The Sri Lanka men’s and women’s teams with expectations of gaining exposure and better their status in the region will take wing to Kuwait tomorrow to participate in the 16th Asian Team Squash Championship. The tournament will be held in Kuwait from May 1 to 5 with the participation of 12 men’s teams and eight women’s teams.
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| The men’s team (from left): Gihan Suwaris, Saman Thilakaratne, Navin Samarasinghe and Dilshan Gunawardane |
Over the past month the eight-member Sri Lanka team has been vigorously training for the championship which has not been ‘pot luck’ for the country’s squash players. Though the Sri Lankans considered being dominant in the South Asian region, the best their men’s team could achieve is the rank of tenth in this tournament. As the Sri Lankans enter the 16th edition of the Asian Team competition this time they are optimistic of achieving extra honour.
The eight-member Sri Lanka team consists of four men and four women. The men’s team will be captained by Navin Samarasinghe while national champion Sharya Guruge has been entrusted with the leadership role of the women’s team which also includes four players. Both teams are coached by Brigadier Tissa Jayasuriya while Captain Lasantha de Silva has been appointed as the manager on tour.
In addition to skipper Samarasinghe, the men’s team includes prominent players in the ranks of Saman Thillakratne, Gihan Suwaris and Dilshan Gunawardene. Women’s skipper Guruge will have the services of experienced Damindi Udangawa and rookies Mihilya Methsarani and Naduni Gunawardene. This national assignment will be memorable one for Dilshan Gunawardene, Mihiliya Methsarani and Naduni Gunawardene who apparently will make their international debuts. Captain de Silva who also presently serves as the vice president of the Sri Lanka Squash Federation (SLSF) was hopeful that players will gain the much needed experience from this championship ahead of the South Asian Championship which will be held in Delhi, India in 2013.
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| (From left) Damindi Udangawa, Sharya Guruge, Mihiliya Methsarani and Naduni Gunawardana represent the women’s team. |
“Our players have been preparing with great expectations for the past month or so. Taking part in this tournament is highly important for them as well for the players as well. As for us as a country, it serves as a duel purpose outing. We very well know that it is going to be a tough tournament for our men and women’s teams at Asian level, where the sport is played on a big scale. Our primary objective is to better our rankings in the region and gain much exposure from this tournament so that we could approach the South Asian Championships more confidently where our medal hopes are much higher. If we could win a medal in Kuwait, that will be a huge step forward for squash in Sri Lanka. But when regional standards are concerned it is a colossal task to compete against some of the best in the world who actually come from Asia,” de Silva explained.
In Sri Lanka squash is virtually played as a sport by just a handful which is just over 300 from a total count of nearly 2000. Majority engage in the sport on recreational and fitness aspects. The three digit figure is the actual amount that enters a tournament or a competition from the junior to the master’s level. The SLSF in addition has done many promotional activities to popularize squash right throughout the country but the process is taking place at a dawdling pace.
The popularity of squash among schools has rapidly grown during the recent years but lack of playing facilities has been a regular drawback. This has severely hampered the efforts of SLSF and squash in attracting sponsors for many of the local events as well as for international events as the forthcoming one in Kuwait.
“Our contingent includes professionals who are employed in the private sector, budding youngsters who in the intermediate level and school players such as 14-year-old Methsarani. Apart from the entry fees and accommodation which are provided by the SLSF, all players must find funds for Air Tickets and meals. The officials too have to raise their own funds. Unfortunately this practice has been in existence from the distant past.
Despite all these difficulties the players have done themselves the justice with hard training in order to improve their standards in the Asian region. Their camaraderie has been quite impressive in addition to their mental and physical fitness. They are geared for the competition and in my personal view if they reach the rank of eight it will be a significant improvement,” he added.
Twelve countries including Sri Lanka will field 20 teams in men and women’s categories in the five-day championship which will be conducted as team events in Kuwait. Eight players and two officials will leave Sri Lanka during the early hours of Monday to represent the country.
(Pix by Indika Handuwala) |
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