By Revatha S. Silva PLAYERS WHO WON MOST NUMBER OF SINGLES TITLES [caption id="attachment_180462" align="alignnone" width="357"] Arjun Fernando[/caption] Men’s - E. de Fonblanque (10 titles) Lisboa Pinto (7 titles) D.E. Kelly and Arjun Fernando (both 6 titles) [caption id="attachment_180463" align="alignnone" width="280"] Doreen Sansoni[/caption] Women’s - D.H. Alston and Doreen Sansoni (both 7 titles) Saranga Sangakkara and Amritha Muttiah (both 6 titles) ‘CLTA’, ‘SLLTA’, AND ‘SLTA’ - THE EVOLUTION OF THE NAME * Here it is noteworthy that the first national association of tennis in the country was named ‘the Ceylon Lawn Tennis Association’ or ‘CLTA’ from 1915 up to the 1970s. * After Ceylon became Sri Lanka in 1972, the body had been named ‘the Sri Lanka Lawn Tennis Association’ or ‘SLLTA’. * That name seemed to have been in use from 1972 to 1977. * In 1977, the world governing body of the game, the International Lawn Tennis Federation (ILTF) was renamed the International Tennis Federation (ITF), shedding the term “Lawn” at a time lawn or grass courts had become very sparse in the world. * As a result, since 1977, the local governing body too has been named ‘the Sri Lanka Tennis Association’ or ‘SLTA’. [caption id="attachment_180464" align="alignnone" width="456"] The 2020 Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals men’s and women’s single champions: Yasitha de Silva and Anika Seneviratne[/caption] # The Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) is now conducting what has been advertised to be the 106th edition of the Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals, at the SLTA hard courts at Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Green Path, Colombo 7. # The tournament which began on Friday (10), is scheduled to be over on 30 December. # Yasitha de Silva and Anika Seneviratne were defending the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively, the key events of this historic annual tournament. De Silva and Anjalika Kurera won this year’s men’s and women’s singles titles respectively on Sunday (19). # The history of the annual championship covers a period of 137 years, from 1884 to 2021 # The tournament is considered to be one of the oldest annual sports competitions in the South Asian region. CONFUSION ON THE NATIONALS’ EDITION NUMBER * According to the records available with the SLTA, the Nationals tournament had been first staged in Nuwara Eliya in 1884. The fact had been clearly mentioned in its 75th and 100th year anniversary souvenirs, issued in 1990 and 2015 respectively. * The year 1884 had therefore been unanimously considered to be the inaugural year of the Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals. * When recording the annual Championship Rolls of the Nationals, both the above two sources take 1884 as the first year. * The Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals is considered to have been named the ‘Ceylon Lawn Tennis Championship’ in the early decades. * In that way, the ongoing 2021 edition of the Nationals should be the 138th edition of the tournament (1884-2021). * Yet, the ongoing 2021 Nationals is being advertised by the SLTA as the 106th edition. * Then what happened in the rest of the 32 years (138-106=32)? Why had there been so many years where the Nationals had NOT been held? * Though the first-ever ‘Tennis Nationals’ is recorded in 1884, the tournament had not been organised by any formal, official National Association of the sport. * The official Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) had been formed only in 1915. * The name of the national association formed in 1915 had been ‘the Ceylon Lawn Tennis Association’ (established at the ‘Challet’, presently Hill Club, in Nuwara Eliya, where the Nationals tournament had been held regularly until the mid 1900s, before it moved to Colombo). * Now it is obvious that the Association’s anniversary and the edition number of the Nationals