Sri Lanka’s reigning junior national champion Thangarajah Dineshkanthan and last year’s Sri Lanka team member Guyanga Weerasekera qualified from the first round Group ‘A’ trials for next year’s Davis Cup.

The other players who participated in the first round Group ‘A’ trials were Shehan Gomesz and Michael Siyaguna. Dineshkanthan ousted all three of his opponents with ease while Weerasekera lost only to the former in the trials which began on December19.

An eight-member pool contested these trials with a view to getting selected to next March’s Davis Cup (Asia-Oceania Zone Group-II) to be held at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) in Colombo.

The Group ‘B’ includes four players, namely: Amresh Jayawickrema, one time Sri Lanka team member Artha Hewacottege, two-time Sri Lanka team member Sankha Atukorale and veteran Davis Cup campaigner Rajeev Rajapakse. The Group ‘B’ trials are yet to be completed.

The top two players qualifying from each Group will have to play in another trial round to be held on a round-robin basis so as to enter next year’s Sri Lanka team. There will probably be three players who’d be picked from these four players for the final trial. These three players will join Sri Lanka’s No.1 player Harshana Godamanna, who is an automatic choice for the national team next year.

The results of Group ‘A’ trials:

G. Weerasekera beat S. Gomesz 6-4, 7-5, 6-3

T. Dineshkanthan beat M. Siyaguna 6-3, 6-4, 6-2

T. Dineshkanthan beat S. Gomesz 6-1, 6-3, 6-4

G. Weerasekera beat M. Siyaguna 6-1, 6-4, 6-2

M. Siyaguna beat S. Gomesz 6-4, 6-2, 6-4

T. Dineshkanthan beat G. Weerasekera 6-2, 6-3, 6-4

After ten years

In what would be the first ever Davis Cup tie played against the Kiwis, to be held from March 3-5, Sri Lanka will return to the prestigious yet highly competitive Asia-Oceania Zone Group-II after 1999. The five-match tie is to be held on the three clay courts that are being constructed at the northern end of the SLTA premises, adjoining Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha, Colombo 7.

On Oct. 26, the SLTA announced an initial 16-player special pool in its preparation for 2010 Davis Cup by being based on the then local men’s national rankings. They were (in order of rankings): T. Dineshkanthan, A. Jayawickrema, H. Godamanna, A. Hewacottege, S. Gomesz, G. Weerasekera, M. Siyaguna, Ashan Dep, S. Atukorale, Mohamed Shakir, Eshan Jayamanne, Amith Weerasinghe, Yasas Dewage, Rohan de Silva, Sumedha Weerasuriya and R. Rajapakse. Veteran player de Silva later opted out from the trials after he was short-listed by the SLTA for the national tennis selection committee.

The SLTA last month appointed George Paldano as Davis Cup coach and Angelo Patrick as Sri Lanka team Manager. Irshard Othman will be the Davis Cup Tournament Director. De Silva is overseeing the trials the representative for the national selectors. Suresh Subramaniam heads the newly appointed five-member national selection committee.

Under-13 Division II final

Sebs turn tables on Kotte Thomians to clinch title

by Reemus Fernando

St. Sebastian’s College ‘B’ turned tables on favourites St. Thomas’ College, Kotte to clinch the Under 13 Division II title in a low scoring final played at MCA Ground yesterday.

Chasing a meager total of 120 runs, just four batsmen topped 15 runs for the boys from Moratuwa as they reached the winning target with three overs to spare. St.Sebastian’s won by two wickets.

The Sebatianites reached the target with none of their batsmen topping 20 runs. And it was quite contrasting to the batting performances of their opponents who were helped by gritty 20s from Ebert twins.

For St. Sebastian’s Akmal Fernando top scored with 18 runs while Nadun Seneviratne anchored the middle order with a 71-ball 15 runs. While Sandaruwan Fernando chipped in with 15 runs, Lakshitha Peiris handled the pressure well during the dying-stage of the game with an unbeaten 16 runs.

Earlier, batting first, Ebert twins, Brendan and Darren were the only batsmen to top 20 runs for Thomians as off spinners Nadun Seneviratne and Kushan Ariyadasa shared six wickets between them to trouble them.

Scores:

St. Thomas’ 119 all out in 48.4 overs (Brendon Ebert 27, Ashan Rajapakse 18, Darren Ebert 22; Lakshitha Peiris 2/12, Nadun Seneviratne 3/21, Kushan Ariyadasa 3/24)