Sri Lanka has a tough challenge ahead of themselves as they fight for survival in the top division of the Davis Cup Tennis Championship when they face Indonesia at Surakarta tomorrow.
The Davis Cup which is also known as the World Cup of Tennis is a world series where the top tier tennis teams participate. The teams from lower tiers make their way to the top division by playing each other regionally and later move up in the groups. Sri Lanka is categorized into the Asia Oceania division and since 2013, they have been in the second group in the world championship.
Their loss to Thailand earlier this year saw them tied up with Indonesia in a relegation tie that will decide which country stays in the top division and which gets relegated.
Sri Lanka is set to face Indonesia tomorrow in the relegation tie played in Surakarta and go into the draw with the absence of their key players. After Dineshkanthan Thangarajah opted out of the tie, Sri Lanka faced another huge blow ahead of the encounter when Sharmal Dissanayake had to return to the country owing to illness. With the two players out, veteran Harshana Godamanne will team up with Yasitha De Silva and Nishangan Nadaraja to play the tie with hopes of bringing victory.
The Davis Cup draw that was announced this morning has Harshana Godamanne and Yasith De Silva taking on the responsibility of fighting for the victory. The match draws for the three days will be as follows.
15th July 2016 –
1st Single: Harshana Godamanne vs David Susanto
2nd Single: Yasitha De Silva Christopher Rungkat
16th July 2016 –
1st Double: Yasitha De Silva & Harshana Godamanne vs Adithya Sasongko & Sunu-Wahyu Trijati
17th July
Returning 1st Single: Harshana Godamanne vs David Susanto
Returning 2nd Single: Yasitha De Silva Christopher Rungkat
Being the veteran player piloting Sri Lanka’s Davis Cup endeavour, Harshana Godamanne added these words about the upcoming tie,
“This year yet again we are facing a strong team, Indonesia. History says that Sri Lanka has never met Indonesia in Davis Cup competition. We are dealing with a whole new team of players, whom we haven’t played against in any other individual tournament either. It will be an interesting tie.”
Having represented the country in the Davis Cup over the last few years, Godamanne hopes that his team can make a difference in the tie.
“I have two fairly new teammates with a lot of talent. Nishangan Nadaraja has been on the team in 2012 but hasn’t played a Davis Cup match. He is currently in USA on a tennis scholarship playing for a university in the state of Alabama. My other team mate is Yasitha De Silva, who has played a Davis Cup doubles match last year. He is currently studying at the Colombo University. It’s needless to say how talented and dedicated these two guys are.”
Indonesia will be a tough pick for Sri Lanka with top seeded players in their Davis Cup team. Currently ranked 52 in the world rankings, Indonesia is 11 positions ahead of Sri Lanka who claim the 63rd spot. Harshana Godamanne will have a challenge ahead of him when he is set to start the tie against 370th world seed Christopher Rungkat.
Sri Lanka is coached by Dominic Utzinger while Rohan De Silva acts as the non-playing captain.
