Jayantha Hettiarachchi, the coach of the championship winning Sri Lanka Air Force water polo team, said that he is surprised by the Sri Lanka Aquatic Sports Union Interim Committee’s decision to ignore his players when selecting the national team and wondered whether the relevant authorities were aware of it.

"I am surprised by this. I wonder whether there had been a move by a party with vested interests to ignore the serving air women who won the National Championship last year. What I can’t comprehend is why members of a team which won the National Championship are not eligible for selection," a disappointed Hettiarachchi said in an interview with ‘The Island’.

The SLASU Interim Committee announced a team of 13 players and three officials for the 11th Asia Pacific Water Polo Championship to be held in Hong Kong at the end of this month. The team does not include a single player of the National Championship winning Sri Lanka Air Force team and their coach Hettiarachchi too was not selected for National duty.

"A team which represents the country should be the best team. I wonder whether the team picked represents the real strength of the talent available," Hettiarachchi said.

Out of the seven players nominated by the Sri Lanka Air Force to the Interim Committee for National team selection, four players were away in Canada for the World Military Swimming Championships and they returned to Sri Lanka on August 16, 10 days before the Asia Pacific Water Polo Championship.

Hettiarachchi said that the SLASU Interim Committee selectors could have held a separate trial for the four players if they really wanted to and the SL Air Force had informed the respective authorities about their unavailability well ahead of the selections.

Hettiarachchi is also disappointed that he too has been cold shouldered by the selectors and questioned the credentials of the coaches selected for the tour. "As a championship winning coach, I am disappointed. I also have doubts about the capabilities of at least one coach selected for the tour."

According to the SLASU IC, he was not named coach of the team because his wife M. G. I. Sulari who was nominated by SL Air Force for team selection. But the team announced by the IC does not include Sulari.

A former ground defense airman, Hettiarachchi said; "We have won six National Championships since 1998, including the last one. The Air Force team is formed by serving air women who were introduced to water polo after joining the Air Force. They train while serving in the Air Force. And it is absolutely disappointing that such a dedicated lot of air women have been axed."