For the 12th South Asian Games in India, Sri Lanka fields a strong Tennis team comprising eight players inclusive of four girls and four boys.
The team will be led by Sri Lanka’s most experienced and Davis Cup player Harshana Godamanne.
The 12th South Asian Games will be held in Guwahati and Shillong from February 5 to 16.
The Tennis singles, doubles and mixed doubles’ events are scheduled to be held from February 7 to 11 at Guwahati on plexipave (synthetic surface) hard courts.
The interesting point is Sri Lanka is fielding a tennis team in the South Asian Games after 21 long years.
“The final team has been selected from the local tournaments conducted and the best players have been included. The major challenge for these players will definitely come from India,” said coach Shalini de Silva.
The captain of the team Godamanne mentioned that “India will be of course the main threat not forgetting Pakistan as well. India will of course field the players such as Yuki Bhambri, Somdev Devvarman, Rohan Bopanna and up and coming new women’s player Ankita Raina.
The members of the touring Sri Lankan tennis contingent are Harshana Godamanne (captain), Shamal Dissanayake, Yasitha de Silva, T. Dinesh Kanthan, Amritha Muttiah, Medhira Samarasinghe, Thisuri Molligoda and Nethmi Waduge.
Shalini de Silva accompanies the team as coach while Sujani Bogollagama is the manager.
A Sri Lankan man was apprehended at Suvarnabhumi airport for attempting to smuggle wildlife out of the country after three ball pythons were found hidden in his underwear, the Bangkok post reported.
The UK government has unveiled a package of reforms to simplify imports from developing countries which allows for more garments manufactured in Sri Lanka to enter the UK tariff-free.
Read these and more on tomorrow’s edition of the Sunday Times
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