Lankan junior tennis players to Malaysia

The ITF World Juniors Team Competition is open for both boys and girls. The boys’ squad would need to compete at the pre-qualifying round (Feb 26 – Mar 1) to qualify for the final qualifying round (April 14 - 20).

The girls’ squad has qualified to play at the final qualifying round scheduled from April 21 to 27 in China.

Boys’ Squad
The six countries competing are Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Singapore Sri Lanka and Tajikistan.

The 3-member Sri Lanka team:
Crishantha Perera – Coach/ non-playing captain

Sharmal Dissanayake of Royal College – Sharmal having started tennis in 2003, has strived to win many titles at under 8, under 10, under 11, under 12, and under 14 level. He captained the Royal College under 13 team in 2007, and this would be the second time he competes at the ITF World Juniors. In 2008, apart from the ITF World Juniors, Sharmal also competed at the recently concluded ITF Junior Asian Championships held in Bangladesh, winning the semi-final title for both Under 14 singles and doubles matches.

Thuruna Eshwarage of D. S. Senanayake College.
Madusha Wijesuriya of Ananda College – Madusha’s career in tennis commenced with his first match played at the Robbialac Junior Masters Tennis Championships, winning the singles title. The ITF World Juniors will be Madusha’s second exposure to an international tournament after his participation at the ITF Junior Asian Championships in Bangladesh.

The draw for the pre-qualifying round would be conducted on February 25, where the schedule of matches for the next few days would be announced.

ITF World Juniors Team Competition 2008 (Under 14)
Asia/ Oceania – Final Qualifying tournament
April 21-27, Shenzen, China

Girls’ Squad
The seventeen countries competing are: Australia, China, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan.
The 3-member team:
Nilushi Fernando – St Bridget’s Convent, Shankari Thayakarn – Bishop’s College, Dinushki Ranasinghe – Bishop’s College. Coach/non-playing captain – to be appointed.

Junior Davis Cup 2008 (Under 14)
Asia/ Oceania - Pre-Qualifying tournament
February 24-28, Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia
The 3-member team flew to Malaysia to compete at the pre-qualifying round. Subsequent to the pre-qualifying matches, those countries able to qualify will compete in the final qualifying round in India from April 28 onwards. At the final qualifying round, a total of 16 countries will compete.

Total of seven competing countries: Bangladesh, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan.

The 3-member team:
Neshan Gunasekera – one of the leading coaches of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association is selected as the coach and non-playing captain of the team for this year. Gunasekera was the Junior Fed Cup coach/ non – playing captain in 2005 and has had experience in leading national junior tennis teams of Sri Lanka on several other occasions. He is also a qualified coach of the International Tennis Federation, (ITF) which is the governing body of tennis in the world.

Amresh Jayawickrema of St. Thomas’ Prep. College is one of the top-ranked junior national players in Sri Lanka with many achievements at the national junior level. Amresh was the captain of his college team consecutively from 2006 to 2007.

Arvind Fernando is a leading junior national tennis player and has won many tournaments in Sri Lanka. He represented Sri Lanka at the ITF World Junior Tennis Championships in 2006 and at numerous other national and international tennis tournaments.

Shehan Gomesz hails from Royal College, Colombo and is an outstanding junior national player with many credentials to his name. He represented Sri Lanka at the Junior World Championships in 2006 and at numerous other international tournaments. Shehan has been a member of the Royal College tennis team since 2001 and his team has won the overall championship in Sri Lanka for several years.

MAS Active has come forward as the official sportswear provider for the tournament.

Serendib Flour Mills (Pvt) Ltd & Misc Agencies Lanka (Pvt) Ltd sponsored the tickets for the Junior Davis Cup Team. R. A Jayawickrema found the sponsors for the team to participate in the Junior Davis Cup.