wonders if he himself knows that he is a legend. That after all is the true measure of his greatness.
Jagath Welikala[/caption]
“Legend” is a very loosely used word these days. In fact, because of the frequency of its use, it has lost some of its lustre as well. But from time to time, we come across “real” legends who just get on with their work without ever looking for or caring about if they receive credit or not. Last week, such a legend received a very well-deserved recognition from the International Tennis Federation (ITF) in recognition for his work for the development of wheelchair tennis in the country. The ITF “Coach of the Year” award was awarded to Jagath Welikala this year.
So far, the only Sri Lankan to receive this extremely prestigious award in more than a century of the history of tennis playing in Sri Lanka.
Amal Jagath Welikala, or “Jagath”, as he is popularly known by all in the Sri Lankan tennis fraternity, hails from a very respectable family. Jagath’s father retired as the principal of Carey College, Colombo, having formerly been the Headmaster of St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela. Jagath’s mother, Zirka, known as “Auntie Zirka” to all tennis players of a certain age, was a teacher at Royal College, Colombo. Being a Royalist himself, Jagath has truly got the qualities that Sri Lankans assume from Royalists. Quiet and unassuming to a fault, Jagath goes about his business without a care in the world.
Having been the tournament director of various international tournaments in Sri Lanka for more than 10 years in the recent past, one of the first things that this writer does when he has to get the organisational team ready for any tournament, is to ask Jagath’s availability. This is because of the fact that he is dependable, trustworthy, and a true team player. He is always to be seen around the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) with his trademark luminous-coloured T-shirts and all his fancy glasses. Don’t get me wrong, he is never obnoxious, but he is truly funny and remarkable.
There have been numerous conversations regarding Jagath’s fashion sense at the SLTA, most of it happening in the office of the tournament co-ordinator of the SLTA, Zareena Saleem, with the active participation of the man himself. And almost all of these conversations end with all of us asking him why his wife hasn’t thrown him out yet. Jagath is, in fact, married to Jacintha, who has been Jagath’s rock for a long time.
Jagath has two daughters, one of whom is working in Canada, with the other daughter doing her master’s degree in molecular biology at Baylor University, Texas. Jagath is truly a remarkable man.
He started as the coach of the wheelchair tennis programme of Sri Lanka in 2002 and has been continuously the coach of the programme for the last 20 years. He has produced numerous high-ranking players in the world arena.
Suresh Dharmasena was ranked 38, D.M. Gamini 45, Upali ajakaruna 42, to name a few. To put this into context, the highest-ranked able-bodied Sri Lankan tennis player in the recent past was the “great” Harshana Godamanna who was ranked top 850 at one time.
The all-time best-ranked player in Sri Lankan tennis history is the legend Arjun Fernando who was ranked top 250. Of course, comparing able-bodied players and wheelchair tennis players is like comparing apples with oranges, still it is a remarkable achievement.
Sri Lankan wheelchair tennis team has participated in every Olympics since 2004. After participating in the 2004 Athens event, they participated in 2008 in Beijing, 2012 in London, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, and in 2021 in Tokyo. Apart from this magnificent feat, the Sri Lankan wheelchair team won a bronze medal at the 2018 Jakarta Asian games. They capped all of the above achievements by finishing in sixth place at the recently concluded world championships.
In the 2018 Asian coaches conference in Hong Kong, the International Tennis Federation invited Jagath to make a presentation regarding the development of wheelchair tennis. This is not the first time that he has won an ITF recognition either. He was appointed to the extremely prestigious world coaches commission in 2010 where he served until 2012. He is in fact the only Sri Lankan who has been appointed to the coaches commission as well.
No coach can perform to a high level without the support from the local governing body. Jagath is in fact very thankful to the SLTA as well as to the Sri Lanka Army and the National Para Olympic committee whose support he has received in abundance in his journey as a wheelchair coach. In his own words: “I have to thank so many people who would have helped me in my journey to receive this award. Since they are too numerous to mention by name, I would like to thank every single one of them sincerely for all their support and hope that they will extend the same support to me in the future as well. I am in fact thankful to the honourable minister specially, because of the fact that the support received from the high performance programme has been invaluable to me personally.”
Short in stature and tall in deeds, Jagath Welikala is a true legend. But having associated with him for more than 25 years, sometimes this writer wonders if he himself knows that he is a legend. That after all is the true measure of his greatness.