have been taken as one. I.e.: The SLTA celebrated its 100th year in 2015 and the 2015 Nationals was the 100th edition of the tournament. * Isn’t this wrong assumption a mistake which has created a lot of confusion to the detriment of the present and future tennis statisticians and chroniclers? * Here, the 31 editions of ‘Ceylon Tennis Championship’ that had been held during the period of 1884 to 1915 have been missed out from the tally. * Yet the record of those years has been incorporated in the championship winners’ list by the SLTA. * Importantly, we can still see more problems if we are to take 1915 as the first year of the Nationals. * Though the national association was formed in 1915, the Nationals tournament was not held in 1915 due to the outbreak of the First World War. * The tournament had not been staged for four years, from 1915 to 1918, due to the First World War. * The SLTA records seem to be considering the following year (1916) after the formation of the SLTA, as the first year of the Sri Lanka Nationals. * If that is the case, the record becomes straight: 1916 to 2021 = 106 years, and therefore the year 2021 Nationals can be considered as the 106th edition of the Nationals. * But then the record of, for instance, E. de Fonblanque, who had won 10 men’s singles titles between 1886 to 1897, cannot be included in the Nationals’ championship list as the 31 tournaments held prior to 1916 are not considered as proper ‘Sri Lanka Nationals’ by the SLTA. * Is Fonblanque’s record then falling under a mere ‘Ceylon Championship’ tournament? * Then, shouldn’t there be a separation in the official record indicating that the tournament held from 1884-1915 as ‘Ceylon Championship’ and from 1916 onwards as the ‘Sri Lanka Nationals’ (though the name Sri Lanka came to be in only 1972)? * There is another clarification that has to be made. The tournament had not been actually held for eight years due to the two World Wars. * The Nationals tournament had not been held during 1915 to 1918 (four years) due to the First World War, and then from 1942 to 1945 (four years) due to the Second World War. * Usually in all sports records, the general consensus is that the World War years where an event had not been held, those years are not counted in the overall tally of that event. * For example, the Wimbledon Championship lost 10 years due to the two World Wars (four years due to the First - from 1915 to 1918 - and six years - from 1940 to 1945 - due to the Second World War, respectively) and those 10 years are not counted in the Championship’s overall tally. * If that formal practice is to be followed with regard to the Sri Lanka Nationals too, eight years where the tournament had been not held due to the two World Wars, need to be omitted from the total list. * There could have been 107 tournaments from 1915 to 2021. If you leave out eight, then the 2021 Nationals should be the 99th edition (107-8=99). * This means, the ‘2021 Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals’ SHOULD BE the 99th edition of the tournament, NOT 106th. * If the 31 editions of the tournament held prior to the formation of the CLTA - or during the ‘PRE-CLTA YEARS (1884-1915)’ - are to be added to the 99 editions that were held after that - during the ‘the POST-CLTA YEARS (1916-2021)’ - this year’s (2021) Nationals should be the 130th edition of the tournament (31+99=130). * On hindsight, the same rectification in the championship number is needed to be done perhaps in the other most ancient annual tennis tournament of Sri Lanka, ‘the Colombo Championship’, organised by the SLTA Playing Section on its clay courts. * The 2021 Colombo Championship, which ended recently, was too advertised as the tournament’s 106th edition! A MORE REALISTIC MODEL FOR THE CHAMPIONS ROLL OF THE SRI LANKA TENNIS NATIONALS (1884-2021) (Tabulated as: Nationals No. - Year - Winner of Men’s Singles & Winner of Women’s Singles) PRE-CLTA YEARS (1884-1915) From the tournament’s inception until the formation of the Ceylon Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA). A total number of 31 tournaments had been held during this period. 