Tennis has played a significant role in my life - Sriya Gooneratne

By Ranjan Anandappa

Past Sri Lanka Tennis Stalwarts ..... Remember Sriya Gooneratne! a doyenne of Sri Lanka tennis in the early 1960's and 70's? She was a household name at tennis in Sri Lanka on the women's front. Sriya was a part of a new generation of emerging talent and was a player in the company of Rukmani Kodagoda, Ranjini Jayasuriya, Bernard Pinto, Rupert Ferdinands and Wendy Molligoda.

Sriya Gooneratne was a member of the women's tennis team which participated at the 1966 Asian Games in Bangkok and won the 'bronze' medal in the team event. The other members of the team were Wendy Molligoda and Ranjini Jayasuriya.

Sriya was of course a very young player and very much junior to other veterans mentioned. However she thought being in their company and at times playing against those players were a sheer education. She thought that the present day players did not have the opportunity to play with or against top local players that would have helped them a great deal in their tennis career.

An old girl of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, but she never represented HFC at tennis, but, after joining Visakha, she got into the main stream of tennis and thereafter it was a continuous competitive tennis career for her.

Excerpts of the interview

Q: When did you really start your tennis career?

A: I started playing tennis at the age of about 11 years. In today's context, 11 is a little too old to start, but my father was of the opinion that bones and muscles have to be developed before one is ready to wield a tennis racquet. Those were the days where junior racquets were unavailable, instead, the lighter version of the normal racquet. I was impatient to start so I had the dubious privilege of picking balls and watching others play matches.

Q: Who was your coach at that time?

A: There were no coaches. My father was the self appointed coach, mentor and the one with all the patience to teach a beginner and the rock I depended on. I came from a tennis playing family-Both my parents, my elder brothers and younger sisters all played good tennis. So I had tennis in my blood from the beginning. I am proud to say that I was a product of the SLTA which I consider as my second home. I loved the centre court with its terraced steps and was totally motivated by the large crowd that used to watch the tennis nationals during the sixties.

Q: When did you play your first National Championship?.

A: At the age of 13 years, by that time I had learnt to play the forehand, backhand and the serve. I had been drawn with the reigning national champion. I was looking for ways and means to combat the champion and I was browsing a tennis book to find out the way to face the situation. I could still remember the instructions given in the manual. "Get into the ready position, watch the ball, bend your knees and follow through". I thought that was easy enough to follow while playing and I would be in with a chance. But I was beaten soundly by the national champion. But a few years later, I beat her.

Q: Which year did you win a major game?

A: 1962 was a significant year when I beat India's number 3 R. Thadani at the Nationals held in Nuwara-Eliya. At that time, the importance never registered in my mind. My mother had newspaper clippings of the achievement, and only on reading them I had realised that I had hit the headlines of the sports page. I remember the moans and groans of the crowd when I missed 3-match points and finally won it in the fourth.

I had to meet India's number 1 Dechu Aappiah in the final and I lost. In 1963, I won the Colombo Tennis Championship for the first time and won it for five consecutive years till 1968. This was the only 'A' grade tournament and only second to the Nationals with most of the local players taking part. In the 1960's and 70's our National Championship attracted foreign players from India, Indonesia and Philippines. Our women players were on par with the Indian players and we used to have the Mysore-Ceylon 'tie' and the Indo-Ceylon 'tie'.

Q: What happened in 1964?

A: In 1964, I won the Colombo Championship, but from that point onwards it was a downward journey. I decided to keep off from tennis for sometime. But once again the tennis 'bug' in me got activated. My father insisted that I should gain weight more than 85 lbs if I want to continue with the game. I knew that I would not be able to achieve this target. So I wore about three layers of heavy clothing (which my father, being a man would never notice) I got on to the scale and did tip over the specified requirement.

Q: You were yet to win a National Tennis Championship during that period ?

A: I have to mention how grateful I am to Percy Ernst (a former national champ) who started coaching me from 1965 free of charge. He felt that it was high time that I won a national title under any conditions. His theory was that I should perfect my ground strokes and be able to hit the ball hard wherever I wanted to and get winners. I had developed a unique backhand which was my lethal weapon. Unfortunately my service never matched my ground strokes.

