Kusal Goonewardena going places Down Under
Last season it was German star Laura Siegermund and at the AO 2022, Kusal Goonawardena will take charge of Russian tennis player Vera Zvonareva
Earlier last year, the name Kusal Goonewardena popped up in the news for reasons that are beyond remarkable. Goonawardena, 46, a Sri Lankan living in Melbourne, Australia, was in the limelight for his connection in the Australian Open (AO) tennis championship. The APA-titled physiotherapy expert, led the Medical team of Germany’s tennis star Laura Siegemund, then ranked 51st in the world.
This was significant, not only to Goonawardena, but to all Sri Lankans for being probably the first from the island nation to play a role in the season opening grand slam tennis championship in the world. For the upcoming season, Siegemund will perhaps miss the first phase of the grand slams, as an injury has kept her away from competitions for some time.
But still, Goonawardena will be a busy man, despite Siegemund’s absence. At the upcoming AO 2022, which will be active from January 17 to 30, he will be taking care of Russian tennis star Vera Zvonareva, currently ranked 87 in WTA. Goonawardena’s new connection however, is clear as Zvonareva was Siegemund’s partner in the Women’s Doubles last season.
“Laura (Siegemund), who I worked with last year, contacted me and asked if it’s fine for her to pass my details to Vera (Zvonareva). Laura, unfortunately is injured, and is undergoing knee rehab in Europe right now. She won’t be attending the Australian Open in 2022. Vera is also Laura’s doubles partner, so I had the opportunity to meet her when they were here last,” Goonawardena told the Sunday Times.
Goonewardena, a former student of Nalanda College, cemented his career as a physiotherapy expert after educating at University of Melbourne and earning his Masters in Sports Physiotherapy at La Trobe University, also in Melbourne. He heads and manages the Elite Akademy Sports Medicine, where a well qualified team of physiotherapists, massage therapists, collaborative medical team and researchers while contributing by lectures, consultations and mentorships programmes in many countries.
Currently his team of over 20 looks after over 200 of Australia’s best athletes that compete in the National Championships, World Championships, Winter and Summer Olympics. Unknown to many here in Sri Lanka, Goonewardena has worked with Katya Crema – a dual winter Olympian, Jo Weston – a netballer, Phoebe Stanley – an Australian rowing champion, badminton stars Jeff Tho and Luke Chong and top cyclists Freddy Ovett and Lachy Norris. Siegemund joined his list last year and now Zvonareva is the latest feather in his cap of world class athletes.
“I will be helping Vera (Zvonareva) using my K-Theorem Sports Medicine Model, which has four main pillars– the performance pyramid, work and behaviour patterns and styles, nutrition and lastly, but more importantly, the mind. We have already started working together, through technology,” Goonawardena added.
Explaining further on the four pillars of Goonawardena’s K-Theorem, the first, performance pyramid, is marked by making sure the athlete’s biomechanics, movement patterns, core and strength and conditioning are up to speed. Goonawardena has all the know-how to assess and report to make sure Zvonareva advances further than her best in Women’s Singles at AO, the semi-finals.
“The second pillar is marked by her tennis load, sleep metrics and looking at her sedentary movement patterns. Elite athletes are exceptional at training but sometimes it’s the sitting on couches, spending time on mobile phones, and on transport like planes that can undo a lot of their good work. The third pillar is nutrition. I am very big on maintaining hydration and gut health. When gut health is addressed, it improves focus, concentration, mood and problem solving. These characteristics are vital for elite athletes. The final pillar is the mind, helping our athletes ‘stay in the moment’ is key. The longer they are in the moment their performances are improved, their recovery is sped up, mental well-being is maintained and they achieve ‘flow state’, which all elite and amateur athletes try to emulate. By applying K-Theorem, I provide a comprehensive approach to Vera’s Australian Open campaign,” detailing further after rounds of researches, Goonawardena explained.
Prior to last season’s AO, Goonewardena has covered various sports in Taiwan, Malaysia, Japan, England, Singapore, and right around Australia – Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. His list of athletes range from Olympians, Winter Olympians to cricket, tennis, track and field, badminton, baseball, football, rugby, rowing, netball, swimming and so on.
Goonewardena also had few opportunities to serve his country of origin through a handful who knew about his capacity. A candidate shortlisted for the position of Head Physio of the Sri Lanka cricket team in 2011, Goonawardena has worked as a consultant and provided training programmes for physios in Sri Lanka, where hundreds of local physiotherapists have immensely benefited.
Besides his commitments with Zvonareva at the AO 2022, Goonawardena has set his sights on some projects that could improvise new and sophisticated methods in sports physiotherapy.
“We are combining an innovative technology that I helped develop with Professor Ying Tan at the University of Melbourne. This technology will help identify movement patterns and muscle fatigue in the first two pillars of K-Theorem. Secondly, I am putting together our next phase of teaching sports medicine in the sub continent. First stop will be Sri Lanka, where we plan to provide sports physiotherapy certification for those who are interested in specialising in sports and sports technology. This will be with my colleagues Dr. Henry Wajswelner, Steve Sandor, Michel Abeysekera, Nathaniel Johnson from Vald Technologies, and sports scientists from the Australian Sports Technology Network. Thirdly, and this is probably the most exciting development, we appreciate how hard COVID has affected many communities globally. In light of this we are partnering up with charities to help in three areas — educating children in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), educating women in leadership and conservation. What the tough times have shown is that the more educated an individual is the more options they have, STEM education will provide this,” detailed Goonawardena, while revealing that his team’s first charity partners will be Sri Lanka.
As for now Goonawardena’s prime focus will be on Vera Zvonareva and her wellbeing. Her progress in the Women’s Singles at AO 2022 will definitely make the Sri Lankan born elite physiotherapist a contended man, as he is resolute to see his methods benefit the Russian star.
Goonawardena’s reputation has earned him a few more intakes at the upcoming AO 2022. He is expected to assist a few players from Switzerland and Italy, but still has not received the confirmation from the other ends. The global travel restrictions around Covid-19, most itineraries and plans have been left with uncertainties, with few weeks ahead of the 2022 edition of AO. But he has a long term plan for his first commitment in global tennis, Laura Siegemund, more on the global circuit.
“I was supposed to travel with Laura to the French Open and US Open this year, but unfortunately there were some serious travel restrictions placed on overseas travel from Australia. I am still continuing to work with Laura remotely. With our latest technology and innovative assessment tools I can continue providing solutions and fine-tune her rehabilitation, although we are 14,000 kilometres apart,” said Goonawardena in conclusion.