Sri Lanka’s top tennis player Harshana Godamanna played his last game for Sri Lanka and made certain that his country beats Iraq 2-0 in the final in the Asia/Oceania group IV Davis Cup by Rakuten tie that concluded at the SLTA clay courts yesterday.
With this win Sri Lanka finished unbeaten in this tie and will be promoted to group III next year.
Godamanna registered a fairly comfortable win over Adel Mustapha of Iraq in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 and with that win in the two singles there was no need to play the doubles match.
Earlier, Yasitha de Silva played in the first singles match and beat Abdulla Ali Hatem 6-4, 6-2. Yasitha took time to settle down and gave away four games in the first set.
Yasitha pulled up his socks in the second set and having played some accurate shots he conceded only two games.
Godamanna played to his best potential and his placements saw his opponent Adel make unforced errors to go down without offering a good fight.
It was an emotional farewell for Godamanna that brough him glowing tributes to his style of play, character in court discipline and dedication to the sport.
Godamanna said that his parents never pushed him to play tennis but they had encouraged him to go ahead. He said that he worked hard during practices and at matches thinking of the country first.
He said that his first coach was Sylvester Francis from the age of four years and thanked him for making him what he is today.
Speaking with tears flowing down Godamanne thanked all those who trained him and the SLTA and took care of him every time he was picked to play for the country. He represented Sri Lanka for 20 years until yesterday and has never failed to give off his best effort in the game that saw him win almost every time he got into the court.
Godamanna called on young players to work hard on their game and put in more hours of practice. He was surrounded by other players who spelt out their joy at watching him play and the encouragement they received by it.
Godamanna was presented with a large plaque with many pictures of him in action and his parents in appreciation. The presentation was made by Iqbal bin Issack president of SLTA.