Water polo is a sport that has been part of Ananda College’s sporting culture for a long time. The premier boys’ school located in Maradana, has been a silent contributor to the water sport since the sport was introduced to the country in the early 1960’s, with many of the names that have represented teams like Navy and Army being products of this institution.
Ananda College has been a dominant force in the school water polo arena, making it into the top ranks during the past few years and also participating in the senior national draw. Ananda College, who participate in the open competition as the Ananda College Aquatic Club, have been good on paper of late, but with heavyweights such as OTSC and Navy in the same draw as them, their efforts to reach the top have been hindered many times. The annual water polo encounter between Ananda and Nalanda was named in recognition of Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda last year.
Ananda College secured the first ever Admiral Wasantha Karannagoda trophy last year defeating their archrivals in the under 19 game but lost the under 15 game by three goals. With an experienced side preparing themselves ahead of the encounter this year, Ananda College are set to be favorites to regain the title.
They will be captained by senior man Oshadha Madushanka, who has been a regular in the Ananda team for the last three years at the under 19 level and has played the sport for over six years. Playing at center, Oshadha will be the tactical focal point for the rest of the team as they will be looking to him for advice on countering their opponents.
While Oshadha and his men will do the hard work in the middle, the scoring will be entrusted to the two wingers of the team: Asela Karannagoda and Keashan Wijayasinghe. They will be key players in the upcoming water polo season and their fitness and strength will have a big impact on the points that Ananda collect.
Deputy skipper of the side, Dimuthu Perera will be the team’s goalkeeper for the upcoming season and he is the lad who will need to keep his focus fixed at all times. Sanjana Dewanjith and Dasitha Wickramasinghe will be the left and right bars for the team while senior man Dinelle Caldera will be the team prop.
“We have been training together as a unit from the start of the year. We took a break due to exams and now we are once again training. We have many senior players in the side and we are ready to take on the challenge and keep the trophy at Ananda” added skipper Oshadha.
Coach Pathum Edirisinghe, a former Anandian who took over coaching duties in the middle of the year, believes that his team has the edge over many of the school teams in the country. Pathum who is also the Sri Lanka Army water polo coach will provide expertise and guidance to his players having captained the side in the year 2012.
