(Continued from last Sunday)
The Ceylon Hockey Federation (CHF) broke fresh ground when for the first time a federation team travelled beyond South India for a tour to New Delhi and the Punjab State. This was the third official visit of a Ceylon team, the first two being in 1953 and 1957, to South India, respectively.
This tour of the Punjab had added significance in the fact that our team was seeking to gain experience in the deepest Indian hockey preserves and also to test its strength against the glamour teams of North India.
Our first match in the capital Delhi and the eighth of the tour was played on February 3 against the strong Delhi HA at the Lady Harding Ground with Sir Richard Aluwihare being the chief guest. It was a thrilling and keenly contested game ending in a fitting 1-1 draw.
The Times of India reported: “The rapid strides Ceylon hockey has made was fully evident in Thursday’s exhibition match – to many not only the result but the general standard as played by the visitors came as a pleasant surprise playing the brand of hockey displayed by South Indian teams in the past. The little men from Ceylon kept the sizable crowd glued to their seats.
“The reputation of Fred White the Ceylon goalkeeper had preceded the tourists and in much of what he did yesterday there was class written large. His daring and pluck reminded one of Deshamuthi, and like the famous Indian star, he made several excursions to the top of the circle and thwarted the opposing forwards’ moves.
“It was one of the fascinating features of hockey that the day’s most outstanding player should also commit the simplest of errors, and it was so in the case of White, whose one lapse, cost Ceylon the only goal netted against them, scored by Olympian Prem Saxena, the Delhi centre forward in the 27th minute. This lead was however short lived, for almost immediately after the resumption Ceylon scored and what a goal it was.
“Their outside right trapping the pass from his inside right De Kretser via De Rosayro, cleverly dodged the Delhi left back, drew the goal keeper and scored with a splendid shot taken from a difficult angle. It was the day’s outstanding feat to some extent, excelling even White’s brilliant performance.”
The Statesman reported: “Playing in conditions entirely foreign to them – a biting cold and a hard ground – the Ceylon hockey team touring India did remarkably well to hold a strong Delhi HA XI at the Lady Harding Ground on Tuesday, each side scoring once. Manager Walter Jayasuriya added that his pupils to all accounts are a vastly improved set since they left the shores of Ceylon. If they possess no other stalwarts, they can rest assured that in Freddie White their tall spirited goalkeeper, they are gifted with one who can stand between the best forwards and victory. No description could do justice to the marvelous manner in which he repeatedly saved.”
The team comprised White, Abeysekera, Adahan, De Rosayro, Mylvaganam, Hettiaratchi, De Kretser, Jayatissa, D Wijekoon, Chandrasena and Rayen. Our ninth match in Delhi was played on February 5 at the same venue against the Delhi Independents Sports Club, the club champions of the Delhi HA.
It was almost the same team that did duty for the Delhi HA with the weak links filled up. We played the best game of our tour and won 1-0.
Sir Richard Aluwihare and Ceylon students of the Lady Erwin College cheered us to victory. Professor Jaganath of All-India fame was full of praise for our display and predicted a great future for the island’s hockey.
The Times of India reported: “The visiting Ceylon HF gave another fine display when they defeated a star-studded Independents team by a solitary goal, before a large and select crowd which included Shah Nawas Khan, Deputy Minister of Railways. The tourists gave an exhilarating performance of what they have learnt from their tour.”
The team comprised White, Abeysekera, Nanayakkara, De Rosayro, Mylvaganam, Hettiaratchi, De Kretser, Jayatissa, D Wijekoon, H Wijekoon and Rayen.
The last lap of our tour and the most strenuous started with our tenth match against the star-studded Punjab Police team, popularly known as the ‘Punjab Hawks’ (who carried away most of the coveted hockey trophies in India) at Rohtak, 50 miles away from Delhi on February 6.
The Police team consisted of four Olympians, three All India players and State players. We lost 5-0.
