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| Sunday, 11 January 2004 |
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Five Lankan 'poolists' to play in Dhaka and India before Davis Cup selection by LAL GUNESEKERA Five of Sri Lanka's Davis Cup 'poolists' are presently in Dhaka, Bangladesh playing in the BKSP International Junior Championship and then they fly on to India for three further ITF Junior (under-18 group IV) Tournaments later this month in preparation for the Davis Cup (Asia/Oceania Zone Group IV) to be staged in Jordan from April 5 to 11. The five players are N.S. Nishendran, Amrith Rupasinghe, Sasith Wickremasinghe, Dinusha Wijesuriya and Chaturanga Vithanatchi who are being accompanied by Indian, Sayandad Chakrawarthy, as coach cum manager. The three tournaments in India are at Calcutta, Delhi and Chandigar. A spokesman for the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) told the Sunday Observer) that the rest of the pool of 12 players are in training at the moment under Sri Lanka's Davis Cup non-playing captain Lasantha Fernando, who himself is a former Davis Cup player and national champion of repute. India's Enrico Pepino, who is in charge of the coaching, has gone back to India for a few days and will return to Colombo at the end of the month, and he is keen to get Sri Lanka promoted into Group III again. The 17-member Davis Cup pool comprises: Franklyn Emmanual, Rohan de Silva, N.S. Nishendran Amrith Rupasinghe, Oshada Wijemanne Sashi Sabanathan, Harshana Godamanne, Sasith Wickremasinghe, Udith Wickremasinghe, Chaturanga Vidanatchi, Dinusha Wijesuriya, Yaveen Jayasekera, Sohan Patrick, Krishan Sudusinghe, Rajiv Rajapakse, Dinanjaya Mayadunne and Renouk Wijemanne. Eleven countries are vying for two berths to get promoted into Group III. They are Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Saudi Arabia, Myanmar, Singapore, Bangladesh, Brunei, Turkminstan, Iraq and Jordan. The Junior Davis Cup is to be staged at the National Tennis Centre (NTC) in Greenpath from April 26 to May 2, while the Junior Federation Cup, too, is to be worked off during the same period in Jakarta, Indonesia. The Sri Lanka Junior International Championship which is an ITF under-18 group IV tournament too, is to be worked off at the NTC from February 16 to 22. Meanwhile, six juniors are already in Myanmar participating in two ITF under-14 "back to back" Asian Championships in Rangoon till January 19 and also attend a training camp. Fourteen countries are taking part. The three boys are Dinesh Khanthan Thangarajah, Mishal Sinnen and Prince Niroshan, while the three girls are Jithmi Jayawickreme, Amitha Arulpragasam and Hasini Jayatillke with Argentinian Guillerme Milisenda as coach cum manager. He has been appointed as SLTA's new head coach. These players trained under K.D.Y. Pathirajah. |
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