Sports

Sports

The right man for the right job
Arjun's advice to tennis administrators
By Pelham Juriansz
Arjun Fernando. The name conjures up what is best in cricket and tennis, especially the latter. Arjun first started playing tennis when as an eager-eyed 9 year old he went for training under D.D.N. Selvadurai. Then he continued his career at Royal where he excelled at Tennis, and at the very young age of 16 he became National Champion. He won the Davis Cup at 15, and he was probably one of the youngest players to win on debut. Here was a man, or should I say young man at that, at the age of 16 faced with the prospect of playing tennis or cricket, because he had played cricket as well.

One may think that at 16 one is not really a young man but in tennis terms 16 is a pretty mature age. Take for instance Jennifer Capriati. She burst on to the tennis scene at the age of 13. Franklyn Emmanuel is just 16 and currently National Champion.

It was D.D.N Selvadurai who influenced the lad that if he played tennis he would see the world but if he played cricket at that time he would only see India as then we were just playing Gopalan Trophy matches and the odd unofficial Test. So cricket had to take a backseat and the wicket-keeper batsman of Royal, Arjun had played under 14, under 16, and then graduated to the first eleven having played a few games. He didn't make it to the Royal Thomian team however since Kevin Balthazaar and Anura de Alwis were the regular 'keepers that year. So in 1975 September Arjun the bright-eyed tennis lad with cricketing potential took wing to the University in Illinois, where he represented the University from 1975 to 1979.

"It was a wise decision that my parents made to send me abroad and it was a quantum leap where I was concerned as far as tennis was concerned," explained Arjun. . I played in the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The whole University programme is based on the NCAA."

He was ranked 210 in the world at the time, which is the highest ranked Sri Lankan player. His greatest win was when he defeated Paul Mcnamee, who had just a week earlier defeated John McEnroe in the French Open. “After coming back to Sri Lanka in 1984, I started playing again and we beat countries like Taiwan and Thailand.

"We are now in Group 4 and I do not like to compare eras and say that our days were better than now but then we had players like Suresh Sivagnanam and Umesh Waloopillai who were excellent. Now, or in more recent times we have Rohan de Silva and Franklyn Emmanuel.

"The thing is now we do not have the same kind of money that we have in cricket and there is no incentive to play. The students are more interested in their studies and once they leave school there is very little scope to play tennis. That is why we need more governmental support not only in terms of building indoor Courts (presently only the Austasia Stadium as far as I understand has an Indoor Court), but, in terms of prize money for the Tournaments and a permanent sponsor for Tennis like in Cricket or Hockey, for instance.

There is not enough money in the game. Now it has become an industry. Tennis has become broad-based but we must have a system whereby the senior players for instance like Franklyn Emmaunel is encouraged to continue. The Club system here is very weak. Players have to be sent abroad otherwise they will become complacent and not improve. There is nothing like competition to improve you. The competition here is very limited. Certain schools like Royal and St. Peter's have a good school structure.

We need good private coaches like Sudantha Soysa. Another very good coach is George Paldano. Until recently the SLTA has been looking at the private coaches as competition. The SLTA and these private coaches should work in unison so that the best is got out of the player. The good players should be brought to the SLTA and coached."

"After school in terms of a career there is limited opportunity. Most of the good players go to the States. There are 20 to 30 clubs in Colombo and there are quite a few good players in Negombo and Batticoloa who should be tapped. Players like Rohan de Silva should be encouraged. There should be some incentive for players to continue after 18. Tennis players mature at about 17. Success breeds success. This year we had some success with the Juniors doing well in the Asian scene."

Being the Chairman of the Selectors for the National team Arjun has experience to comment on these matters. "Even as regards the courts we need more hard courts, because most of our tennis is played on clay courts. Another thing is we should take a professional approach. For instance, before the Davis Cup the Selectors met for 6 months and finalized the selection. In an association we should have the right people doing the right job. Unfortunately in the Associations we have people without expertise doing the job.

Another thing is that we should have an Academy where a person spends about 6 to 8 hours on the Sport, like the Cricket Academy that they hope to start at the Premadasa Stadium. People should be able to make an investment. Sport is such a big industry that we need this Academy concept.

The SLTA now, in the last 3 to 4 years has got coaches going outstation to Batticoloa and Negombo and we have some students from those schools now attending St.Peter's. These outstations schools boys have a real hunger to prove themselves."

"When you see our guys practising here they are just joking and unlike in the States we are not competitive enough. The players in the USA are No:1 because more than their desire to win they hate to lose. Hopefully the youngsters who did well in the Junior Davis Cup will adopt a similar attitude."

Top