Simple Sharmal elated by his feat
View(s):Sri Lanka’s Junior National Tennis Champion Sharmal Dissanayake, who defended his title with a clinical 6-1, 6-2 victory over Nishangan Nadaraja, said that he felt enormously privileged to be named captain of the sporting delegation currently competing in Nanjing China at the Asian Youth Games.
Shamal Fernando won a double, clinching the Under-18 Singles and Doubles titles, at the 98th National Tennis Championship. - Pic by Hasitha Kulasekara
“It was a surprise for me, I never thought I would get it. It’s a big honour to play for the country. I hope to do well there and keep the country’s flag flying high,” said the 17-year-old, who also clinched the Junior National doubles title with Dhanushka Abeywardena.
The 16-sport Asian Youth Games, which act as a dry run for the Summer Youth Olympics, will run from August 16 to 24. Dissanayake is widely expected to perform well given the superior and extensive preparation he receives in Germany.
“In Europe conditions are quite tough. There it’s very competitive, you get a lot of matches and face tough players, very high standard players. So just playing with them gives you greater confidence,” he explained.
“But it’s not going to be easy; all the top Asians will be there (Asian Youth Games). I’m not thinking much ahead, I’m just taking it one match at a time.”
Dissanayake explained that his focus was now on improving his fitness and re-engaging with the junior circuit after he was sidelined for a while with a knee injury. To this end he is targeting several junior tournaments that will be staged during the latter portion of the year.
Nevertheless, he says he is confident about the tennis he is playing, and was pleased to have claimed a second successive title, with a third one on the cards next year.
His Indian coach, Ashutosh Singh, also expresses supreme confidence in his young charge’s on-court ability saying that the only tinkering necessary occurred in Dissanayake’s mental approach to the game.
“I’ve had to work on his mental toughness. He has always been a very good stroke-maker. Initially when I began working with him he would get distracted. He didn’t know the right things to focus on while playing a match or any tournament. So it took me a while to streamline that and get him on track,” Singh explained.
Speaking about Dissanayake’s preparations and chances at the Asian Youth Games, Singh said, “With Sharmal you don’t need to work a lot on his tennis, you have to focus on other aspects such as fitness. He has played all over Asia and knows the Asian standard and most of the players. And he seems to be quite confident. And right now he’s looking very comfortable on the court.”
Follow @timesonlinelk
comments powered by Disqus