Visakha’s Hansani in National Women’s team for World Table Tennis Championship 2014 in Tokyo

Monday, 28 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

The World Table Tennis Championship 2014 will be held in Tokyo, Japan from 28 April to 5 May. This prestigious global event is organized by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). The Sri Lanka Table Tennis Selection Committee has selected Hansani Piyumila Kapugeekiyana, a player for the National Women’s table tennis team to represent Sri Lanka at this international Championship.

A student of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, this is the first time that Hansani is representing the Sri Lanka women’s team in the World Table Tennis Championship in Japan. Her prowess as a young accomplished player has qualified her for selection to represent Sri Lanka at an international level. As a 13-year-old Visakhian, Hansani has proved her mettle as a top frontline table tennis player in Sri Lanka. In a splendid achievement, she is at present the No. 3 player in the country in the Under 15 Girls’ Singles category, the No. 2 player in the Under 18 Girls’ Singles category and No. 3 in the Open Women’s Singles category in Sri Lanka. She represented Sri Lanka at the following Championships: ITTF World Hopes Championship in Austria, where she was placed in the 9th position in the Under 12 Girls’ Singles event in 2011, Thailand Junior and Cadet Open ITTF Premium Junior Circuit in Thailand in 2012, where she entered the quarter finals in the Under 12 Girls’ Singles. In the same Championship, her team reached the semi-finals in the consultation Under 15 Girls’ Team Championship and the ITTF World Hopes Championship in Sweden, where she reached the 17th position in the Under 12 Girl’s Singles event in 2012. Speaking on the eve of her departure to the World Table Tennis Championship 2014 in Tokyo, Japan, Hansani expressed optimism of bringing honor and fame to her motherland Sri Lanka and her Alma Mater Visakha Vidyalaya by doing her best to excel at this international sports event. She said that it will be a big challenging and a wonderful experience playing face-to-face with the world’s leading table tennis professionals in this Championship. “I consider this unique exposure in a global sports platform as a rare opportunity for me to learn from my experiences, which will certainly add value to my endeavors as a young national player,” Hansani stressed. She thanked her parents, teachers and coaches for all the support, encouragement and guidance to reach the international level as a professional player.