Deepika Rodrigo leads Sri Lanka's TT team at Asian Games

By Leslie Fernando

Deepika Rodrigo of Lake House SC, silver medallist at the 10th South Asian Games in table tennis will lead a four-member team for the Asian Games to be held in Doha, Qatar in December. Incidentally, this is the first time Sri Lanka paddlers will be competing at an Asian Games.

According to a senior official of the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka, (TTASL) in addition to Deepika, Ishara Maduranga (Sri Devananda Ambalangoda), Thilina Piyadasa (MAAS Holdings) and Rohan Sirisena (Ceylinco Group) all bronze medallists and silver medal winners in the team events of the South Asian Games have been picked and the National Olympic Committee and Sports Ministry have approved the team.

The paddlers will play in the singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Meanwhile, TTASL has submitted Namal Gunasekera of Lake House, a former renowned player with lot of international experience as coach cum manager/ lady chaperon of the four-member team to National Olympic Committee for its approval.

Sri Lanka table tennis players have participated in SAF Games, Asian Championships, World Championships and several international invitation tournaments and this is the first occasion that the paddlers will be seen in action at an Asian Games.