Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III:

Eight countries in battle for elevation to Group II

Anuradha Abeysekera

Sri Lanka once again will host the 'Davis Cup - BNP Paribas, Asia/Oceania Zone Group III Tie -2011' in Colombo at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts from June 13. The tournament will continue for one week. There will be eight nations participating in this year's tournament namely Kuwait, Lebanon, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Vietnam and hosts Sri Lanka.

The official draw and the captains meeting will be held at SLTA on June 14, while the opening ceremony is scheduled for 15th at 9.15 a.m. which will be graced by the Sports Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage as chief guest.

Harshana Godamanne will be the Sri Lanka's No 1 singles player for the Davis Cup while Dinesh Kanthan has also secured his place in the team. Aasiri Iddamalgoda will be the Sri Lanka's non playing captain. The SLTA along with the local tennis fraternity are working hard to ensure that the tie to be conducted at the highest standard.

The eight teams will compete in two Groups (four teams in each) in the Round Robin format and the top two teams in each Group will battle each other in a new 'Promotion Pool', where they will play in the same format. The best two nations in the Promotion Pool will be promoted to the Group II in 2011. Sri Lanka will mark a milestone in its tennis history if they are get elevated to Group II and will make every effort to achieve this goal.

International Tennis Federation (ITF) has appointed Ashraf Hamouda of Qatar as the referee and Abishek Mukherjee of India as neutral chair umpire for the Davis Cup. Meanwhile four Sri Lankan referees will get the chance to officiate the tie along with a UK white badge umpire, Martine Etheridge.

The local white badge umpires will get the much needed exposure which will give them more opportunities to officiate tournaments in the region as well.

ITF has identified Sri Lanka as the best destination in the region to host their events after the dawn of peace in the country and SLTA has done a great job to grab these opportunities. After the successful completion of qualifying round of Junior Davis Cup, FED Cup and World Junior Tennis Championships in Sri Lanka last February, the ITF has once again shown their confidence in SLTA to host this tournament. International events of this caliber will help boost Tourism Industry while consolidating the national economy.

It will also popularize the country as a sporting hub in the region. The Sri Lankan team: Harshana Godamanna, Oshada Wijemanne, Rajeev Rajapakse, Vimuktha De Alwis, Dineshkanthan Thangarajah and Aasiri Iddamalgoda (non playing captain)

Team Profiles:

Harshana Godamanna

Born : October 31st 1985

Height : 180cm
School : Royal College, Colombo
Back Hand : Single -Handed
Started Tennis : At the age of 3
Racket : Wilson K-Factor Tour
Coaches : Sylvester Francis and Dominik Utzinger

Achievements:
National Level : Won two national triple crowns (men's singles, and mixed doubles) 2005 /2006 Sri Lanka's No 1 for over 2 years before turning professional. International: Winning the doubles title (with Bart Goverts) in a Pakistan ATP Futures tourney November 2010, now holds below 1000 ATP world rank behind Arjun Fernando and Suresh Sivagnanam.

Represented Sri Lanka in Commonwealth 2010 in Delhi and Asian Games in Guangzhou, China Davis Cup: Has been a player for 5 years since 2002, except in 2004. Lost most of the matches in the first two years but enjoyed a 3-5, 4-5, 5-5 singles win and loss record during the last three years consecutively and was the key player behind Sri Lanka's entry to Group II in 2009 in Syria. In 2010 Davis Cup Group II defeated Daniel King Turner (New Zealand), who is ranked 300 in the world in his Davis Cup career.

Oshada Wijemanne

Born : 27 July 1987
Height : 6' 4"
School : Stafford International
Back Hand : Double -Handed
Started Tennis : At the age of 5
Racket : Babolat
Coaches : Sylvester Francis

Achievements:
Francis Marian University, USA College ranked number 8 in Singles up to date.
Davis Cup: Davis Cup 2002 / Davis Cup 2003
Rajeev Rajapakse
Born : May 11th 1980
Height : 6ft
School : Royal College, Colombo
Back Hand : Single - Handed
Started Tennis : At the age of 9
Racket : Wilson Prostaff
Coaches : Sudantha Soysa and Dominik Utzinger

Achievements
National Level : Sri Lanka men's singles runner-up 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007. Sri
Lanka men's doubles winner 2003 (Renouk Wijemanne) 2005 (Renouk Wijemanne), 2006 (Harshana Godamanna), and 2007 (Renouk Wijemanne) International : Represented Sri Lanka in Asian Games twice in Korea and Qatar Davis
Cup: Debut in 1998. The most cherished moments are beating Malaysia the same year to enter group II from group III in Asia/Oceania Zone and qualifying from IV to III in Jordan in 2004.
Represented Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth 2010 in Delhi.
Vimuktha de Alwis
Born : 18 April 1994
Height : 169 cm
School : Jakarta International School, Indonesia

Back Hand : Double handed
Started Tennis : At the age of 4 years.
Racket : Babolat
Coaches : Jeff Landau and Kemal Mawira.

Achievements

National Level:
Sri Lanka Nationals 18 and Under Singles 2010 -Winner
Sri Lanka Nationals 16 and Under Singles 2010 -Winner
Sri Lanka Nationals Men's Open Singles 2010 -Semi Finals
Sri Lanka Nationals Men's Open Doubles 2010 - Runner Up
Sri Lanka Nationals 16 and Under Singles 2009 -Winner
Sri Lanka Nationals 14 and Under Singles 2008 - Winner
Sri Lanka Nationals 14 and Under Doubles 2008 - Winner
Sri Lanka Nationals 12 and Under Singles 2006 - Winner

International:

Highest ITF World ranking - 647 ( July 2010)
ITF Grade 5 tournament Colombo February 2010, Doubles - Winner ITF Grade 5 tournaments in 2010 - Jordan and Vietnam: Quarter Finals Indonesia Open Junior Championships Bintang series 18 and Under - Singles, January 2009 - Winner Indonesia Maesa Open Junior National Championships 16 and Under - Singles, April 2009 - Winner Asian Tennis Federation Series 14 and Under Championships May 2008, Singles - Winner Indonesia Championships 14 and Under singles, March 2007 - Winner Represented Sri Lanka in Asian Games in Guangzhou 2010, China

Davis Cup: First Appearance
Dineshkanthan Thangarajah
Born: January 5th 1991
Height: 5' 10"
School: St. Micheal's College Batticaloa
St.Peter's College
Back Hand: Double - Handed
Started Tennis: At the age of 7
Racket: Dunlop Aero Gel
Coaches: Dinith Pathiraja (10 year period)

Achievements
National Level : Junior national champion from years 2001-2009 in the under 10/12/14/18 age groups.
International : Ranked number one in Asian Zone II Group in 2005, played Junior Davis cup in 2006 and was ranked 512 in the world in the under 18 ITF 2006 and won the 2009 Sri Lanka ITF singles and won 3 doubles championships in the under 18 championship 2009. Represented Sri Lanka in Commonwealth Games 2010 in Delhi and

Asian Games in Guangzhou, China
Davis Cup: First Appearance in 2010
Aasiri Iddamalgoda Non Playing Captain
Born: June 13, 1973
Height:5' 9'
School: DS Senanayake
Back Hand: Single - Handed
Started Tennis: At the age of 10
Racket: Wilson
Coaches: Nevil Senarathna

Achievements:

National Level: Junior National Champion 1988 /1989, National Champion in 1998. Davis Cup: First appearance in 1999. Total won 5 matches in his Davis Cup career.