Sri Lanka’s youngest National Tennis team will take flight to Dhaka, Bangladesh to compete at the ITF Asia 12 & Under Team Competition, from the 24th – 28th June.
The annual competition attracts many young players from the South Asian region, all vying for ranking points in the Asian Ranking system and to qualify for the finals of the ITF Asia 12 & Under Team championship.
Photo Album : Sri Lanka U12 National Tennis Team 2019
This year, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, India, Maldives, Pakistan are among the invited nations along with a team from the host nation Bangladesh.
The Lankan team is formed with some top island rankers mixed in with first time national coloursmen and women. 3 boys and 3 girls make up the team this year with Ashan Dep and Sirimal Anthony taking on duties as the mentors for the tour.
The girls’ team consists of Shashinika Chandrasiri, Ruwi Lewkebandara and Arushi Thomasge. The boys’ team is made up of Lisal Goonetilleke, Methvan Wijemanne and Senuk Herat-Gunaratne.
Lisal Goonetilleke of S. Thomas’ College, will be the only returning player to the tournament. Goonetilleke currently holds the top spot in the Boys’ U12 island ranking list and has won some major tournaments in the local calendar for the year. Some of the wins include championship titles at the Clay Court Nationals, SSC Open Ranking, Tamil Union and the Bandarawela Tennis Tournament.
Senuk Herat-Gunaratne of Ananda College will play in his first ITF 12 & Under tournament in Dhaka. Herat-Gunaratne captained his school U11 team and was the runner-up at the Clay Court Nationals this year. He also bagged the U12 championship in the Nuwaraeliya Hill Club Tennis Tournament earlier this year.
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The third and final member of the Boys team, Methvan Wijemanne will also make his debut entry in the tournament. The younger brother of Junior Davis Cup represent Tehan Wijemanne, Methvan currently hold No.3 in the Boys U12 island ranking. He won the D2 Open 2019, Ele Open and was runner-up at the Hill Club tourney this year.
For the girls, Ruwi Lewkebandara will be touring for the 2nd time, having been at the same tournament the previous year. She managed to clinch the Bandarawela U14 singles and doubles championship earlier this year.
Debutants Shashinika and Arushi clinched the Clay Court Nationals, U14 Doubles championship as a pair, while the former is the reining Clay Court National Champion in the U12 category. Arushi has the Elle Open U12 title as well as the Nuwaraeliya Open U12 title under her belt.
The 6-member team will take flight to Dhaka this Saturday, 22nd June, and play their first round matches on the 24th June.
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