Sri Lanka and Thailand share honours on day one at SLTA
Sri Lanka was set on the right track by ace player Sharmal Dissanayake, who won his Davis Cup Singles tie against Jirat Navasirisomboon quite comfortably in straight sets - Pix by Amila Gamage
The first two games of the five rubber Asia/Oceania Group II Davis Cup tie between Sri Lanka and Thailand which was played yesterday at the SLTA clay courts in Greenpath, Colombo saw the two countries sharing honours with a win each.
Sharmal Dissanayake the hope of the host did not disappoint his supporters as he gave the host side a confident start with a comfortable two sets to nil win against his much experience opponent Jirat Navasirisomboon.
However Thailand bounced back with Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul coasting to a convincing 2-0 win against Yasitha de Silva to make it one each.
Sri Lanka will be seeking to break the hoodoo of not being able to gain a win against Thailand who has won all the previous seven clashes between the two sides since they began competing from 1989.
However Sharmal will have to put in a better effort today in reverse singles as he will be meeting an opponent who is ranked higher than him while Yasitha will also have to put in much more effort to boost Sri Lanka’s aim of breaking the winless
hoodoo.
Today’s match schedule
Reverse Singles – Sharmal Dissanayake (Sri Lanka) vs Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (Thailand) and Yasitha de Silva (Sri Lanka) vs Jirat Navasirisomboon (Thailand).
Doubles – Sankha Athukorala/Alex Fairbanks (Sri Lanka) vs Sanchan Ratiwatana/Sonchat Ratiwatana (Thailand)
Yesterday’s Results
Sharmal Dissanayake (Sri Lanka) beat Jirat Navasirisomboon (Thailand) 2-0 (6/4, 7/5); Wishaya Trongcharoenchaikul (Thailand) beat Yasitha de Silva (Sri Lanka) 2-0 (6/3, 6/3).