Siri Kannangara

Last updated

Siri Kannangara
Died7 June 2024
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia [1]
NationalityAustralian
Occupation(s)Sports medical doctor, trainer, sports medicine specialist and rheumatologist
Known forSpecialised in sports medicine
Children3

Siri Kannangara (died 7 June 2024) was a Sri Lankan-born Australian sports medical doctor, trainer, sports medicine specialist and rheumatologist. [2] He was known for assisting the Sri Lankan diaspora community living in Australia for over four decades with his medical expertise. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

Kannangara hailed from a village in Bandaragama. [4] He initially pursued his studies at Bandaragama Rambukkara Vidyartha Vidyalaya. [5]

He pursued his primary and secondary education at Royal College in Colombo. He excelled in numerous sports, including table tennis, basketball, and field hockey, when he was studying at Royal College. He entered medical college in 1964 and continued to be engaged in multiple sporting activities, including table tennis, basketball, and field hockey, at the University of Ceylon. [1] He also went onto take the leadership role during his academic career by captaining the Combined Universities team for both field hockey and table tennis during a mercantile invitational tournament which was held in India. He successfully completed his MBBS at the University of Colombo in 1970. [1] Immediately after he became qualified as a doctor in 1971, he received a lucrative employment opportunity in New Zealand at a teaching hospital at Christchurch. [4]

He met an All Blacks rugby union player who also served as a physician at Guy's Hospital in London. The player then invited Kannangara for a job offer to take up the role of senior registrar. [4] He also received a scholarship to New Zealand where he completed further medical training in sports medicine. [4]

Career

In October 1977, he was appointed the doctor to Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket involving powerhouses Australia and the West Indies. [4] [6] During the 1977 World Series Cricket, he notably offered medical treatment and consultancy to leading cricketers at the time, including Viv Richards, Barry Richards and Clive Lloyd. [7] [8] He also became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) as well as a Fellow of the Australian College of Sports Physicians (FACSP). He was also appointed the Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney. [1] During his career, he also trained several aspiring medical students as well as young doctors, offering consultancy and mentorship whenever necessary. He had also notably provided consultancy services and guidance related to medical issues for Sri Lankan sportspeople prior to their participation at certain international sporting events in Australia. [1] He provided medical support at various soccer, cricket, netball, and field hockey events. [9] He was also appointed the designated physician to Australian Olympic contingents during the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics. [9] [10] He was also invited by the International Olympic Committee to join the torch relay during the opening ceremony of the 2000 Summer Olympics, which was staged in Sydney. [1]

He was appointed the first Australian Medical Officer by FIFA for its Medical Committee, and his role was aimed at providing insight and analysis on medical matters and issues pertaining to visiting Asian and Oceanian countries by teaching them various aspects of sports medicine. [9] He served in as a FIFA Medical Committee Member for a seven-year period from 1999 to 2006. He was officially inducted to the Football Australia Hall of Fame in 2002 in recognition for his outstanding services towards medical field. [11] He was conferred with a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia during the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours highlighting his significant contributions to medicine, particularly in the field of sports medicine and rheumatology. [7]

He was engaged with Sri Lankan cricketers, especially whenever the Sri Lankan men's national cricket team traveled to Australia to play against Australia in an international bilateral series and he also often shared the dressing room with the Sri Lankan cricket team members whenever Sri Lanka toured Australia for international series. [12] He also gave medical consultation and medical guidance to some of the Sri Lankan cricketers, including former World Cup-winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga and fast bowlers Chaminda Vaas and Lasith Malinga. [13] [14] [15] He also treated Sri Lankans who were not athletes. [10] It was also revealed that some Sri Lankan cricketers, including Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan, Ravindra Pushpakumara, Nuwan Zoysa, Arjuna Ranatunga, and Chaminda Vaas, insisted on bringing Siri Kannangara on board as part of the Sri Lankan medical support staff prior to the start of the 1999 Cricket World Cup in England, but Kannangara turned down the offer due to potential scheduling difficulties involving his duties at a teaching hospital in Sydney. [4] He provided medical guidance to former Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in order to help him overcome the challenges with regards to handling career threatening medical injuries which Tendulkar sustained during his 24-year long international career. [7] During his tenure as the director of the New South Wales Institute of Sports Medicine, he was at the forefront of analyzing Muttiah Muralitharan's bowling action as part of the University of South Australia case study to determine whether Muralitharan's bowling action was genuinely legitimate or if he was chucking the ball in his bowling runup when delivering the ball in his follow-through at the international level. [16] [11] [17]

