ITF junior tourney begins on February 11

Sanjaya Ariyaratne

The 25th International Tennis Federation Junior (under-18) Championships gets under way on Monday (February 11) at SSC Courts, Colombo and will be continued till February 16. This annual tournament is being hosted by the SSC on behalf of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association for the fourth consecutive year.

Over 14 countries compete at this event namely Malaysia, India, United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Iran and host country Sri Lanka.

Several top junior players Dineshkanthan Thangarajah, Jithmie Jayawickrema, Amritha Muttaih, Guyanga Weerasekera, Michael Syaguna will vie for honours in this event representing Sri Lanka. Much is expected from them at this year’s tournament and hopefully they could better their ITF rankings as they are playing on home territory.

Meanwhile, three member team will take part in the Junior Davis Cup which is scheduled to be held from February 22 to 29 in Malaysia. The tournament will feature seven countries from the region including, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Kazakstan, Malaysia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Tajikistan. The players - Amresh Jayawickrama, Arvind Fernando, Shehan Gomesz.

Another three member Sri Lanka team will participate in the four nation Junior Fed cup which will be worked off from February 22 to 27 in Malaysia. The other countries: Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Pakistan. The team - Amrita Muttiah, Shenali Weerasekera, Sherene Wijesinghe.

SLTA also announced the players for the World Juniors Championship to be held in Malaysia from February 24 to March 2 which will comprise six countries. The countries - Kazakhstan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Tajikistan.

The team:

Boys - Vimuktha de Alwis, Sharmal Dissanayake, Thuruna Eswarage.

Girls - Nilushi Fernando, Shankari Thiyakaran, Dinushki Ranasinghe.