Adithya, bowlers power Sampath Bank to third win

The Asia/Oceania Group IV tournament of the Davis Cup, the world cup of tennis, will be held in Colombo from the 20th to the 25th of July at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) courts. This tournament held under the auspices of World Tennis, is the main team event for the male tennis players of the world. ‎There will be seven nations participating in the event, namely Iraq, Northern Mariana Islands, Qatar, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyztan, Kuwait and the host country Sri Lanka. ‎The Sri Lanka team, made up with a blend of youth and experience, comprises of Apna Perera, Thehan Wijemanna, Ganuka Fernando and Saha Kapilasena with Mineth Navarathna being the stand by player. ‎The Sri Lanka team is coached by experienced Sankha Athukorala with Lakshan Wijerathna being the physio/ Masseur of the team. The manager of the Sri Lanka team is Rukmal Cooray. (From left) Dinith Pathiraja (Tournament Director, Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV Event), Iqbal Bin Issack (President, SLTA), Dushyantha Tittawella (General Manager, Cinnamon Lakeside), Pradeep S. Goonasekera (General Secretary, SLTA) and Rukmal Cooray (Vice President, SLTA). ‎The seven teams will be divided into two groups. One group of three teams and the other one of four teams. Matches will be played in the round robin format in the initial stages and the top two teams from the two groups will compete in cross over matches. The two winners will be promoted from this event. The third placed teams from the two groups will play a demotion play off match. The loser will be demoted. The team which finishes in the 4th place in the group of four will automatically be demoted. As such two teams will be promoted and two teams will be demoted. ‎Official practice days are the 20th and the 21st of July and the matches will be held from the 22nd to the 25th of July. ‎The captains’ meeting and the draw for the tournament will be held at the SLTA on the 21st at 10.00 am, while the opening ceremony of the event is expected to be held on the 22nd of July at 9 30 am on the center court. ‎The balls for the event will be Wilson US Open, with Trident Distributors, the official partner for Wilson sporting goods in Sri Lanka coming on board as the official ball suppliers for the event. Apart from this, Trident Sports under the guidance of Yasser Farook, the managing director has come on board as the official apparel partner for the Sri Lanka team as well. ‎All teams will be staying at the Cinnamon Lakeside with the hotel coming on board as the official hospitality partner for this tournament. Dushyantha Tittawella, the General manger of the hotel is pulling out all the stops to make sure that the teams have a comfortable stay whilst they are in Sri Lanka. ‎Perera and Sons bakers limited will be the official food and beverage partner for the tournament and will be in charge of making sure that the players’ needs are met throughout this event. ‎The tournament Director is Dinith Pathiraja with S. Thevanesan as his assistant. Wan Xianling of China is the referee for the event and Dharaka Ellawala being his deputy. There are six Chair umpires who have been appointed with two of them being Sri Lankans, namely Anjana de Silva and Chamod Rupassara. Jeyachandirun Saarangan is the Chief of Umpires and Adheesha Paranagama, Prageeth Polgampola, Pasindu Sampath and Yumira Kuruppu rounding up the tournament staff for the event with Nipuni Maheshika being the safeguarding officer and the UNO official for the tournament. ‎The SLTA president Iqbal Bin Issack with his General Secretary Pradeep Goonasekera has been advising and looking into all the arrangements to make this tournament a success.