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| Sunday, 18 January 2004 |
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Sri Lanka will play in World Team Wheelchair tennis tourney by Lal Gunasekera Sri Lanka will play in the Invacare World Team Championship, which is the world's most prestigious wheelchair tennis event, from January 20 to 25 in Christchurch, New Zealand and its three-member team together with a coach leave the country today (Sunday). They then participate in three more tournaments - New Zealand Open from January 27 to 31, Sydney Open from February 4 to 8 followed by the Australian Open in Melbourne from February 11 to 15. The three-member team are from the Army and battle field victims. They are Bertie Silva (No. 1), M. Manatunga (No. 2) and R. Rajakaruna (No. 3), who is a good prospect for the future. They have won medals earlier in Thailand, Malaysia and France at 'D' and 'C' level competitions. The three soldiers will be accompanied by Jagath Welikala as coach, and also Vincent Rudolf, a Sri lankan born Englishman, who is a qualified wheelchair tennis coach who himself is confined to a wheelchair. The World Team Championship is reserved for the world's leading countries, decided after a series of international tournaments, but Sri Lanka, who first competed in international tournaments last year (2003), was awarded a "wild card" entry on the strength of its rapid improvement. A top International Tennis Federation (ITF) Development Officer for Wheelchair Tennis, Mark Bullock, trained Sri Lanka's three players in Colombo for some time assisted by Rudolf (born in Gangodawila), who arrived in his country of birth only for a seven-day vacation, but deciding to stay on for one month. He too will accompany the side to Christchurch at his own expense. Bullock said that he was happy to help Sri Lanka's players for about a month and congratulated them on their selection. He also hoped that they will get a "wild card" entry for the Para Olympic Games to be staged in Athens, Greece in September this year. Thirty-two countries are vying for honours in Christchurch represented by 200 players. Bullock was in Colombo two years back to lay the ground work for Sri Lanka's entry into the international wheelchair tennis. He further disclosed that Sri Lanka is one of the first four countries to benefit from the ITF's Silver Fund, a scheme to aid developing countries. Sri Lanka is the first and only Silver fund supported country invited to compete in Christchurch alongside the established powers of wheelchair tennis. The President of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) Suresh Subramaniam, thanked the ITF for their continuous support and also General Ranaweera who heads the Wheelchair Committee of SLTA and Colonel Chrys de Silva. He confided that he plans to build two concrete courts in each district. Colonel Chrys de Silva said that there are 4,000 servicemen who are disabled due to the war in the north and east of Sri Lanka, but wheelchair tennis is limited to about 30 persons, including two civilian girls. |
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