Former Davis Cup star renews call for high performance programme
Former Sri Lanka Davis Cup star Sanjay Wijemanne stressed that an ongoing national squad is mandatory if the talented young guns were to blossom on the world stage.
Junior Davis Cup team mates Thehan Wijemanne and Charturya Nilaweera have been a successful pair at the Nationals 2020
“The talent is there but to be world standard there is some distance to go. In terms of physical training it is much more professional now. You must have a diet plan, physical training, number of hours of tennis and the competition. All those elements have to come in,” Wijemanne said when asked about the future potential of emerging young stars.
“At junior level they are fairly comparable. I wouldn’t say we are totally out of the woods but you need a stronger programme. Every other country is having a very strong programme. If you look at Japan, Hong Kong, from 12 years of age they are taking players into high performance and aiming at them becoming something at 18 years of age,” he said in an interview with the Sunday Times.
Although proud of the fact that his son Thehan, 17, emulated his feat of winning the Men’s Doubles national title pairing with Chathurya Nilaweera, 16, Wijemanne who himself won this title when he was 18 partnering Rohan de Silva, 17, said they have a long way to go.
“Basically to hit the world stage they have to work much harder. They have the talent but I have also been stressing to the SLTA (Sri Lanka Tennis Association) that a national squad is definitely needed because these boys don’t get a chance to play the number of hours together and really train hard. It is all with their individual private coaches. Not that private coaches are not good but it is nothing like having a national squad, competing at that level and get much more exposure to the international tournaments,” he said.
Reminding how a Japanese 16-year-old went on to win Wimbledon, he urged the authorities to invest in the junior programme.
“It doesn’t mean we are out of reach. We also have to take it that seriously and train these boys. Give them the exposure. Privately we are doing. Spanish trainers come, we spend money and send them overseas. But if you have a solid national programme and if the National Sports Council can support a high performance training for these top juniors to bridge the gulf with seniors,” he said.
“During our time myself, Umesh (Walloopillai) and Rohan (de Silva), we were on court playing for three hours a day every day. Then we used to go for physical training. We were competing with each other and that may have lifted us up. Here they are all over the place,” he said referring to the fact that players trained individually under different coaches.
“They don’t get that group challenge. They don’t get to play with Yasitha (de Silva) and Sharmal (Dissanayake). If you had a national squad then they will get that exposure,” he said.
The other danger is talented young players giving up the sport prematurely.
“We need to support them otherwise they will not continue. There is a 10-year gap between the top two and players who have faded off prematurely. I am sure youngsters can replace but they need more exposure. They (Yasitha and Sharmal) still have more years left and even Harshana (Godamanne). Certainly these guys can be a very good addition to them,” he said. Thehan lost narrowly to Yasitha in the Claycourt Nationals while Chathurya lost in the semifinals at the National Championship.
“There has to be motivation. Something beyond local tournaments such as using tennis to get a scholarship to the USA. In order to do that you need to have a very strong U-18 ranking at least. That means our kids need to travel. Keep them motivated to compete. If you get a chance to compete with the world that keeps you going,” he said.
With Sri Lanka being bracketed in the World group and playing Paraguay last year, Wijemanne acknowledged competing in the Davis Cup has become tougher.
“Previously what happens is one month before Davis Cup they practice. That’s not enough. You have to have at least a nine-month annual plan with a lot of physical training and a proper professional plan. And you need to tour. Just playing themselves is not enough. Play Thailand, Malaysia, play some Under-18 ITF tournament. Then they know how to handle any player,” said Wijemanne, who was a member of the Sri Lanka Davis Cup team led by Arjun Fernando came to the Group 2 semi-finals in Thailand in 1989.
With Sri Lanka having a good Junior Davis Cup squad the future of tennis in the country is bright provided there is an ongoing national programme.