Written by: Janarthan Sadacharalingam, CTYA Athletics Council Director
Tamil basketball star Shajan Navaratnarajah has achieved what few, if not any, Tamil Canadians have ever done for Canadian university basketball. As the first Tamil basketball athlete for Ryerson University Rams, he has helped Ryerson Rams achieve a final four berth in the OUA (Ontario University Association) championships, The Wilson Cup. On Friday March 5, Ryerson Rams made history again by upsetting Number 2 ranked in Canada Lakehead University Thunderwolves. Unfortunately for Shajan and the Rams, they lost to Number 1 Ranked in Canada Carleton Ravens in the finals to win Silver the next day. But as the top two finishers in Ontario, Carleton and Ryerson will move on to the CIS (Canadian Interuniversity Sports) national tournament in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Shajan also makes history as being the first Tamil basketball player to make it to the basketball CIS National Tournament.
What was great about these two games was that it was shown live on the popular Canadian sports broadcaster, The Score. There are many Tamil basketball players in North America but it’s those that choose to excel in the higher levels that excite the Tamil community. Moments like these will always shine positively on the Tamil community in Canada and around the world.
You can catch Shajan and the Ryerson Rams in the CIS National tournament live on SSN Canada. Their first game is against Alberta Golden Bears this Friday March 9th at 6:00 pm.
For more information of Shajan and the Rams check out:
www.ryersonrams.ca (Ryerson Rams Website)
www.english.cis-sic.ca/championships/mbkb/index (CIS Basketball Championship Website)
http://oua.ca/index.aspx?path=mbball (OUA Men’s Basketball)
All games can be seen live at:
www.ssncanada.ca
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Tags: Athletics Council, Athletics/Sports, Basketball, Ryerson Rams, Shajan Navaratnarajah, Tamil youth, The Wilson Cup
