Lankans crashland at home
Sri Lanka was unable to halt their Davis Cup skid, as they slipped to the third consecutive loss of their Group Two Asia Oceania first round series against Thailand, at the SLTA courts yesterday.
The defeat came in a doubles clash between the Sri Lankan team of Thangarajah Dineshkanthan and Amresh Jayawickrema and the Thai duo of Sanchai Ratiwatana and Weerapat Doakmaiklee. The Sri Lankan pair, despite putting up stern resistance, saw their match conclude with a lopsided score line of 6-0, 6-4, 6-2.
Sri Lankas Team Captain, Rohan De Silva, said that Dineshkanthan and Jayawickrema, play- ing in their first Davis Cup encounter together. They simply lacked the match experience which their opponents seemed abundantly in possession of.
As the game progressed, the local boys gradually saw more and more unforced errors creep into their game before they eventually found themselves being outgunned by the Thais’ superior serving.
Sri Lankas earlier two losses came on a disappointing Friday, when Dineshkanthan, the country’s topranked men’s player, lost a bitterlycontested battle 6-4, 7-5, 6-4 to the Thai number two, Kittiphong Wachiramanowong. Second-ranked Vimuktha de Alwis’ loss to Danai Udomchoke, ranked number one in Thailand, was a more straightforward affair, with the Lankan being briskly dismissed in straight sets 61, 6-1, 6-1.
Today will be the final day of the host nation’s first round fixtures, with play starting at the SLTA courts from 10 am. Sri Lanka will be looking to exact a degree of retribu- tion when Dineshkanthan takes on Udomchoke and de Alwis clashes with Wachiramanowong.