Q: Tell me how you felt while representing the country at the 1966 Asian Games?

A: In 1966 I achieved another land mark by being the first local to beat a former Ceylon champion at the Nationals. I was also selected for the Asian Games to play in the singles event for Sri Lanka. I was very proud to bring home a bronze medal, which we won for the team event. I have to relate a back ground story with regard to the Asian Games since I almost never made it to Bangkok. At that time, the government had implemented foreign exchange controls and there was no money to send the contingent of players for the Asian Games. Two days before our departure my father got to know that we were to be sent by a military transport plane and he put his foot down and said that no way was he going to give me permission to go. I was totally shattered - after all the trials, hard training etc, I went on strike. I refused to eat and locked myself in my room, crying my heart out. Fortunately my mother intervened and persuaded my father to allow me to go. So that afternoon, I went to the Exchange Control Department to get my meager allowance of 3 pounds and 10 shillings to travel the next day.

Q: What happened there after?

A: In the same year 1966, I tried to qualify for Wimbledon but was unable to make it through to the qualifying rounds. Being a clay court player, it was almost impossible to get used to the U.K. grass courts within a week. I also played in the Indian tennis circuit in Bangalore, Madras and Kerala reaching the semi-finals in the All-India hard court championships.

In 1967 Nationals, I once again lost to Indonesia's number 1 Lita Lim in the final. She was not only ambidextrous, but also a top spinner. No one taught us to top spin the ball at that time. So it took almost a set to get used to the top spin. But finally I won the Nationals in 1968 and 1969.

Q: Did you ever think of giving up tennis after winning the National Championship?

A: I thought that was it, where tennis was concerned, but it was not to be. Marriage in 1970 to Mohan Munasinghe whom I had met at the age of 15 and residing in Montreal, Canada and a baby in 1973 could not prevent the irresistible pull to get on to the tennis court once again. Tennis for us poor students was only possible in the summer and that too in the university courts. So in the summer of 1974, I started to practice seriously again, this time my coach, sparring partner, strategist and everything else was Mohan. We had no extended family, no support system. This was a sharp contrast to the days I played in Colombo where everything was done for me, having my clothes ironed and kept ready, sand meals ready etc. I had to get on to the tennis court and only play.

Q: How competitive was tennis in Canada?

A: In Montreal time management was a key factor to me. I had only 1 or 2 hours of practice every day and that too when a nine month old baby did take her nap. So I learnt the art of concentrated practice and put in more than 100% effort. Playing matches another episode.

I had no time to feel nervous,since unto the last minute I had to see that the baby's food etc were all ready so that my husband Mohan could look after her while I was playing. Anyway to cut it short I played my best tennis during this period and I was ranked No 2 in the province of Quebec in 1975. That year Canada's number 1 Andre Martin was also Quebec's N0.1. I took her to three sets but never managed to defeat her. The tennis saga continued thereafter.

From 1977 onwards we used to visit Sri Lanka every summer and the the nationals was still an attraction. So when I was asked by Manisha Perera to partner her in the doubles, I could not refuse. No one knew I was five months pregnant with my second baby.

We came to the semi-finals, but unfortunately weekes into the tournament, my balance was quite different to when I started and we lost. In 1986 partnering Manisha again we won the National Ladies Doubles after a gruelling three-setter and made up for the for the 1977 loss.

Q: How many titles have you won in your long tennis career?

A: I have won the Ladies singles and the ladies doubles titles twice at the Nationals, but not the mixed doubles. In my senior years Mohan and I decided to play in the over 40 mixed doubles at the Nationals and won the title three times consecutively.

After returning to Sri Lanka in 2002, I continued to play in the All-Island Inter-Club Tournaments. A few years ago, I thought 50 years of competitive tennis in one form or another is enough.

I still play regularly and still have the competitive spirit to play well and try to hit the ball as hard as I did when I was a teenager. As you can see, tennis had played a major role in my life and has thought to face defeat as well as victory in the same spirit and calmness.