Sri Lanka busy with two international assignments this week
Sri Lanka Men’s team for Davis Cup (from left): Commodore Pradeep Karunatiloke (Manager), Renouk Wijemanne (Coach), Ashen Silva, Chathurya Nilaweera, Thehan Wijemanne. Apna Perera. Dhilvan Herath, Rajitha Perera (Conditioning Coach)
The Sri Lanka men’s and women’s tennis teams will be engaged with a busy week of two international competitions – the Davis Cup and the Billie Jean King Cup, The two of the most important competitions in the annual event calendar, will see both the men’s and women’s teams competing alongside other top contenders from the region.
The men’s team will be part of the Davis Cup Asia-Oceania Zone Group III Tennis Tournament that will be held from July 26 to 30 at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts in Colombo. The Davis Cup, also known as the World Cup of international men’s tennis, will be the biggest tennis event held in Sri Lanka this year.
Eight countries will take part in the tournament vying for the top three places, which will ensure them a place in the Davis Cup World Group II next year. Alongside hosts Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Iran, Malaysia, Jordan, Pacific Oceania (region), Saudi Arabia and Vietnam will complete the eight nations.
Each nation will play in two round-robin groups, and the top two sides of each group will be promoted to group two while the two teams placed second will play a promotional playoff match. The top three countries will qualify for the Davis Cup World Group II while the last two of the eight participating countries will be relegated to the Asia-Oceania Group IV next year. The loser of the two second placed playoff and the two teams placed third will remain in same group for yet another year.
Sri Lanka, who qualified from Zonal Group IV to III this year, will be represented by a team of five youngsters. Among the lot, the two leading campaigners are Thehan Wijemanne and Chathurya Nilaweera, who both have an experience of mere nine ties between them. Wijemanne made his Davis Cup debut in 2020 while Nilaweera made his debut in 2021. The other three players are Ashen Silva, Dhilvan Hearth and Apna Perera, all debutants. Sri Lanka’s non-playing captain cum coach will be Renouk Wijemanne.
Meanwhile the Sri Lanka women’s team left for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to take part in the Billie Jean King Cup Tournament, the virtual world cup of women’s international tennis. The tournament will take place at the National Tennis Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 24 to 29 as an Asia-Oceania Zone Group II competition.
Sri Lanka women’s team for Billie Jean King Cup (from left): Pahirathan Tharmakularaja (Coach), Dinethya Dharmaratne, Inuki Jayaweera, Janali Manamperi, Saajida Razick, Vishmi Serasinghe, Dineshi Kaushalya (Manageress)
One of the leading campaigners this time in the five-member team will be Janali Manamperi, and others who will make up the team are Vishmi Serasinghe, Dinethya Dharmaratne, Saajida Razick and Inuki Jayaweera. Pahirathan Tharmakularaja is the coach while Dineshi Kaushalya will accompany the team as the Manageress.
Sri Lanka will be one of the 12 nations that will compete in the tournament, which also includes Chinese Taipei, Guam, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Pacific Oceania (region), Pakistan, Singapore and Turkmenistan. The two finalists of this competition will be promoted to Zonal Group I whilst the last two countries will be relegated to Group III.