Ashen Silva became the new men’s singles champion at the national tennis championship when he defeated former champion Sharmal Dissanayake in the final.
Silva should be proud of this achievement as he has put in so much hard work to progress to this level. As a 20 year-old, he is still young and has many more years ahead of him. However, he is a talented and hardworking player in the game as all he does is improve his game all day.
He is also coaching at St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya with his present coach Dineth Pathiraja who was Silva’s coach during his early days at St. Peter’s College, Negombo.
Ashen Silva started playing tennis at the age of ten when he was attracted to the game by watching the boys play at their school courts in Negombo.
“I took a liking to the game by watching the boys play on the courts that were close to my home. My first coach was Joy Burden and then Dineth Pathiraja even before I joined St. Peter’s Bambalapitiya to continue with my studies there,” said Silva.
“I used to practice every day when I was in Negombo. I was happy when I was selected to play for the school team after many years of practising. Then I switched to St. Peter’s, Bambalapitiya and played there too. I was happy that I was making progress,” said Ashen Silva.
He sat for his GCE O/L while at St. Peter’s, Bambalapitiya and continued to study for the A/L exam too. He has played for the school team, and now he continues to play and coach the boys of the school in Bambalapitiya.
However, he has to travel daily from Negombo to Colombo to continue with the game that he is dedicated to.
“I want to continue playing for the country as long as I can. My father is a broker and my mother is a housewife. My father manages to earn the funds to help me pursue my dreams of playing for the country,” said Ashen.
The Tennis Association will conduct many more ITF tennis tournaments in the country and send teams for tournaments held overseas. Ashen Silva wants to go on playing for Sri Lanka and earn a good name for the country, which will also enable him to turn professional.