14-year-old Paddlers Senura Silva and Bimandi Bandara in SL Team
Senura Silva of Ananda College, Colombo, and Bimandi Bandara of Hillwood College, Kandy, both 14 years, have been selected to the Sri Lanka Table Tennis (TT) team for the 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal, from December 1-10.
Selection of four schoolchildren to represent Sri Lanka will be a step in the right direction for the future of TT in Sri Lanka, as it will afford them maximum exposure in international competitions, which will do a lot for their game.
At the trials held at the S. Thomas' College Indoor Stadium tables recently, both youngsters defeated more experienced and senior players to gain national selection.
Silva was placed third in the Men's trials, while Bandara was 2nd in the Women's category.
Twenty Paddlers- 10 Men and 10 Women were selected for the trials with each playing 18 matches against players in their respective categories, with two round robin matches.
At the conclusion of the trials, Udaya Ranasinghe, who arrived from the USA, led with 15 wins, while Nirmala Jayasinghe (13), Krishan Wickremaratne (12), Chameera Ginige (11) and Senura Silva (12) headed the Men's table.
In the Women's category Ishara Madurangi ( 15), Bimandi Bandara ( 14), Erandi Wickremaratne ( 11), Iyla Chitty and Hansani Piumila with 10 wins each led the trials.
Former national champion and Sri Lanka skipper Rohan Jinasena and Jithara Warnakulasuriya, who took part in the recently concluded Asian Table Tennis championship, went out of contention, as they finished 7th and 6th in the Men's and Women's trials respectively.
Iyla Chitty will be making her maiden appearance in an international event.
Team selections with 80% of the points for their Trial wins and 20% from their national ranking points.