Sports
Dinara’s presence in tennis has been magical!
By A Special Sports Correspondent
Sri Lanka’s new tennis sensation Dinara De Silva has taken the court by storm and is knocking on the door to achieve greater successes.
Her leap to stardom began last year when she won the National singles crown beating one of her favourite players in the sport; Angelika Kurera.
And this year she followed that spectacle by winning the singles crown at the SSC Open where she beat her schoolmate Saajida Razick in the finals.
The clock has turned full circle for Dinara. Till last year she couldn’t compete at open events because of an ITF age rule; which prohibits junior tennis players from contesting against seniors till they reach age 14. Beating Angelika was perhaps one of her best moments in the game because one rarely gets to beat a player who you admire when the latter is still actively involved in tennis. Till a few years ago Dinara was just a little girl watching the seniors play and dreaming to emulate them. Now she is a feared opponent and even the seniors have to take her presence in a tournament seriously. On a note of encouragement she has said that she was given a huge welcome and much encouragement by the seniors when she stepped into playing in their league.
This year she added another feather in her cap when she was picked to represent Sri Lanka at the first round of the ITF Junior Circuit Tennis tournament (Colombo) where she shone for her country. The other players who did well at this tournament were Methvan Wijemanne and Vichinthya Nilaweera. She has qualified to play in the second round of the tournament which is now in progress at the SLTA courts in Green Path.
In a recent newspaper interview young Dinara had spelt out as her immediate goals to place herself within the top 100 ranked players in the world in the under 18 category. This target she hopes to reach within the next three years. Her present world ranking among juniors who are playing singles is 968 as at January 29, 2024. This apparently is her career best international ranking to date in the singles event.
One factor that stands in good stead for her is that she has supportive parents who encourage her involvement in tennis. However, at the initial stages of trying out sports, Dinara had dabbled in cricket. Her promise and potential shown in hand-eye coordination in the bat and ball game had prompted her dad to send her for tennis practices. Thus began a journey in tennis where she has delivered and done justice to the choice her dad made in picking a sport for her.
She is still a schoolgirl and does her studies at Bishop’s College, Colombo. She has represented her school at tennis, but despite her enthusiasm and appetite for tennis ‘winning’ at the sport came after much hard work and a long wait. According to newspaper articles about her she now practices at the Dineshkanthan Tennis Academy. But she still remembers her first tennis coaches who helped her cut teeth in the sport. She thanks them for introducing her to the sport and helping her in a manner in which the seeds of interest for tennis were planted in a manner in which this teenager would stick with the sport for a long time.
Playing tennis at national level can be very competitive for such a small girl like Dinara. She is aware of her work load in tennis and avoids walking in the path to ‘burn out’. This is why she may have skipped some tournaments which she would have contested in the recent past.
She has been quoted in newspaper interviews saying that tennis demands much physical work and a lot of expenses have to be met just to stay in the game. Right now other than playing tennis and managing her studies she has no time to enjoy some of the fun aspects of life any other teenager would love to experience. Though she must attend physical classroom sessions to pursue her education here in Sri Lanka she has said that in other countries tennis players have the option of following their studies via online education and spend the rest of the time of the day at the tennis academy. This is one area where Sri Lanka’s education authorities must focus on and make the necessary adjustments if they want the island’s teenage sportsmen and women to balance their school education and involvement in professional sport.
Looking forward to from what she achieved at the SSC Open and the recently concluded ITF Junior Circuit matches she hopes to make the Sri Lanka team at the Billy Jean King Cup (July/August), the Qualifier for Asia Oceania Main Event (April/May) and the Junior Billy Jean King Cup (under 16) Asia Oceania Pre-Qualifier Team Event which is scheduled in Colombo.
This girl who started playing tennis even before she started schooling in the Grade One class has come a long way. She remembers crying before a match when she was new to tennis, but if there are any tears that are shed now they have to be associated with the sweet successes of victory.
When a player young as her achieves stardom and becomes a teenage prodigy she builds a culture around her in what she is good at. The influence she is now able to create on other teenagers through tennis can be very ‘infectious’.
91st Battle of the Saints
St. Joseph’s hold the edge when they meet arch rivals St. Peter’s in the 91st Battle of the Saints’ big match starting today. After having beaten Petes by nine wickets in the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ quarter-final at Polonnaruwa the Joes arive at the SSC ground to prove that the victory registered two months ago was not a fluke.
St. Joseph’s captained by wicketkeeper batsman Kenath Liyanage are concluding a successful season after having remained unbeaten until they were eliminated in the semi-final by St. Sebastian’s .
A strong batting lineup and a dynamic spin department are making them a formidable outfit.
Experienced campaigner Yenula Dewthusa and Demion de Silva with their left-arm spin and Aveesha Samash and Nushan Perera with off spin provide the Joes variety in the spin department. Dewthusa, Demion de Silva and Nushan Perera are their leading wicket takers. Spinners doing well at schools matches have not been effective at the SSC during the last few big matches. It will be interesting to watch as to how the spinners in these two teams would fare during the three days.
For pace the Joes will look to Maanasa Madubashana and Dunick Perera who are expected to share the new ball.
Abishek Jayaweera and Aveesha Samash will open batting, while Senuja Wakunugoda, skipper Liyanage, Dewthusa and Rishma Amarasinghe form the rest of the top order batting lineup.
St. Joseph’s registered three outright victories this season (beat St. Servatius’, St. Benedict’s and St. Peter’s) and remained unbeaten.
