Sri Lanka kicks off Group IV Asia/Oceania Davis Cup by Rakuten 2022

The 2022 edition of the Asia/Oceania Davis Cup by Rakuten Group IV Event A kicked off yesterday in Colombo at Sri Lanka Tennis Association Clay Courts.

Matches began following an opening ceremony at 9.40 p.m. The Sri Lanka Tennis Association extends an invitation to all tennis lovers to come experience this exciting week of Tennis, free of charge.

Official event Sponsors for the event will be LICC Jeans and the Sri Lanka Convention Bureau.

There will be a total of seven teams participating; namely, Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Iraq, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives and Yemen, including the host nation, Sri Lanka, after three teams withdrew from the event (Macau, Oman, and Qatar).

There are 20 teams in Group IV Asia/Oceania category which are divided into two events, 10 teams each. While Event A takes place here, Event B will take place in Bahrain from 17– 22 October 2022. There will be two groups (one of four teams and one of three teams) with the nation finishing top of each group to play-off for promotion to the Asia/Oceania Group III. Team Sri Lanka will field two highly experienced players and three young guns, presenting a well-rounded team for the upcoming tie.

Team Sri Lanka for Davis Cup by Rakuten 2022 comprises Harshana Godamanna, Yasitha De Silva, Thehan Wijemanne, Chathurya Nilaweera, Ashen Silva, Non-Playing Captain Udith Wickramasinghe, Coach Renouk Wijemanne and Manager Cmdre. Pradeep Karunatilake.

Sri Lanka is currently ranked 106 in the world with 54.75 points under them. In the history of the Davis Cup, Sri Lanka has reached the second round of the Asia/Oceania Zone II on five occasions, in 1995 and between 1989-1992. 

Harshana Godamanna stands as the most decorated player for the side, having played in the Davis Cup , with a career spanning two decades since 2002. Yasitha De Silva is a seasoned Davis Cup player who has been representing Sri Lanka since 2016. Thehan Wijemanne and Chathurya Nilaweera are both former Junior Davis Cup players and will be representing Sri Lanka in Davis Cup for the consecutive third and second years respectively.

Ashen Silva will be making his debut appearance. Non-Playing Captain Udith Wickramasinghe is a former national player and Coach Renouk Wijemanne is a past national champion and a former Davis Cup player himself. The Team Manager Cmdre. Pradeep Karunatilake from Sri Lanka Navy is also a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association.

The ITF referee for the event will be Abhishek Mukherjee (Silver Badge) from India and the Assistant Referee will be Dharaka Ellawala (Silver Badge) from Sri Lanka. There will be a total of six chair umpires: Shreeram Gokhale (Bronze Badge) from India, Sung Min Nam (Bronze Badge) from South Korea, Amir Mosavi (White Badge) from Iran, Shahzad Alvi (White Badge) from Pakistan and two local officials, Dinusha Wijesuriya (White Badge) and Prasad Jayalatharachchi (White Badge). 

The Chief of Umpires for the event will be Leena Nageshkar (White Badge) from India assisted by Mufadal Hazari (White Badge) of Sri Lanka. They will be heading a total of 26 Line Umpires and 26 Ball Kids who will be part of the officiating team.

Sri Lanka Tennis Association President Iqbal Bin Issack, along with the General Committee, has put in tremendous effort to host this year’s tournament, under unusual circumstances, with the biggest economic crisis the nation has seen. He is being supported by Anupa Maththamagoda who will serve as the Tournament Director for the event along with the tournament staff composed of S. Hariprashanth, S. Shiyananth and T. Bahirathan, supported by Court Martials, Liaison officers, volunteers. 

Subsequently, the office staff consisted of Nirmala De Silva, Shiran Wijesinghe, Nipuni Maheshika, Nethmini Karunathilake and L. Warshini Rashmika, and the ground staff headed by P. Kanagarajan, are part of the organising team of the tournament. “With the country’s situation, it was indeed very challenging to organise a tournament of this scale. However, through all these challenges, we are happy to organise and are looking forward to a great tournament ahead,” Issack added.