The Nationals Tennis Tournament is a 23 year long tradition that has given birth to many great legends of Sri Lankan Tennis.
Playing in the Junior Nationals and Senior Nationals Championships, is by far the biggest honor a rising tennis star can achieve, and that’s proven by the overflowing of entries and the talent showcased each year.
With just a couple of days remaining for the senior players to get their shot at the ultimate title in the country, ThePapare takes an in-depth look at the title contenders and heavyweights in the upcoming tournament.
The Men’s Game
This year’s Men’s title comes out in an all new competitive format; comprising of players from all over the Indian sub-continent and is tipped to be one of the most exciting contests ever witnessed in the country. Here’s a look at the top four players poised to come out on top.
Dineshkanthan Thangarajah
Dineshkanthan is the household name in the sport. Dinesh’s roots are in the far east of the country but it was at St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya that he nurtured his talent to suit the world stage. Currently leading the rankings table in Sri Lanka, he is tipped to be one of the final contenders in the title run.
His performance this season has not been the best so far, with his defeat to Pakistan national Heera Ashiq in the Men’s Open singles in the national draw last year. His display of skills was on point in the SSC open but he failed to deliver in the 100th Colombo Championships, losing to Indian national Ashwin Vijaragavan in the semi final.
Having won the national title four years in a row at an earlier stage in his career, Dineshkanthan will be eyeing another celebrated national title for his trophy cabinet. The road forward for the national champion will be a tough one but the chances of him making it to the final is very likely.
Heera Ashiq
The media was in a frenzy about this lad after he won the 99th Tennis National Men’s Singles defeating Dineshkanthan, seemingly out of nowhere. Pakistan national & defending champion Heera Ashiq who has been in the country for the last few months has roused the attention of the sports fraternity and will march on to the courts of the SLTA with intentions of retaining the title.
Ashiq recently won the Negombo Open Tennis Championships defeating Sanka Atukorale and made it to the finals of the 100th Colombo Championships Open Singles. Amassing a total of 850 points this season, he is currently the fourth seed in the country. With Ashiq in his best possible form, he will prove to be a huge threat to the rest of the competitors in the local circuit and will go all out to defend his title.
Sanka Atukorale
If one person needs a model for what hard work and dedication is, Sanka is the best possible example in the local tennis arena. Sanka, a product of President’s College Kotte is currently the #2 seed in the country.
A regular in the Davis Cup team for Sri Lanka, he has been a hard working individual who has participated in almost all of the main events in the tennis calendar since last September. Though he did not have the privilege of winning any, he has been a regular feature in semi finals and finals.
Playing five tournaments during the course of the year, Atukorale will be using the expertise he gained in the ongoing nationals and is most likely to make it to the semi-finals at least.
Sharmal Dissanayake
An up and coming player in the national circuit, Sharmal Dissanayake will be eyeing his first national crown this year. The 19 year old Royalist has already set many records in his junior nationals career and has gone so far as to qualify for the Wimbledon Junior Championships.
Sharmal who is currently the only player in the country to have an ATP World Rank is a regular in the national contingent for the Davis Cup. He is currently placed 11th in the ranking leader board due to his absence in the local circuit but he will go into the national championships as a strong contender who is likely to make it to the semi finals. Sharmal will later team up with his Davis cup partner Dineshkanthan to play in the Open Doubles Competition which is expected to start in the coming days.
The Women’s Championship
The Women’s draw seems a more competitive one this year as players such as Nethmi Waduge and Thisuri Molligoda have really come of age during the past months and may be able to give reigning National Champion Amritha Muttiah a run for her money. ThePapare looks at the top 4 Ladies in this year’s competition.
Nethmi Waduge
First, we have the 17 year old Visakhian who speaks very little but makes up for that with her monstrous talent– Nethmi Waduge. The hard working youngster has been building her career with a few major claims during the past year. She didn’t have luck on her side at the 2014 national championships as she was suffering from a serious shoulder injury and managed to reach only the quarter finals. However, she walked away with the runner-up trophy in the U-18 age group. This year, as the season started, Nethmi was caught unprepared due to the Ordinary Level examinations she had recently sat for, and lost to Thisuri Molligoda in the quarter finals. But, the little fighter still managed to clinch the U-18 championship trophy at the SSC Open ‘A’ Grade Tennis tournament beating Hasindhi Lokuge in the finals. The recently concluded Colombo Championships Tennis Tournament was the big break she was looking for; she claimed both the U-18 girls’ title and the Women’s open title beating Anika Seneviratne and Lankan Legend Amritha Muttiah respectively. With this double deal, she headed into this years’ Junior Nationals Championship and yet again proved herself by winning the girls U-18 Championship beating fellow team mate, Thisuri Molligoda in straight sets.
Thisuri Molligoda
Even though Molligoda may still be recovering from her loss to Waduge, she is ready and geared up to take revenge at the Senior Nationals. Similar to Waduge, Thisuri was in the recovery stages of a wrist injury during last years’ national tournament and was unable to perform as well as she had hoped, and watched the women’s title being taken away by top seed Amritha Muttiah. But earlier this year she was able to even the score with Muttiah when she won the SSC Open ‘A’ Grade tournament in a thrilling three setter. When asked about her preparations for the upcoming battle, she expressed how she has a few changes to make in her game plan and that she will be working closely with her coach to be better than ever.
Medhira Samarasinghe
Another viable underdog with a shot at this years’ title is Medhira Samarasinghe from Ladies College. Although she hasn’t got any major titles under her name yet, she was able to qualify for the Junior Fed Cup Team and represent the nation in India last April. She is a fast rising talent that the top seeds should definitely look out for this season.
Amritha Muttiah
Last but not certainly not least, we have the record breaking 6 time National Champion, Amritha Muttiah. Amritha has reigned supreme in the senior nationals championship for the past 6 years and is hoping to have her name on the shield one more time. She was unbeatable at the other ‘A’ grade tournament held last year proving her class yet again. This year however, she was unable to hold on to the SSC and Colombo Championships honors as she lacks training time due to her busy work schedule and ended up as runner-up in both events. Her latest title was won two weeks ago at the Colombo Championships, when she and her partner Yasitha De Silva emerged victorious in the mixed doubles open category.
“I have always concentrated 100% on the game when I’m on court and this year I think I will double it up since it’s a special year for me. I would love to make my record of 6 years longer and I will do everything in my power to do so.”
When asked who her toughest opponents would be, she replied by speaking like a true champion –
“All the girls playing this year are at the peaks of their game, so everyone will be tough. It really depends on how each player performs on game day, and I expect to be at my best to face anything that’s put in front of me”
