A squad of 8 has been selected to represent Sri Lanka at the 19th Asian Junior Squash Team Championship 2019, scheduled to be held from the 16th – 20th January in Pattaya, Thailand.
Photos: Sri Lanka Team for Asian Junior Team Championship 2019
Sri Lanka are no strangers to the Asian Junior circuit, having participated in many of its previous editions. The Championship will be played in accordance with Regulation Q of the ASF Championship Regulations. Teams are seeded by the ASF Seeding Committee and are grouped into 2 Pools where they will proceed with Group play-offs.
This year, the tournament has attracted 12 nations; Sri Lanka has been drawn into Pool A alongside India, Pakistan, Korea, Chinese Taipei and host nation Thailand. Pool B will include teams from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, Kuwait and China.
The teams will play to reach the top 4 positions in their respective pools to enter the play-offs for the top 4. Likewise, the next group of 4 will play for the 5th – 8th positions and the final lot will play through 9th – 12th places.
Team Sri Lanka is well poised with 8 experienced Junior National coloursmen;
Druvinka Perera
Skipper of the team, 18-year-old Druvinka Perera is the most seasoned out of the lot. He captained the Royal College Squash Team in 2017 and has achieved the highest award of a Crownsman in Royal Colours.
He achieved an Asian rank of 5th in the under 13 category in 2013 and has represented the Lankan flag in over 20 international tournaments. He has also toured with the Senior National team that played the Asian Senior Team Championship in 2016 and 2018.
Junior National Champion and a third-place finisher in the Senior Open category at the 2018 Nationals, will be the man who will lead the Boys’ Team in Pattaya, Thailand.
Methmal Wood
Grabbing gold in the Under 17 events of all of the 2018 Ranking tournaments, Methmal Wood brings in great spirits to the team. Also, a Royalist, Wood has been a part of the Royal ‘A’ team for 3 years and has been instrumental in the Junior front for his alma mater.
Wood’s most impressive achievements were being crowned the plate champion in the Asian Junior Individual Championship in 2017 and 2018 in Jordan and India. He first received National colours in 2014 in the Under 13 category and has been a key member of the Junior National team over the years.
Tuwin Nilakshana
Hailing from D.S Senanayake College, Tuwin Nilakshana is currently ranked second in the national Under 19 category. He was the Plate Champion in the Indian Junior Individual Championship in 2012 and placed 16th in the 2016 Asian Junior Individual Championship.
Tuwin won the plate championship in the Senior Nationals 2018 and was placed second in the Under 19 individual category. He is the current skipper of the D.S Senanayake Squash team for the 2018/19 season and has received a special award for Squash in 2017.
Heshan Balasuriya
The third man from Royal College, Heshan Balasuriya is the 4th and final man in the Boys’ team to Thailand. He is a 5-year National coloursman and was the 2018 Royal skipper. Currently ranked No.2 in the Junior National and 6th in the Men’s Open, Balasuriya also been on many international tours.
He was placed 10th in the Junior Asian Individual Championship 2017 in Jordan. He is a 3rd-year coloursman and led his team to victory at the 2018 All Island Interschool Squash Championship.
Kasuni Gunawardena
Kasuni Gunawardena is a famous name in the Junior National circuit and is fittingly the current top rank. She led the Squash team of Visakha Vidyalaya in 2017 and is the only player in this entourage to have played in the 2016 South Asian Games and won Bronze in the team event.
Sameera Deen
Sameera Deen has been a regular in the international arena, this being her 9th stint at it. She toured Korea in 2018 with the Senior National Team for the Asian Senior Team Championship, becoming the first 16-year old to participate in the senior category.
Deen was the Under 19 Junior National Runner-up while maintaining her spot as the undisputed championship spot in the Under 15 and 17 categories over the years. Currently she is ranked 2nd in the Junior National Island rank and 4th in the Senior Nationals Open Ranking.
Chanithma Sinaly
Chanithma Sinaly has been a key feature of her school team since 2017, bringing in many junior individual successes to her portfolio. She reached the top 8 in the 2016 Asian Junior Individual Championship and did one better in 2017, finishing 7th overall.
She has grabbed Junior National titles in the Under 13 and 15 categories and is currently ranked No.1 in the under 15 age group. Her best international stint was being placed 10th in the Under 13 Asian Junior Individual Championship in 2015.
Devmini Gallage
Capping the Girls’ Team, Devmini Gallage will live her 9th international participation with this tour. She was placed 13th in the Asian Junior Individual Championship last year and has been a part of her school team for over 4 years. She follows behind in 2nd place in both the Under 15 and 17 National Rankings and strives to finish on top by the end of the year.
The team will be joined by Sri Lanka Squash President, Ajith Abeysekara as the Team Manager while Chaminda Thalagala will take on the reins as the Sri Lanka Team Coach.
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