Later life

Kannangara was married and had three children. [4]

After migrating to Australia in 1977, [6] he lived there for the rest of his life and died in Sydney on 7 June 2024. [1] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muttiah Muralitharan</span> Sri Lankan cricketer (born (1972)

Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, businessman and former professional cricketer. Averaging over six wickets per Test match, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport. He is the only bowler to take 800 Test wickets and more than 530 One Day International (ODI) wickets. As of 2024, he has taken more wickets in international cricket than any other bowler. Muralitharan was a part of the Sri Lankan team that won the 1996 Cricket World Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sri Lanka national cricket team</span> Cricket team

The Sri Lanka men's national cricket team, nicknamed The Lions, represents Sri Lanka in men's international cricket. It is a full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test, One-Day International (ODI) and T20 International (T20I) status. The team first played international cricket in 1926–27 and became an associate member of the ICC in 1965. They were awarded the Test status in 1981, which made Sri Lanka the eighth Test cricket-playing nation. The team is administered by Sri Lanka Cricket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lasith Malinga</span> Sri Lankan bowler

Separamadu Lasith Malinga is a Sri Lankan former cricketer who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Sri Lankan limited overs bowlers of all time. Playing as a right-arm fast bowler, Malinga was commonly used as a specialist death bowler, and captained the Sri Lanka national cricket team to the 2014 T20 World Cup title. He was nicknamed "Slinga Malinga" due to his distinctive round-arm action, sometimes referred to as a sling action. Malinga announced his retirement from all forms of cricket on 14 September 2021 and migrated to Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mahela Jayawardene</span> Sri Lankan cricketer

Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene is a Sri Lankan former professional cricketer and captain of the Sri Lankan national cricket team. He is the current consultant coach of the Sri Lankan national team and the head coach of the Indian Premier League franchise Mumbai Indians. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen from Sri Lankan cricket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arjuna Ranatunga</span> Sri Lankan cricketer and politician

Deshamanya Arjuna Ranatunga, is a Sri Lankan politician and former cricketer, who was the 1996 Cricket World Cup winning captain for Sri Lanka, and scored the winning boundary in the final. He is regarded as the pioneer who lifted the Sri Lankan cricket team from underdog status to a leading force in the cricketing world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium</span> Cricket stadium in Sri Lanka

Rangiri Dambulla International Cricket Stadium is a 16,800-seat cricket stadium in Sri Lanka. It is situated in the Central Province, close to Dambulla on a 60-acre site leased from the Rangiri Dambulla Temple. it is the first and only International cricket ground in the dry zone of Sri Lanka. The stadium is built overlooking the Dambulla Tank (reservoir) and the Dambulla Rock.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ananda College</span> National school in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Ananda College is a prestigious Buddhist school in Maradana, Colombo. It was established as the English Buddhist School by Colonel Henry Steel Olcott in 1886. In the present day, it provides primary and secondary education on a campus of 15 acres (61,000 m2).

Herath Mudiyanselage Charitha Malinga Bandara, commonly known as Malinga Bandara, is a former Sri Lankan international cricketer. He played as a right-handed batsman who bowled leg breaks. He studied at the Kalutara Vidyalaya. He was the coach of the Sri Lankan team which finished as runners-up at the 2007 Cricket World Cup.

Charith Panduka Senanayake is a former Sri Lankan cricketer and businessman. He played in three Test matches and seven One Day Internationals from 1990 to 1991. He also served as manager of Sri Lanka national cricket team for a considerable period of time. He also played professional cricket in Kenya representing Mombasa Sports Club. He has also worked as an expertise in marketing in several positions including marketing manager of Macwoods Ltd in Sri Lanka, marketing consultant of Tea Tang Ltd in Sri Lanka, general manager of LAB International Ltd in Kenya and CEO of Afri Bridge Trade Exporters in Kenya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angelo Mathews</span> Sri Lankan cricketer

Angelo Davis Mathews is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the national cricket team in all formats. Mathews currently plays all formats for Sri Lanka., Mathews was a key member of the team that won the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 and was part of the team that made the finals of 2011 Cricket World Cup, 2009 ICC World Twenty20 and 2012 ICC World Twenty20. Mathews and Lasith Malinga hold the record for the highest ninth wicket partnership in ODI cricket.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinesh Chandimal</span> Sri Lankan cricketer

Lokuge Dinesh Chandimal is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer and a former captain of the Sri Lanka national cricket team. A handy right-handed middle order batter who sometimes plays as the wicket-keeper, Chandimal lead Sri Lanka in the group stages of the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in which Sri Lanka ended up as the champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pallekele International Cricket Stadium</span> Cricket stadium in Sri Lanka

Pallekele International Cricket Stadium is a cricket stadium in Kandy, Sri Lanka. The stadium opened on 27 November 2009 and became the world's 104th Test venue in December 2010.

