Sri Lanka Tennis hit a purple patch last weekend as they won the Davis Cup relegation series against Lebanon at home, which ensured their survival in the top division of Asia Oceania of the main draw. With the win at the SLTA courts last weekend, Sri Lanka have earned another year to prove themselves against the top teams that lay ahead in Sri Lanka’s path in the Davis Cup and other international courts.
A Bit of History
Sri Lanka started their journey in the Davis cup way back in 1953 with their first tie against the Netherlands. The tie that took place in the Netherlands was won outright 5-0 by the hosts. It took Sri Lanka five long years for their first cup victory which came against Malaysia 1958 with a score line of 3-2. Since then Sri Lanka has participated in 127 ties winning 60 of them and losing 67.
The Lankans found themselves grouped in the Asia Oceania Group II when the categories were first introduced in 1988 and were fortunate enough to survive in the group for eight long years before they had to exit the tier in 1996 losing the relegation series to Iran. Tennis hit an all time low during the early 2000’s with the country slipping another step lower in the main tier, getting themselves relegated to the fourth division. Luck came through for the country however and they worked themselves back to the top finally reaching the Group II in 2010, only to be relegated back to the lower group soon after.
The last few years have been significant for the island nation as Sri Lanka saw themselves back in the top tier since 2012 and have been surviving there for three successive years. The journey in the top tier saw Sri Lanka grouped with the heavyweights of the racket sport in South-east Asia and Sri Lanka have not been able to win a single 1st round game for the past two years, yet they have managed to survive with relegation play-off wins on three consecutive occasions.
Sri Lanka’s progress to the top
In 2013 Sri Lanka had their play off tie against Pakistan which they lost 2-3 and later survived the group winning the Lebanon tie 3-2. Similarly in 2014 Sri Lanka had to face a 1-4 loss to Philippines but later won against Vietnam 3-2. This year Sri Lanka was once again matched up with the Philippines who thrashed themto take a 5-0 win in the opening play off.
Sri Lanka were back in a do or die situation last weekend in this year’s series following their defeat to Philippines as they faced Lebanon in a relegation tie up. It was an encounter where experience came into play as the experienced Sri Lankan outfit outplayed the Lebanese 3-2. At one point when Sri Lanka were two up after the first two singles matches, the prediction was that it was going to be a easy victory on the second day, but the Lebanese doubles pair Hady Habib and Giovani Samaha gave Godamanne and Dineshkanthan a tough time defeating them 6-3,7-6,-2-6,3-6,6-3 to pull Lebanon back into contention. Sri Lanka later reconciled their position in the division with Harshana Godamanne winning the final match in the draw to give his country a 3-2 victory.
The Davis Cup draw for the year comes to an end as Sri Lanka will once again compete for their spot in the top division. Their task for the upcoming 2016 season will be something similar to that of this year where they will need to win their first play-off in order to secure the long awaited promotion. Failing which, Sri Lanka will fight for their survival in the league in yet another relegation match up.
Sri Lanka will face either Chinese Taipei or Pakistan in the upcoming series in the first play-off for 2016. Sri Lanka is yet to register a win in this stage of the competition in the history of the Davis Cup.
The Path ahead
At present Sri Lanka are ranked at 63rd in the ITF Davis Cup nation’s rankings with 117.81 points. Our neighbors India and Pakistan rank way ahead at 21 & 41 respectively. If Sri Lanka is to go higher in the rankings, getting a win in the initial tie in Group II is a must.
Sri Lanka’s golden boy in the racket sport, Harshana Godamanne has been the most highly accomplished Tennis player in the Davis Cup series over the years for the team. Making his first appearance in the series in 2002, Godamanne has participated in 82 ties including the recently concluded Lebanon tie and has won 61 of them. A product of Royal College, Godamanne is currently pursuing his higher education in the United States and represents Sri Lanka only in international events.
Alongside Godamanne is fellow Royalist Sharmal Dissanayake, who is currently the only Sri Lankan with an ATP World ranking, having collected a considerable number ATP points in the recent past. The 19 year old has achieved great heights achieving a career best of 203 points in 2013. He currently sits at 2004 in the ATP World Tour and is the only Sri Lankan to do so.
If Sri Lanka intends to go far in the sport, national prospects Dineshkanthan and Sanka Athukorale will need to participate in tournaments that award ATP points, gradually getting them on the international grid. This process will be need to be systematic and if it happens, Sri Lanka tennis will have its gradual lift off with players having the composure to face international opponents successfully.
The recently concluded Colombo Championships shed light upon the up and coming players Nethmi Waduge and Thisuri Molligoda who are both emerging players in the Sri Lankan tennis arena. The 18 year old Nethmi Waduge caused the biggest uproar in the tourney defeating national champion Amritha Muttaiah giving a clear indication of her budding talent. Thisuri Molligoda, being equally talented, speaks a lot of what Sri Lanka can expect in the years to come.
