9th Annual Royal-Thomian Tennis encounter today

The 9th Annual Royal-Thomian Tennis encounter for the E.F.C. Pereira Challenge Trophy will be played at the STC Tennis Courts on Saturday 21 February. The Trophy will be contested for, between the Senior (Under 20) teams of the two prestigious schools. The tie is scheduled to commence at 10 a.m.
The Royal squad will be led by Davis Cup Poolist Danushka Abeywardena this year. Another highlight to this squad would be that Davis Cup player Shamal Dissanayake, a world ranked Junior would also be playing for Royal. The Thomian Squad will be led by the young Avishka Perera a 3rd Generation Captain of STC Tennis, with his grandfather G.N. Perera and father Gihan Perera having captained the sides during their respective years as well. The team is strengthened with the presence of Avindra Perera (member of 2015 Junior Davis Cup team) and Jerique Rajapaksha (member of 2014 Junior Davis Cup team).
Royal lead the series by five matches to two with STC having won the last two encounters. A very close tussle is expected in this encounter with both teams evenly matched. It would be interesting to see if the Royalists could indeed win back the title, which has been deprived for the past two years.
The main event will be preceded by the Under 15 and Under 13 contests between the two schools.
The Royal College team is coached by Sylvester Francis with Anjuna Anthony coaching the Thomian contingent.
Sri Lanka number 1 and former Royalist Harshana Godamanne is also due to be present at the event, which will be an encouraging prospect for the young and upcoming tennis players. The Chief Guest would be Brian Pereira, who captained Royal College Tennis in 1958 whilst also been a Coloursmen at Cricket and Rugby.