Accordingly, Susantha Mawela, Hansa Withanawasam and Ashan Sanjeewa won Airline colours for their outstanding performances in Athletics and Anuraji De Silva for Bandminton while Achintha Jayasekara and Samantha Wettasinghe were awarded colours for their successes in the fields of swimming and chess, respectively.
Addressing the gathering, SriLankan Airlines, Chairman, Nishantha Wickremasinghe said, “Sports teaches team spirit makes one a team player and it encourages one to be target-oriented. At SriLankan, these are the qualities that we seek in our employees. We believe a good sportsman is likely to be a professional who understands the demands and dynamics of the challenging aviation industry. We are proud to say that SriLankan is home to such individuals, who are capable of raising the Airline.”
SriLankan Airlines’ athletes last year managed to gain many victories under the Airline’s name and some of them went on to represent the country in the international arena as well. Coloursman, Susantha Mawela, was one such proud SriLankan family member, who earned a place among the top nine at the World Masters Athletic Championship.
SriLankan Airlines Head of Human Resources, Pradeepa Kekulawala said, “The national carrier has always recognized and rewarded its employees who have shown an outstanding track record in sports. This not only signifies how much we value their contribution, but also, we hope that this serves as an inspiration to others who follow in their footsteps; to unite, to persevere and to make the airline and the country proud.”
While SriLankan cricketers had an eventful year, having emerged the Runners up at the Super 4 Cricket Tournament held between SriLankan Catering, Mihin Lanka, Mobitel and SriLankan Airlines, the soccer teams of the Airline managed to bag many titles under their wing. SriLankan emerged the Runners up at the Travel Trade Beach Soccer Tournament and the Second Runners up at the Mercantile 7-A side Soccer Tournament. SriLankan –A team emerged the champions at the Travel Trade 7-A Side Soccer Tournament while the B team won the plate championship. The breakthrough came, when SriLankan Airlines won the “C” division championship of the Mercantile League Tournament, promoting them to B division from this year.
SriLankan Airlines basketball team also added their hallmark to the record books, having emerged the runners up of the Mercantile Semi League tournament’s B-division and the champions of the Mercantile Knockout Basketball tournament.
The badminton team of SriLankan succeeded in becoming the champions of the Travel Trade Tournament for the 15th time and won the Men’s veterans Championship for the fourth consecutive year with the titles- Men’s and Veteran’s best players. SriLankan also managed to rule the veteran’s doubles category, veteran’s singles and master’s doubles at the Mercantile open championships.
Taking forward its record in aquatic sports, the SriLankan swimming team managed to emerge second at the Mercantile Swimming Tournament. SriLankan swimmers bagged 25 places including 18 first places at the National Short Course Masters Swimming Championship and managed to secure the highest number of medals at the Indo-Sri Lanka Rainbow Masters Swimming Championship, beating the team from India—with a total medal count of 41 which includes 15 gold medals.
While SriLankan ruggerites emerged the runners up at Travel Trade Beach Tag Rugby Tournament- Plate Championship, SriLankan Elle team became the champions of the Nationalized Services Elle Tournament.
The Airline themed the year 2014 as “working together; winning together” and with such initiatives, the national carrier has been encouraging its employees to be involved in sports, thereby enhancing their personalities and attitudinal development which in return boosts. (KH)
