Brave hearted wheelchair warriors’ dreams of Paralympic glory in Tokyo
Jagath Welikala (2nd left), the Head Coach of Sri Lanka Wheelchair Tennis team, sees his players being motivated by SLTA President Iqbal Bin Isaac (L) after a training session - Pic by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Having shown steady improvement within a short space, Sri Lankan wheelchair tennis players target a birth at the Paralympic Games in Tokyo in 2020.
For this, they have three qualifying tournaments in Malaysia.
“We are confident that we will qualify for the Olympics,” said Jagath Welikala, the head coach. We want to make our nation proud, by, hopefully, winning a medal.
Wheelchair Tennis has been an evolving sport in Sri Lanka since it was introduced in 2002.
Recently the players represented our country in the BNPParibas World Team cup in Israel and they were awarded the 14th place out of 90 countries. This can be thought as a significant achievement in the history of Wheelchair tennis in Sri Lanka.
Jagath Welikala, the head coach of the team said that it was a major achievement in such a short space of time and furthermore he said that the players have been working hard over the years to make their country proud.
“It’s been a major achievement that out of 90 countries we were able become the 14th I am very proud of my players. They have been working hard to improve their skills and the mind-set; I think we are now reaping the rewards for the commitment that the players had shown over the years. Welikala said during an interview with the Sunday Times.
Sri Lanka’s inaugural representation in the world team cup was in 2004, since then they have been climbing up the ladder and they have shown tremendous improvement and at the same time they have taken wheelchair Tennis in to a different level in the recent past.
Last year was a memorable year in the history of wheelchair tennis. The players won the Bronze medal in the Para Asian games in Jakarta; they also won the Labuan Open in Malaysia, runners up in Taiwan open and they went on to beat the world Champions Japan.
“Last year was a memorable one for us. We won the Bronze medal in the Para Asian games in Jakarta;I think that was a steppingstone for the future of wheel chair tennis in our country, Welikala emphasised with a sense of satisfaction.
He also said that the reason for their success is that they are always playing according to their instincts.
“We are always looking to improve our game, we are not focusing on our opponents we are hoping to be the best wheelchair tennis team in Asia” He said.
Up to now 16 players have represented Sri Lanka, and at present they are looking to nurture a group of players for the future and Welikala that he is confident that those players will take the responsibility to take the sport forward.
We have started a training programme for the youngsters and they train with us and I would like to thank our president Iqbal bin Issack for his unstinted support” he emphasised.
However he highlighted the fact that there needs to be more centres for wheelchair tennis Island wide to encourage more differently able youngsters to play the sport and show their capabilities to the world.
“Wheelchair tennis is not a popular sport in Sri Lanka. We have to look at the differently-abled community in Sri Lanka. We must look in to this prolonged problem otherwise we will lose our well earned glory. Now we are looking to promote the sport Island wide.
Their aim is to qualify directly for the Paralympic games 2020 in Tokyo, leading up to that they have three tournaments in Malaysia.
“We are confident that we will qualify for the Olympics and I would like to once again thank our President and our Main sponsor (CICT) Colombo port city terminal for their sponsorship and we are aiming to make our nation proud and hopefully we can win a medal for Sri Lanka a hopeful Welikala concluded.