P.D.Ratnasiri, the newly elected president of the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (TTASL) , told ‘The Island’ that the prime requisite of the association was to find a sponsor.

Ratnasiri, who was elected president of the table tennis association at the Annual General Meeting held last Wednesday, said that the TTASL hopes get a sponsor with the help of the Sports Ministry.

Spelling out his plans for the current year he said that the hall given to the TTASL by the Sports Ministry also needs to be built soon.

Ratnasiri also had a complement for the new secretary of the TTASL, Chandana Perera, saying that he is a capable and very active person.

Ratnasiri also added that new committee has been formed in way that it represents all parties involved in the sport.

"Now players can reap the benefits from this as two rival parties have got together," said Ratnasiri.

According to Ratnasiri the TTASL hopes to form a Panel for coaches and appoint present national coach Jothipala Samaraweera as the head.

"This move doesn’t undermine the services of Samaraweera. The TTASL wants to honour his services and elevate him to a higher level in the administration of the sport. He can use his experience and guide other coaches," said Ratnasiri.

Ratnasiri further added that the TTASL hopes to retain the services of last year’s Media Co-ordinator Lalith Priyantha.

The list of office bearers of the TTASL for the year 2001 is as follows-

President- P.D.Ratnasiri

Vice president- L.B.Dissanayake, Mohanlal Wijegunawardana, Anura Lal, Aruna Samarasinghe, Jiffrey Ismail, Daya Samaraweera.

Secretary- Chandana Perera

Assistant Secretary- Riza Latif

Tresurer-Arshad Kaufa (Ravi)