Guyanga Weerasekera the triple crown winner

Richard Dwight

The 93rd Colombo Tennis Championship, concluded recently at the SLTA on a very memorable note, for the triumphant, Guyanga Weerasekera, undoubtedly a potential player, with much promise for the future.

The seventeen year old, Guyanga, acquitted himself well on the court to dominate it to the extend - that apart from winning the boys under-18 singles, he also won the triple crown.

Thus making it 4 events at the championships, which certainly is not an everyday affair, a few and far between occurrence to be extraordinary and most commendable.

On his way to the triple crown, he won the men’s singles, the men’s doubles partnering, Rajeev Rajapakse, and the mixed doubles along with, Amirtha Muttiah.

Guyanga Weerasekera’s, splendid showing at the championship, did not however come as a surprise, to those who mean well by him and follow the lad’s tennis closely.

Chryshantha Perera coached him for a long period, with tennis racquets sponsored by Prince. In his formative years of 7 and 8 he displayed a fondness for tennis balls and gutted racquets, that led to the sport of tennis having a firm grip over him.

And so with the encouragement and support of his parents, Guyanga followed the SLTA’s mini tennis programme under the guidance of Asitha Attygalle.

All this did help him to make a mark as a junior tennis player at Ananda, where on being coached by P.K. de Silva he played in the under 10 and under 12 as captain with much success in the inter schools tournaments.

On joining Lyceum International in the year 2000 and leaving it this year at the age of 17 after having completed his ‘A’ level - his tennis during the intervening period, blossomed out beyond measure, where he was the champion tennis player and the overall captain for the years 2007 and 08.

There was a sense of completeness in the youngster, where apart from tennis, he made progress on all fronts.

But for tennis he did have a penchant and being the reputed player he is won quite a few junior as well as senior competitions at the Otters, Moors, YMCA, SSC, Bandarawela and N’Eliya. He impressed considerably to be the winner of the under 16 singles at last year’s nationals. Guyanga had the distinction of representing Sri Lanka at the Junior Davis Cup 2007 in Thailand, where he beat a Singaporean and a Bangladeshi, this fine performance of his has perhaps earned for him a place in the Davis Cup Pool. Furthermore in the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior Championship held in Sri Lanka for those under 18 in February this year, Guyanga won the singles beating Britain’s Elliot Barnwell and the doubles partnering Upsama Hewakottage.

His achievement is all the more creditable, in that a similar event was won way back in the year 2004 by a Sri Lankan.

Guyanga is keen on staying focused on the game to be as competitive as possible, by participating in ITF tournaments held in different countries so as to better his rankings.

Guyanga given to sober disciplined ways and endowed with a pleasing personality, appears to be fine all-rounder - with a ability to speak well, which was in evidence at the Otters, where he addressed the trainee novices on sportsmanship with reference to Federer’s fine gesture to Nadal.

If Guyanga continues to proceed on these lines having his perspectives and priorities right then success must follow.