The Asian Tennis Federation International Under 14 series week 1 will commence at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts this weekend featuring junior talents from Canada,Singapore, India, the Philippines and hosts Sri Lanka.
This is a continuation of the international under 14 ATP circuit series and the first week will be worked off in Colombo starting from the 5th of September 2015 till the 13th and will feature the top Asian seeds in both Girls and Boys categories in the under 14 age group. A total of 32 entries have been finalized for the Boys single in the Colombo week and there will be six additional slots allocated for players to enter the main draw via a Wild Card round.
One of the premiere ranking series in the Asian continent, the series is open to any player who is below 14 years residing in any part of the world. Indian players as well as Indians nationals residing in other countries mainly dominate this year’s draw.
Top seed in the Asian Under 14 circuit Indian national Rahul Jaideep will be the key highlight in the SLTA courts in the coming weeks as he is out to make his rankings better. Rahul who currently resides in Baharain sits in the #5 seed in the ATF rankings and will want to accumulate a few more points from the Colombo circuit. Trailing behind him for glory is Canadian national Sandesh Kantimahanti who took the last year’s Colombo title defeating USA’s Arjun Sri ram.
The defending champion Sandesh is set to take this year’s title as well but the only person who could spoil his victory part will be Rahul Jaideep. It will be a tussle between the two for the silverware on offer in the Boy’s group.
Hong Kong national and currently the #9 national seed Ki Lung Ng will be the other heavy weight in the division and the advantage on the tournament will all depend on how the draw is metered out. The only Sri Lanka in the top seeds is Thevan Perera who has a career best of #41 in the international circuit at the moment.
Thevan was not the most successful player last year with him not getting the privilege of making it to the top four in the boy’s division. Thevan Perera however will need to carry the nation’s pride in this tournament as he possesses the best chances for Sri Lanka in the tournament. The other prospective player in the main draw for hosts are Sean Sanderson who has had international exposure having represented Sri Lanka in last year’s event. Sanderson ended up in the semi finals last year and will look to better his junior record this year. Alongside the duo are Chanith De Silva, Kavisha Ratnayake, Praneel Jayasinghe, Seth Algama & Vhimalshanth Chandramohan from Sri Lanka in the main draw.
The Sri Lankan talent dominates the Girl’s Under 14 title with the top seed in the included entries for the singles category is Sathi Siyara Silva who currently has ATF rank of 32. Last year’s winner, Philippine national Monica Cruz and her opponent Aadhya Chala will not feature in this year’s tournament.
12-year-old Riya Uboveja of India comes second in line in the seeded entries with an ATF rating of 37. Out of the thirteen submitted entries for the Girls Singles category, seven are from Sri Lanka, five from India and a single player from Bahrain. The youngest out of the bunch is the eleven-year-old Anajlika Kurera from the hosts and the predictions of a possible Sri Lankan victory is very likely.
The games will begin in the SLTA premises on the 5th of September and with the favorable weather predictions, the games will conclude on the 13th with the final encounters.
