COLOMBO, Nov 8 (ePRESS) – Sri Lanka’s Under-18 tennis team left the island on Friday aiming to chase their Australian dream when they compete in the 2026 Dunlop Road to the Australian Open Junior Tennis Championship from November 10 to 14 in Yokkaichi, Japan.
The most attractive fact for Sri Lanka is that the winners of the men’s and women’s events will earn a Main Draw Singles Wildcard for the 2026 Australian Open Junior Championships — a rare and prestigious opportunity for young players to step onto one of the world’s biggest stages.
The five-member Sri Lankan squad comprises Kubherane Mayooran and Ashlin de Silva in the boys’ team, and Dinara de Silva, Yuhansa Peiris, and Gehansa Methnadi in the girls’ team, accompanied by team manager Nirmala de Silva from the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA).
Leading the team is national champion and top-ranked player Dinara de Silva, currently holding a World Tennis Tour Junior ranking of 458 and seeded fifth in Japan. She is from St. Bridget’s Convent, Colombo, and is seen as Sri Lanka’s strongest hope for a deep run in the tournament.
Her teammates Yuhansa Peiris of Bishop’s College, Colombo and Gehansa Methnadi of Musaeus College are ranked 2921 and 3235 respectively, and seeded 11th and 12th.
On the boys’ side, Kubherane Mayooran and Ashlin de Silva, both from St. Peter’s College, Bambalapitiya, trained under veteran coach Dinith Pathiraja. Each holds a ranking around 3400 in the ITF World Junior standings.
The women’s draw features players from Sri Lanka, New Zealand, South Korea, Indonesia, Uzbekistan, Japan, the Philippines, and Pakistan, while the men’s event includes competitors from New Zealand, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Singapore, Pakistan, Indonesia, Jordan, Sri Lanka, and Japan. (www.epress.lk)
