St. Peter’s continue tennis dominance in 2013
St. Peter’s College, Colombo had another extremely successful year in 2013 continuing their golden era in the sport of tennis which the college has been enjoying in the recent past. Since the sport recommenced at St. Peter’s College in January 1998, it has been an unparallelled success story in this sport for the Peterites.
St. Peter’s College won the All- Island Inter Schools Tennis Championship Overall Trophy for the sixth time in seven years regaining it after they had lost it in 2012. Previously, the Peterites have won it five times consecutively from 2007 to 2011. Thus at the recent inter school tennis history, St. Peter’s have won it seven times over the last nine years.
This year the overall trophy was decided over three age groups, namely, the Under-15, Under-17 and Under-19 championships. The Peterites won the All Island Under- 15 Championship in 2013. This championship was won by the sheer courage of the Peterites as they were not the favorites in this age group by any stretch of the imagination. Although firm underdogs, the Peterites captained by Meshan Nanayakkara played with commitment to win this tournament. The team consisted of Isuru Wijeratne, S. Innthujan, Thariq Saboor, Kavinka Fernando, U. Srinath, Mark Seneviratne, Angelo Perera and Imantha Perera.
The Peterites also won the All Island Under-17 Championship for 2013. They won this age group this year without their best player and the Sri Lanka No. 1 player in this age group, Chehan Fernando, who was not playing in this age category for the Peterites for tactical reasons. Captained by Shanitha Perera, they defeated the Thomians with their brand of aggressive tennis and reached the finals where once again the strong Anandians awaited them. This team consisted of Davishka Ranasinghe, Nabeel Sabri, U. Dilshanth, R Krishanthan, Nisheth Mendis, Ramin Dharmaratne and Rashard Jamaldeen.
The Peterites underlined their strong credentials in every age category by winning the Runner up position in the Under-19 age category. Although the Peterites were not considered a force to be reckoned with in this age group due to the fact that some of their players had left for other schools and some players were not playing due to various reasons the Peterites underlined their credentials by winning their group which included the very strong S. Thomas’s College, Mount Lavinia team. The Peterites led by Aaron Assauw also comprised of Nishangan Nadaraja, Chehan Fernando, Shashanka Gomez, Yoosuf Faisal, Harsha Peiris, Sanjeev Mohankumar, Senel Rohana and Kalana Wijeratne.
The Peterites also reached the finals of the National Schools tennis championship in 2013 with a team comprising of Nishangan Nadaraja, Chehan Fernando, Sanjeev Mohankumar, Davishka Ranasinghe and Nabeel Sabri. They were unfortunate to lose in the finals in this tournament but still showed that they are a force to be taken into account in every tournament and every age group.
The performance of the Peterites was not confined to the schools arena in 2013. The leading player at St. Peter’s College Nishangan Nadaraja reached the finals of the ITF tournament held in Colombo in October. This tournament where over 70 players from around 20 countries partici- pated was a true test of his capabilities. He reached the finals by beating players from Malaysia, Singapore, India, Chinese Taipei, Bangladesh, Egypt and China among other countries this year. Nishangan has shown that he is a player that Sri Lanka can count on in the future to represent them with honor.
The Peterites were at the forefront in the selection of teams in all age categories for the Sri Lanka team as well. In the Under-14 age category the four-member Sri Lanka team comprised of Isuru Wijeratne, who continued a fine tradition of the Peterites of getting selected for the team. The Peterites also established a record of sorts in the Sri Lanka Under- 16 Junior Davis Cup team this year when three of their players were selected to a four-member Sri Lanka team. They were Chehan Fernando, Nabeel Sabri and Davishka Ranasinghe. The Under-14 Sri Lanka team selection trials have also finished and the team has been finalised. Peterite S. Innthujan has been selected for this team to represent the Sri Lanka team in the tennis tournament in Bangkok in 2014. Not only at St. Peter’s College and not only at tennis, but this is a remarkable achievement for any sport in any category at any level at any school.
Encouraged by the unflinching support of Rector Rev. Fr. Travis Gabriel who has always been there for them, and the advice of the Sports Coordinator Rev. Fr. Lakmin Silva and the quiet but effective work of their Master in Charge Bernard Jesuthasan, and supported by the assistant coaches P. Thizant and Delwar Hossain the Peterites are fortunate to retain the services of their longstanding coach Dinith Pathiraja, who is the main architect of this success story.