Three teenagers in Davis Cup team of 2021
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From left: Renouk Wijemanne (Coach/Non Playing Captain), Chathurya Nilaweera, Yasitha de Silva, Thehan Wijemanne, Vibuda Wijebandara and Iqbal bin Issack (President, SLTA)
Sri Lanka’s five-member tennis team, currently in Amman, Jordan, competing in the Asia/Oceania Group III Davis Cup by Rakuten 2021, has three youngsters, who have made strides in the local arena. Alongside the most senior Yasitha de Silva, a 26-year-old former student of Ananda College and a graduated from the University of Colombo with a BSc in Business Management, are three aspiring stars — Thehan Wijemanne, Chathurya Nilaweera and Vibuda Wijebandara.
All three of them have made a mark for themselves with brilliant records in tennis, yet Thehan, at 17, makes his second Davis Cup appearance for Sri Lanka. Chathurya, still 16, and Vibuda, 19, are making their Davis Cup debuts. All three have represented Sri Lanka at the Junior Davis Cup.
Beginning with Thehan, he followed the footsteps of his father Sanjay, who represented the country from 1989 to 1995, and made his Davis Cup debut at 16, against Paraguay last season. A great achievement for a youngster of his age unlike his father, who was 18 at his debut, Thehan, is an Advance Level student in addition to being the captain of the Royal College tennis team.
As a youngster, he has won many titles locally and comes with immense experience for his age with previous international exposure as a junior ATF and David Cup player. In addition Thehan entered the tennis record books for being the youngest pair, alongside his current Davis Cup team mate Chathurya, to win the Men’s National Doubles title. He was 16 and Chathurya, 15, when they beat much fancied Yasitha and Sharmal Dissanayake in the final.
Now 16, Chathurya, a student of Stafford International School, made waves in local tennis when he achieved a great feat of becoming the youngest player to reach the final stages of the Men’s top categories at a Tennis National Championship. He was the first from his school to reach the semi-final stage of a Tennis Nationals though losing eventually to Yasitha in the final.
Vibuda, 19, of Ananda College, has represented his school in tennis from the junior age categories, and has ranked top at almost all of them with high distinction. He represented the country at the Junior Davis Cup in 2016 and the Commonwealth Youth Games in Bahamas in 2017.
The team will be headed by Renuok Wijemanne, a former Davis Cup player, as the coach and non playing captain.
The Asia/Oceania Group III Davis Cup by Rakuten 2021 will be held from September 15 to 20.
Besides Sri Lanka, hosts Jordan, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Malaysia, Qatar, Syria and Vietnam will be featured in the six-day competition. The Sri Lanka team left for Jordan on Wednesday.
Chathurya Nilaweera
Thehan Wijemanne
Vibuda Vijayabandara