Sri Lanka pick leading tennis girls for Billie Jean King Cup | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Sri Lanka pick leading tennis girls for Billie Jean King Cup

14 August, 2022
The Sri Lanka girls’ squad for the Billie Jean King Cup tournament. From left: Gayanga Weerasekera (coach), Hasali Gajaba, Angalika Kurera, Rukshika Wijesooriya, Neyara Weerawansa, Janali Mannamperi and Sujani Bogollagama (manager)
The Sri Lanka girls’ squad for the Billie Jean King Cup tournament. From left: Gayanga Weerasekera (coach), Hasali Gajaba, Angalika Kurera, Rukshika Wijesooriya, Neyara Weerawansa, Janali Mannamperi and Sujani Bogollagama (manager)

Sri Lanka will have a five-member women’s tennis team participate in the Billie Jean King Cup by BNP Paribas Asia/Oceania tennis tournament to be held in the city of Dushanbe in Tajikistan from August 22 to 27.

This is a Group II and Event B tournament where eight countries will participate. It used to be called the Fed Cup tournament but now renamed after a great woman tennis player in Billie Jean King of the USA who ruled women’s tennis for a long period.

A Group I event will be held in Malaysia at the same time. This tournament was not held for the past two years due to the outbreak of the pandemic.

Coach Guyanga Weerasekera, who is also the non playing captain, is very optimistic that the girls will perform well and will be promoted to Group I next year.

“We have been preparing hard for the past three weeks and the players are shaping up very well. They have not faced any glitches so far and are in fine fettle and ready to face any challenges during the tournament,” said Weerasekera.

“The best team has been picked. Angalika Kurera from Ave Maria Convent, Negombo, is the women’s national champion who is looking forward to go further ahead. Rukshika Wijesooriya has been playing for a College team in the USA for the past two years and she can come up with flying colours.

“Janali Mannamperi represents MAS Holdings while Hasali Gajaba is from Visakha Vidyalaya and Neyara Weerawangsa has been playing for her College team in Colombo. They are all equally good players,” added the coach.

The climate in Tajikistan is expected to be hot as it is summer time and this should favour the Sri Lankan players. Besides, the matches will be played on hard courts. Each tie will consist of two singles and a doubles encounter. The team will be leaving on August 18.

The eight countries that will be present are Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Guam, Mongolia, Brunei Darussalam, Turkmenistan and Sri Lanka.

 

Comments