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Davis Cup Squad for HK selected
By Shamseer Jaleel
The Sport Ministry approved a youthful team to represent Sri Lanka in the eight-nation 2005 Davis Cup Asia-Oceania tournament to be held in Hong Kong next month.

The four-member team includes schoolboys, Oshada Wijemanne, and Harshana Godamanne . Then Sri Lanka’s No1 singles player, Renouk Wijemanne, with an ATP raking of 1,045 comes in and he is 24 years old. The eldest, is Rajiv Rajapakse, a year Renouk’s senior at 25. Veteran player Arjan Perera, chairman of SLTA’s outstation development committee, will be team’s non-playing captain.

Sri Lanka won promotion last year and will compete from July 11-17 in Group III, after three years in Group IV, the lowest level. The other countries in the fray are the hosts Hong Kong, Vietnam, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Tajikistan. The top two countries qualify to play in Group II next year, while the bottom two is relegated to Group IV.

Speaking to the Sunday Times Arjan perera told that “We are aware the competition is going to be tough and we’ve prepared accordingly. The players have been under (Indian coach) Enrico Piperno for some time and also have played in many overseas tournaments this year. The preparation has been thorough and we’re hopeful, but it will all depend on how each country performs on the day. The competition is going to be close.’’

The players are presently undergoing the second of their two training stints in India. The first was last month in Bangalore, and will climax their preparation with a two-week stint in Mumbai, where coach Piperno has arranged for some top Indian players to figure in practice matches against the Sri Lankans.
Wijemanne, Renouk and Oshada, have had kept a busy playing schedule this year. Renouk entered the professional circuit and did well to secure an ATP ranking of 1,045 while Oshada played regularly in the Asian junior circuit and at one-time was 145th in the ITF junior world rankings.

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