Sports
Tennis champ Yasitha says there were no shortcuts to success
By a Special Sports Correspondent
Yasitha de Silva reached another milestone in his tennis career when he bagged the Men’s Open Singles event at the ongoing Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals in Colombo.
This is his second Singles ‘crown’ in tennis. Looking back at his win the champ says that playing tennis at a competitive level is tough given that he has to balance duties at his place of employment-MAS Holdings.
Yasitha is one player who took his education as seriously as the sport he chose for himself. And he credits his parents for showing him the importance of having a sound education.
While playing tennis he completed his degree at the University of Colombo. At present, he works as a Business Analyst to the Director of Group Operations at MAS Holdings Priyantha Fernando.
Yasitha is a household name in the Sri Lankan tennis fraternity and that identity in tennis was slowly built up since he started playing the sport at his alma matter Ananda College Colombo. “There was an amazing tennis culture at school and that helped me keep working on my game and loving the sport,” said Yasitha.
After he received his first lessons in tennis from his school coach Anupa Maththemagoda he came under the tutelage of Niranjan Casie Chetty with whom he has trained for the past 13 years. Incidentally Niranjan also produced this year’s Women’s Singles Champion Anjalika Kurera.
Yasitha wasn’t a dazzling player when competing at junior events and while in school. But he raised his game after stepping into the senior arena. Since making into the national pool he has been a regular and contested every Davis Cup event as a member of the men’s national team. He has fond memories of winning his Davis Cup match against Thailand. He also won a bronze medal at the 2016 South Asian Games; these two achievements being the top highlights in overseas assignments for country’s tennis representative.
He also values high his participation in tennis while in University and talks with much fondness about the appearances he made at the world university games in 2017 and 2019. “My future dream is to be a contributing player to the national team and also help Sri Lanka get back into Group 2 in the Davis Cup,” said Yasitha during an interview with The Island newspaper.
But all that has to be done while balancing his job as a business analyst. There are much younger hungrier players climbing up the ‘hill’ where he, at present, has taken a position as the ‘king of tennis’. “It will be tough for me in the future because most of the top players are younger than me. These young players are training full-time. I started working this year, so I have to balance my job with my tennis. I have to keep my game at the best possible level,” said the current national champion.
Yasitha maintained that he still focuses on the game with the same passion as when in his youth. “My childhood dream was to become the national champion. If you put in the right work and ethics and keep believing in yourself you can reach great heights in this sport. I still feel I can improve a lot more as a player. I want to learn and grow in this sport,” he said.
He also plans to make progress in his business career and see what the future holds for him there. He has this piece of advice for youngsters, “The message I want to give aspiring young players is to start the sport with small dreams. You must dream big, but don’t look for shortcuts in life. The toughest paths get you the most amazing results”.
By the time New Zealand walk out under the Khettarama lights on Wednesday, it will have been eight days since their last competitive fixture, but in the face of their disastrous outing with the bat against England, it’s Sri Lanka that might be feeling rather undercooked, and are in danger of being eliminated from a World Cup they are co-hosting.
Make no qualms about it, Sri Lanka enter this contest seeking a massive course correction. Despite a strong start to the tournament with the bat, including a dominant chase over Australia and a dismantling of Oman, their monumental failure in their opening Super Eight fixture has once more disturbed the ghosts of collapses past.
Clarity will be the key word coming into this game, with Sri Lanka’s batters caught in several minds as to how to approach a tacky surface last time out. Some, like Kusal and Kamindu Mendis, were dismissed trying to find singles – something batting coach Vikram Rathour said might not have been optimal on a sticky surface, where even such “safe” stroke play can elicit errors.
Others failed to execute while trying to show intent, instead erring on execution and timing, while those like Kamil Mishara hung around doing not much at all, before making the wrong choice nevertheless in the end.
The game will have served up more questions than answers, and New Zealand will no doubt be itching to press on those pressure points.
New Zealand of course are coming into this game as the in-form batting unit this tournament, having played all their games on the flat, batter-friendly surfaces in Chennai and Ahmedabad. In Sri Lanka, though, they will need to come out with a more measured approach, particularly against a Sri Lankan attack that will no doubt look to exploit the spin-friendly home conditions.