St. Peter’s under Oween Salgado’s captaincy did well to reach the business end of the Tier ‘A’ tournament. But the Petes were uncertain of Salgado’s participation in the big match as they were yet to assess his fitness yesterday morning. He was wounded during a match and the stitched wound had not fully healed according to team sources.
Petes beat Gurukula, St. Aloysius’ and Holy Cross this season. Their only defeat was at the hands of their arch rivals. They will look forward to avenge the defeat at the big match.
The Petes will rely on the likes of Dilana Damsara, Thareen Sanketh, Nathan David and Jason Fernando to take a greater share of batting responsibilities. The middle order batsman Sanketh is their leading batsman and has maintained an average of over 50 runs.
Speedsters Ethan Ransilige and Joshua Sebastian will share new ball duties for the Petes.
Lashmika Perera and Sanketh will share most of the slow ball duties.
St Peter’s are in the possession of the coveted Rev. Fr. Maurice J. Le Goc Trophy having last won the big match under the captaincy of Vinu Mohotty in 2016.
St. Joseph’s lead the series tally 12-10. They last won under Ruwantha Fernandopulle’s captaincy in 2008.
St. Peter’s College Team
(Seated from left) Harsha Prabath Perera (Asst. Physio/Trainer & Massuer), Thushara Maduhanka (1st XI Asst. Coach),
Nalin Wijesinghe (Head Coach), Priyadarshana Cooray (MIC – Senior & Junior), Oween Salgado (Captain), Rev. Fr.
Rohitha Rodrigo (Rector), Rev. Fr. Praveen Wijesekara (Priest in Charge – Cricket), Lashmika Perera
(Vice Captain), Dilana Damsara, Rohan Fernando (MIC – 2nd XI), Dinuka D. Godakanda (2nd XI Coach).
(Standing 1st row from left) Dinsara Rathnaweera, Dineth de Silva, Tharin Senvidu, Nathan David, Hiruka Silva, Thareen
Sanketh, Virul Amarapala, Yatheendra Jayaweera, Salith Gallage, Raphael Hettige. (Standing 2nd row from left) Jason Fernando,
Joshua Sebastian, Savi Fernnado, Ethan Ransilige, Asadisa De Silva, Sadeesha Kariyawasam, Enosh Peterson
by Reemus Fernando
120th Lovers’ Quarrel
The stakeholders of the Lovers’ Quarrel Big Match were still pursuing to make the historic 120th edition a reality on the eve of the match after Richmond authorities threatened to pull out citing that Mahinda had violated an accepted norm by included a newly recruited player in the big match team.
The historic edition was scheduled to commence as a three day encounter at the Galle International Stadium today. But the match remained doubtful at the time this edition went to press. The officials of both teams were unavailable for comments on the eve of the match. According to sources close to the two teams the joint big match committee was scheduled to meet in the evening yesterday to take a final decision regarding the match.
Richmond threatened to pull out after Mahinda included Charya Paranavithana in their big match team. Paranavithana captained St. Aloysius’ this season. He is not eligible to play matches that come under the purview of Sri Lanka Schools Cricket Association as he is yet to be registered as a Mahinda player. Big Matches are not played according to SLSCA rules but Richmond authorities had raised concerns over the player registration citing that the two schools had honoured the norm even at the big match.
According to sources Richmond were threatening to pull out if Paranavithana’s name was included in the playing XI on the match day morning.
Mahinda concluded a highly successful season as the team captained by Kaveen Rukshan earned the Under 19 Division I Tier ‘A’ promotion this year. They were also the joint champions of the Tier ‘B’ tournament with Thurstan. In contrast former Division I champions Richmond had to fight relegation scares. The team captained by Thamindu Pradeeptha later successfully retained their Tier A position by recording an outright victory.
Mahinda College Team
Seated left to right: T.D. Ajantha Kumara (Head Coach), Y. Nishantha Kumara (Master in Charge – Senior), L. P. Weeraman (Deputy Principal –
Sports), Kaveen Rukshan (Captain), Mr. Janaka Peduruheva (Principal), Arosha Udayanga (Vice Captain), Mr. M.W. Ajith (Prefect of Games), Mr.
Jagath Samarakoon (Master in charge – Junior), Mr. Sachith Lakmal (Asst. Coach)
Standing (Middle row) – left to right – Dineth Pahasara, Thiyon Helika, Vinupa Nethmira, Sahanjith Irugalbandara, Dulisth Darshana, Senuka
Dangamuwa, Sadew Nethmina, Manitha Rajapaksha, Vishmitha Sathsara, Charya Paranavithana, Randula Mabarana
Standing (Back row) – left to right – Sajeew Punsara, Sehas Ashinsa, Kaveesha Githmal, Thevindu Rashmika
by Reemus Fernando
CR & FC huffed and puffed before beating Havelocks Sports Club 25-24 in a keenly contested Clifford Cup semi final game worked off in Colombo yesterday before booking their berth in Sunday’s rugby final, scheduled to take place in Kandy.
In Sunday’s final, CR will meet Kandy SC, the winner of the first semi final.
CR dominated the first half, but Havies came from behind in the second half to be in contention of pulling the game off till the last minute. Havelocks’ chances were boosted with two powerful tries coming from Chathura Dilshan late in the second half. But unpardonable mistakes by the men in the pink and chocolate jerseys helped CR to slip away with the game. Havelocks gave away two yellow cards during extra time in the second half.
The winners collected their points through three tries, two conversions and two penalties while Havelocks responded with three converted tries and a penalty. The winners led 15-10 at half time. Referee Raveen Alexander controlled the game.
By A Special Sports Correspondent
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