The World Juniors final qualifiers have not been Sri Lanka’s greatest bet this year as the girls’ team joins the boys in pre-qualifiers, next year.
Sri Lanka was pooled in with Philippines, New Zealand and Indonesia for the first round of round-robin games. The opening two days of the competition have not been the best for the girls as they went down to both Philippines and New Zealand, unable to win a single match.
Video: The girls go marching in!
Unable to win a single tie in Malaysia, the U14 National Girls’ team of Sri Lanka come back with a demotion for the World Juniors event in 2020.
Sri Lanka vs Indonesia
The final group stage encounter against Indonesia was no different than the previous ties.
| Match | Team Indonesia | Team Sri Lanka | Score |
| WS2 | Kholisa Siti Maisaroah | Heshani Imanga | 2/6, 6/3, 6/1 |
| WS1 | Sekai Vinda Khairunnisa | Dewmini Warnasuriya | 6/1, 6/2 |
| WD | Kholisa Siti Maisaroah
Nazwa Syamsabilla Aziz |
Heshani Imanga
Saajida Razick |
6/4, 6/4 |
| Tie won by Indonesia 3-0 | |||
Sri Lanka vs Lebanon (09th – 16th Play-offs)
Moving on to the bottom play-off’s, Heshani Imanga won Sri Lanka’s first match in the tournament, but to no avail as they went down to Lebanon 2 – 1.
| Match | Team Lebanon | Team Sri Lanka | Score |
| WS2 | Maria Beirdy | Saajida Razick | 6/0, 6/2 |
| WS1 | Youmna Fayssal | Heshani Imanga | 3/6, 0/6 |
| WD | Maria Beirdy
Youmna Fayssal |
Heshani Imanga
Saajida Razick |
6/2, 6/2 |
| Tie won Lebanon 3-0 | |||
Sri Lanka vs Kazakhstan
The girls moved on to the bottom 4 play-off against Kazakhstan but was unable to find a win.
| Match | Team Kazkhastan | Team Sri Lanka | Score |
| WS2 | Janel Ospanova | Heshani Imanga | 7/5, 6/1 |
| WS1 | Aiya Nupbay | Dewmini Warnasuriya | 6/1, 6/0 |
| WD | Janel Ospanova
Dilnaz Mashabayeva |
Dewmini Warnasuriya
Saajida Razick |
Not Played |
| Tie won Kazakhstan 3-0 | |||
Sri Lanka will play their tie against Indonesia today (13th April) to decide the 15th and 16th places. However, the jig is up for Sri Lanka as they find themselves relegated from the tournament for 2020, along with the Indonesian team
Earlier in the tournament…
Sri Lanka vs Philippines
The Sri Lankan entourage is captained and coached by Ignatious Vijayakanth and the 2019 team comprised of Heshani Imanga, Dewmini Warnasuriya and Saajida Razick.
Taking the plunge first with the Girls’ 2nd singles, Heshani Imanga of OKI posed a striking front against Alexa Joy Milliam, but to no avail. Milliam managed to take Imanga down in straight sets, 6/3, 6/3 to stamp the first win for Philippines.
Dewmini Warnasuriya of Visakha Vidyalaya went down fast in the remaining singles at the hands of Alexandra Eala, 6/0, 6/0. With the tie already in their grasp, Alexa Joy Milliam returned for the doubles rubber partnering Janaila Rose Prulla. They were able to finish the tie with a clean account, 6/4, 6/3, sending Razick and Imanga back to the drawing board.
Read More: Winless Sri Lanka takes one more swing at redemption
Sri Lanka vs New Zealand
With already a loss in the tournament, Sri Lanka faced off against New Zealand looking for better fortunes. After a thrilling 1st match, a win didn’t seem so far-fetched, but the Kiwis pulled through in friendly fashion, leaving the Lankan camp still on the hunt.
Sasha Situe found herself one set down in the opening single, 1/6, with Heshani Imanga on the front foot. This is when the experience kicked in and Situe made a magnificent comeback in the match to take the next two sets, 7/5, 6/0.
The next 2 matches were easy sweeps for the Kiwi’s with Vivian Yang and Renee Zhang changing gears to kill mode on the Lankans. Yang defeated Dewmini Warnasuriya 6/0, 6/0 in the 1st singles and the New Zealand pair ended the doubles 6/0, 6/1 to take the win.
Sri Lanka has one more tie left in the group against Indonesia, which is scheduled to take place today (10th April). However, their losses will result in them entering the bottom 8 half of the draw for the knockouts.
Read More: A new frontier awaits, can Sri Lanka finally make the leap?
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