New Zealand also enter with the better head-to-head record, with a 16-9 win-loss record against Sri Lanka; even on Sri Lankan soil it’s 5-3 in favour of the visitors. Recent history is not much different, with two Sri Lankan wins bookending a trio of defeats.
But all that means little in the context of a major tournament, particularly in a game which is as close to a must-win as possible for both sides. For Sri Lanka a defeat means a knockout; New Zealand, meanwhile, have slightly more wiggle room – particularly if England defeat Pakistan on Monday night – though they will then need other results to go their way.
In the spotlight
Of the spinners playing in this tournament, only Adam Zampa and Adil Rashid have a better record against Sri Lanka in men’s T20Is than Mitchell Santner. Across his 11 games against them, he has gone wicketless just twice, grabbing 14 wickets at an economy rate of 6.38 – well below his career economy of 7.24. This however will be Santner’s first time playing at Sri Lanka’s most spin-friendly limited overs venue, and he will be backing himself to boost those numbers.
Dunith Wellalage has seven wickets across this tournament, only behind Maheesh Theekshana (8) for Sri Lanka. Against England he was asked to bowl in the powerplay and came through with figures of 16 for 1 in that period, before finishing up with innings best figures of 3 for 26. With the action moving to the Khettarama, conditions should suit him even more. Sri Lanka will also be relying on him with the bat as well, with him twice being promoted up the order to no.5 already.
Team news
Sri Lanka will have been distraught with their batting performance against England, but it’s unlikely they will make any drastic changes. Kamil Mishara, who came in for Kusal Perera last time out, is likely to get another outing.
Sri Lanka XI (probable): Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis, Pavan Rathnayake, Dasun Shanaka, Kamindu Mendis, Dunith Wellalage, Dushan Hemantha, Dushmantha Chameera, Maheesh Theekshana, Dilshan Madushanka
New Zealand have a fully fit 15 thanks to their extra couple of days off after the Pakistan game washout. Jacob Duffy was set to make way last time out for the returning Lockie Ferguson before rain played spoiler.
New Zealand XI (probable): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi Lockie Ferguson
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself. Harry Brook, England’s captain, took matters into his own hands in Pallekele, promoting himself to No. 3 and blazing his maiden T20 international hundred to drag his team past Pakistan and into the semi-finals of the Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 with a game to spare, almost single-handedly.
Brook started the tournament, his first as captain, with 53 against Nepal but had been dismissed by spin for less than 20 for four innings in a row. His response was to move up two spots from No. 5 in order to bat in the powerplay, and he found himself walking out to face the second ball after Shaheen Shah Afridi – recalled by Pakistan – struck with the first ball of England’s chase.
Afridi took three wickets in the powerplay to check England’s progress, and Usman Tariq struck twice in the middle overs to reduce them to 58 for 4 and then 103 for 5. But Brook continued to flay Pakistan’s attack to all parts, reaching a 50-ball hundred by launching Afridi over cover for six and then over mid-off for four.
He was cleaned up one ball later by Afridi’s pinpoint yorker, but walked off to a standing ovation with England needing only 10 to win. They made hard work of it, gifting two wickets to Mohammad Nawaz to take the game into the 20th over, but Jofra Archer smeared Salman Mirza through midwicket as England’s dugout breathed a sigh of relief.
England’s win sealed their qualification for the semi-finals with a match to spare, and they will top the group if they can beat New Zealand in Colombo on Friday. They are yet to put a complete performance together and were shoddy in the field against Pakistan, but have now reached the semi-finals for a fifth men’s T20 World Cup in a row.
Pakistan, meanwhile, must beat Sri Lanka in their final group game and rely on other results falling their way. Despite Shahibzada Farhan’s impressive 63, they always look short on runs after they were bogged down by spin in the middle overs, with Liam Dawson’s 3 for 24 the outstanding performance among England’s attack.
Brief scores:
England 166 for 8 in 19.1 overs (Harry Brook 100, Sam Curran 16, Will Jacks 28; Shaheen Shah Afridi 4-30, Mohammad Nawaz 2-26, Usman Tarique 2-31) beat Pakistan 164 for 9 in 20 overs (Shahibzada Farhan 63, Babar Azam 25, Fakhar Zaman 25, Shadab Khan 23; Jofra Archer 2-32, Jamie Overton 2-26, Liam Dawson 3-24, Adil Rashid 1-31) by two wickets
(Cricinfo)
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