Financial restrains force star player to withdraw from overseas commitments
Chanithma Sinaly
Chanithma Sinaly, one of the top seeds and a rising star in squash, has been forced to withdraw from an international competition, which is currently taking place in Hong Kong, mainly due to financial restrains, the Sunday Times learns. This was revealed by Mahesh Chandana, Chanithma’s personal coach, who is also the father of the 18-year-old.
“The lack of support from Sri Lanka Squash (SLS) and even the Sports Ministry, and failure to meet the funding, she (Chanithma) had to drop out from few overseas competitions,” he said.
He further added, since the cost of air-ticket and other tournament expenses are high that she had to drop out from participating in those tournaments, including the Hong Kong Championship, which is happening now. Also, another tournament held in China was forgone due to the same issue, where the current national Women’s Open champion faces many challenges in her career.
Chanithma has a winning streak of five, being ranked first in her last five tournaments. She has a bright future ahead, having represented the country on many occasions including the Commonwealth Games held last year and the Asian Junior Games.
Chanithma began her journey at her school, Sirimavo Bandaranaike Vidyalaya, and since then she has come a long way to bring glory to the nation and a more way to go. During the year 2023, she continued her winning streak by playing in the SLS Open Squash Championship National Rankings Tournament held at the Ratmalana Air Force Base and was placed first in the Women’s Open category, competing against other national level players. She also participated in the SLS Open PSA Satellite Tournament, consisting of two legs, held during the last two weeks of May at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) and was ranked top competing against local and foreign players.
Chanithma, currently ranked at the 185th place in the PSA (Professional Squash Association) rankings, is a hardworking squash player. Her previous best achievement was being the Champion of the Women’s Open category in the 42nd Squash Senior Nationals held last year in December at the SSC. That achievement was a major turning point in her life as she was the runner-up in the previous year’s tournaments. This achievement further motivated her to rise up in her scope.
Not only in the field of sports, but also in her academics Chanithma is performing exceptionally well. She obtained eight ‘A’ passes and a ‘C’ at the G.C.E. Ordinary Level Examination held in the year 2022.