The group stages of the Fed Cup Group II Asia/Oceania fixture kicked off yesterday (6th February) with Team Sri Lanka slaughtering hosts Bahrain in their second day of play. This stage of the tournament is hosted in Isa Town, Bahrain and will run through till the 10th.
Meet the Team:
Sri Lankan Women to conquer Bahrain
The World Cup of Women’s Tennis, the Fed Cup by BNP Paribas is the women’s premier international team tennis event. Making their debut back in 1990, Team Sri Lanka has been in the competition on and off throughout the last two decades.
With Davis Cup veteran, Dineshkanthan Thangarajah as their Coach and mentor, Sri Lanka faced an unfortunate loss to the 83rd ranked Pakistan team on the opening day of the event. The most experienced player in the Lankan clan, Nethmi Waduge, opened rails against Pakistan’s youngest player Mahin Qureshi. Qureshi managed to grab a break in each set to win the match in a comfortable straight set 6/3, 6/3 victory. Next on court was Anika Seneviratne, the junior who is stepping off a marvelous past year winning the Junior National titles as well as the open Women’s title at the coveted Colombo Championship 2017. Seneviratne facing her first ever Fed Cup tie and match recorded a win over Ushna Suhail in a tight three setter to level out the tie with a score of 6/3,4/6,6/3.
Watch the Replay of Davis Cup 2018:
Sri Lanka v Thailand – Davis Cup Group II
A rivalry that dates back to the 1960’s takes to courts once again, this February. With a record of 7-0 wins over the Lankans, Thailand comes down to Sri Lanka as the top rank of group II aiming to succeed 8 in a row. Will 2018 be the year the Lankans make history?
It was up to Waduge and Seneviratne to drive the Lankans home to their first win in the doubles but the Pakistan wrath was too much for the Lankan singles players to handle; facing the losing end to a 6/1,6/4 after just 1 hour on court.
On the 2nd day of play (7th February) Sri Lanka faced hosts Bahrain which the girls managed to convert to their first victory of the tournament. In a collective effort of all four players, Sri Lanka went on to win both the single rubbers as well as the doubles rubber in a complete wipeout. Debutant Savini Jayasuriya took home the first singles against Safa Safar sparing no games, in clean straight sets. Waduge took on the remaining singles and mirrored Jayasuriya’s impressive score to go up 2-0 in the tie. Janali Manamperi stepping into her first ever senior international tie paired up with Anika Seneviratne and massacred the hosts in yet another 6/0,6/0 victory.
Heavy hearts for the Lions; Thailand with a comeback win
The final day of the quarter final tie between Thailand and Sri Lanka ended sombrely for Team Sri Lanka as they saw defeat in a tight battle. Pushing it all the way to the fifth rubber, it was up to Yasitha De Silva to make history for the nation, but failed dismally.
Sri Lanka will take on Indonesia in the final group stage match tomorrow (8th February) to decide their final standing in Group D. Currently they have a rubber win loss ratio of 4-2.
“Just like Pakistan, Indonesia will be a very tough team to beat but our girls are ready and we hope to pull off a miracle” said coach Dineshkanthan Thangarajah ahead of the Indonesian tie.