The team comprised White, Adahan, Nanayakkara, De Rosayro, Mylvaganam, Hettiaratchi, De Kretser, Jayatissa, D Wijekoon, H Wijekoon and Rayen.
Our eleventh match was against the same Police team on February 11 at Bhandia, 200 miles away from Delhi. We lost 4-0. The match was witnessed by a crowd of over 10,000.
The team comprised White, Abeysekera, Nanayakkara, De Rosayro, Mylvaganam, Hettiaratchi, De Kretser, Jayatissa, D Wijekoon, Chandrasena and Rayen.
From Bhandia we travelled over 100 miles for our twelfth match at Ludihana against the Punjab State team on February 12 at the Municipal Gymkhana Ground. We lost 2-0.
The team comprised White, Abeysekera, Adahan, De Rosayro, Mylvaganam, Hettiaratchi, De Kretser, Jayatissa, D. Wijekoon, H Wijekoon and Rajaratnam.
Our thirteenth match was against the Punjab University at Hosiarpur on February 14, some 200 miles away from Delhi. We lost 1-0, the goal being scored a few minutes before full time. The Governor of the Punjab State was the chief guest.
The team comprised Tharmarajah, Adahan, Abeysekera, Bosco, Mylvaganam, Hettiaratchi, Rayen, De Kretser, Jayatissa, D Wijekoon, H Wijekoon.
Immediately after the match we left for Karnal, 125 miles away from Hosiapur for our last and 14th match of the tour, our second against the Punjab State team.
We arrived at Karnal at 1.00 am and went to bed at 2.00 am after dinner and played the match at 3.30 pm on February 15.
The Punjab team comprised the same players who had played against us earlier. For the first 20 minutes of the game, we were all over them with our short, crisp passes and did everything but score.
We should have scored at least two goals during this period. Thereafter we were steadily pushed back into our half which resulted in conceding two goals in the second half.
We lost the services of White a few minutes before half time. He was injured and replaced by Tharmarajah. De Rosayro and Rayen were also injured in the second half and were mere passengers during the rest of the game. Though we were handicapped to a great extent by these injuries, the Punjab team was able to score only one more goal, and that was through a penalty against Tharmarajah. The final score was 0-3. If we had scored in the first 20 minutes, the result would have been quite different.
The team comprised White/Tharmarajah, Adahan, Abeysekera, Adahan, De Rosayro, Mylvaganam, Hettiaratchi, De Kretser, Jayatissa, D Wijekoon, H Wijekoon.
Considering the fact that we were playing on ground conditions which were absolutely foreign to us, the temperatures averaging between 45 to 60 degrees, strenuous travelling by bus and playing in the home of Indian hockey and practically against All-India teams, we did not do too badly on our last lap of our tour. We were also feeling the strain of a six-week tour and some of us were feeling ‘home sick’, not having been out of home for so long a period before.
It must also be noted that a month before our arrival in the Punjab, the same Punjab State team which beat us 2-0 and 3-0, beat the Indian Hockey Federation team 2-0 and 1-0 at the same venue.
According to (manager) Walter Jayasuriya’s opinion and that of the Indian Press and Indian hockey experts, including Dhyan Chand, Balbir Singh and President of the Indian Hockey Federation Ashwani Kumar our team performed very well in India. In fact they performed more than was expected from them to do.
Not many will know that Sir Richard Aluwihare was the President of the Ceylon Hockey Association from 1949 to 1951. During the tour his concern for the team was a great inspiration to us. Not only did he witness many matches as time permitted, but also gave his personal attention to many of our problems. He sent out personal letters to heads of Government departments and Mercantile establishments for extension of duty leave and without his intervention leave would never have been extended.
He and Lady Aluwihare travelled great distances to witness the team play. The diplomatic mission took a great detail of interest in our activities and we were indeed grateful for their assistance.
We were also particularly grateful to Gian Singh for all the help and assistance rendered to our team during the tour. His invaluable advice and coaching during the tour proved so beneficial to our players, that many showed marked improvement in every match they played.