A champion on and off the court

Niloufer Philips-Arasakumar

• Niloufer Philips-Arasakumar -December 13, 1959-October  22, 2023

The passing away of Niloufer at the age of 64 came as sad news to me as she had a long battle with cancer.  
Niloufer was well known for her battles on the squash court where she battled many times at the Squash National finals against her arch rival the late Padmini Samarasinghe.   

So it is not surprising at all that she battled with this dreaded disease for a long time.  
A product of Ladies College Colombo, she was the National Squash Champion from 1984-1987 four years consecutively and again in 1989 and 1990.   
She represented Sri Lanka as Captain in the Asian Squash Championship for several years. During her reign as champion, she was selected to play in the Mazda World Women’s Squash Championships held in Sydney, Australia.   
Niloufer was a pioneer in Women’s Cricket in Sri Lanka as well. As an all-rounder, she Captained the Sri Lanka team performing well in both batting and bowling.   
Niloufer started her professional career at the Netherlands Embassy in Sri Lanka and thereafter decided to take up an appointment with the United Nations Foundation as a Human Resources and Administrative Assistant in New York, where she worked for 22 years until she retired in 2020.   
I had the immense pleasure of meeting her in New Jersey about five years ago at my daughter’s home when she drove all the way from Connecticut just to meet me again and reminisce about the good times we had with the Squash fraternity in Sri Lanka.   
Dear Niloufer - Well done, good and faithful servant, may your soul rest in peace and rise in glory.   
Christopher Dias (Kitto)