Eliyantha Lindsay White was a Sri Lankan shaman who used traditional herbs.

Pramod Bhanuka Bandara Rajapaksa,, popularly known as Bhanuka Rajapaksa, is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer, who plays limited over internationals for the national team. He is a left-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium. He was born in Colombo. Despite a prolific domestic career, Rajapaksa only made his international debut when he was called up for the T20I series against Pakistan in 2019, ten years after his first-class debut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arjuna de Silva</span> Academic and Consultant Physician

Vidya Jyothi Senior Professor Arjuna Priyadarsin de Silva MBBS, MSc, MD, FRCP (Lon) is a Sri Lankan Academic and Consultant Gastroenterologist. He is the Head of the Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine University of Kelaniya and Chairman of the Sri Lanka Anti-Doping Agency (SLADA).

Events in the year 2018 in Sri Lanka.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matheesha Pathirana</span> Sri Lankan cricketer

Matheesha Pathirana is a professional Sri Lankan cricketer who currently plays limited overs cricket for the national team. He has been referred to as Baby Malinga, as he has modelled his bowling action after Lasith Malinga in sling action.

The following lists notable events that took place during the year 2023 in Sri Lanka.

Kushil Gunasekera is a Sri Lankan businessman, philanthropist, result driven visionary and a former first-class cricketer. Kushil is well known for his social welfare efforts and he is a founder and chief trustee of the Foundation of Goodness - a holistic rural community development model to bridge the urban-rural divide in Sri Lanka. His work transformed the livelihoods of several thousands Sri Lankans, especially those who were adversely affected by the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Kushil is dedicating his life to serve humanity and create a more compassionate society with understanding and loving kindness. Kushil Gunasekera also became the first-ever personal manager for a Sri Lankan sportsman legendary cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan for over twenty years.

The following lists notable events that will occur and take place during 2024 in Sri Lanka.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Prof. Siri Kannangara – a colossus, a legend". Print Edition – The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Dr Siri Kannangara in Dee Why, NSW, Eastwood, NSW". australia-health.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Dr Siri–A remarkable human being". www.dailynews.lk. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Physiotherapy essential for Sports Medicine (3 January, 1999)". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  5. ↑ "Dr. Siri Kannangara: A friend who taught us all the strokes that matter in life". www.dailymirror.lk. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  6. 1 2 Knox, Malcolm (2 January 2013). "At long last, rivalry hits home turf". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 "Sri Lanka's famous sports doctor Siri Kannangara passes away in Australia | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  8. ↑ "Dr. Siri Kannangara passes away". Latest in the News Sphere | The Morning. 9 June 2024. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  9. 1 2 3 "Vale Dr. Siri Kannangara | Football Australia". www.footballaustralia.com.au. 9 June 2024. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  10. 1 2 "Dr. Siri Kannangara: His healing and teaching remain within us | Daily FT". www.ft.lk. Retrieved 11 June 2024.
  11. 1 2 Cooray, Krishantha Prasad (8 June 2024). "Dr. Siri: Village boy to global healer, a legacy of kindness and excellence". Sunday Observer. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  12. ↑ "Sri Lanka: Deadline for injured players to prove fitness". i.imgci.com. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  13. ↑ "Mathews is doing something bio-mechanically wrong says Prof Kannangara". www.dailymirror.lk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  14. ↑ Dani, Bipin (28 April 2016). "Revealed: Why Malinga injury was prolonged?". www.deccanchronicle.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  15. ↑ "Malinga acted against medical advice- Dr. Siri Kannangara – Breaking News | Daily Mirror". www.dailymirror.lk. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  16. ↑ "Medical experts' views on Murali's action (27 January 1999)". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
  17. ↑ "Behind enemy lines". ESPNcricinfo. Archived from the original on 9 June 2024. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.