1st - 1884 - C.H.A. Ross & ---* 2nd - 1885 - J.P. Dove & --- 3rd - 1886 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 4th - 1887 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 5th - 1888 - E. de Fonblanque & I. Watson 6th - 1889 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 7th - 1890 - J. P. Dove & --- 8th - 1891 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 9th - 1892 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 10th - 1893 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 11th - 1894 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 12th - 1895 - Fred Hadden & --- 13th - 1896 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 14th - 1897 - E. de Fonblanque & --- 15th - 1898 - D.E. Kelly & --- 16th - 1899 - E.A. Stephens & --- 17th - 1900 - D.E. Kelly & A.F. Broun 18th - 1901 - B.C.N. Knight & R. Elliot 19th - 1902 - E.A. Stephens & R. Elliot 20th - 1903 - E.A. Stephens & R. Elliot 21st - 1904 - D.E. Kelly & D.K. Kelly 22nd - 1905 - S.P. Hayley & R. Elliot 23rd - 1906 - S.P. Hayley & (Mrs.) F. De Fonblanque 24th - 1907 - D.E. Kelly & D.K. Kelly 25th - 1908 - D.E. Kelly & W.S. Rose 26th - 1909 - S.P. Hayley & (Mrs.) Brook-Smith 27th - 1910 - S.P. Hayley & W.S. Rose 28th - 1911 - S.P. Hayley & J.B. Rennie 29th - 1912 - D.E. Kelly & G. Windus 30th - 1913 - A.M. Cooper & G. Windus 31st - 1914 - E. Spitz & (Mrs.) Milne POST-CLTA YEARS (1916-2021) After the formation of the Ceylon Lawn Tennis Association (CLTA), a total number of 99 tournaments (including the 2021 edition) had been held. (Tabulated as: Nationals No. from the inception (1884) / Nationals No. after formation of CLTA or SLTA (1915) - Year - Winner of Men’s Singles & Winner of Women’s Singles) (1915 - 18 - Nationals was not held due to World War I) 32nd / 1st - 1919 - E.R. de Saram & W.B. Bartlett^ 33rd / 2nd - 1920 - Lisboa Pinto & G.D.H. Alston^ 34th / 3rd - 1921 - Lisboa Pinto & G.D.H. Alston^ 35th / 4th - 1922 - L.G.O. Wodehouse^ & G.D.H. Alston^ 36th / 5th - 1923 - Lisboa Pinto & G. Gilliat^ 37th / 6th - 1924 - Lisboa Pinto & G.D.H. Alston^ 38th / 7th - 1925 - Frederick de Saram (Sr.) & G.D.H. Alston^ 39th / 8th - 1926 - L.V. Loos & G.J. Dewhurst^ 40th / 9th - 1927 - Lisboa Pinto & G.J. Dewhurst^ 41st / 10th - 1928 - G.M. Rennie^ & C. Gilliat^ 42nd / 11th - 1929 - Lisboa Pinto & G.D.H. Alston^ 43rd / 12th - 1930 - G.O. Nicholas & G.D.H. Alston^ 44th / 13th - 1931 - G.O. Nicholas & G. Steiger^ 45th / 14th - 1932 - Lisboa Pinto & C. Wright^ 46th / 15th - 1933 - E.D. Andrews^ & C. Wright 47th / 16th - 1934 - G.O. Nicholas & Nedra Obeysekera 48th / 17th - 1935 - N. Krishnaswamy^ & Doreen Sansoni 49th / 18th - 1936 - N. Krishnaswamy^ & Doreen Sansoni 50th / 19th - 1937 - Y.R. Savur^ & Doreen Sansoni 51st / 20th - 1938 - Hildon Sansoni & Doreen Sansoni 52nd / 21st - 1939 - Hildon Sansoni & Doreen Sansoni 53rd / 22nd - 1940 - A.G. Gupta^ & Doreen Sansoni 54th / 23rd - 1941 - F.J. de Saram & Sheila Roberts (1942 - 45 - Nationals was not held due to World War II) 55th / 24th - 1946 - B.R. Kapinapathay^ & Doreen Sansoni 56th / 25th - 1947 - F.J. de Saram & Sheila Roberts 57th / 26th - 1948 - G. Mohamed^ & K. Singh^ 58th / 27th - 1949 - I. Ahamed^ & Sheila Roberts 59th / 28th - 1950 - F.J. de Saram & Sheila Roberts 60th / 29th - 1951 - I. Ahamed^ & Sheila Roberts 61st / 30th - 1952 - L.P. Ernst & C.R. Warren 62nd / 31st - 1953 - J. Arkinstall^ & C.R. Warren 63rd / 32nd - 1954 - L. Bergelin^ & C.R. Warren 64th / 33rd - 1955 - V. Skonecki^ & Coo Coo Fonseka 65th / 34th - 1956 - Ramanathan Krishnan^ & I. Vogler^ 66th / 35th - 1957 - Rupert Ferdinands & Ranjani Jayasuriya 67th / 36th - 1958 - S.C. Misra^ & Ranjani Jayasuriya 68th / 37th - 1959 - S.C. Misra^ & Ranjani Jayasuriya 69th / 38th - 1960 - S. Akthar Ali^ & Dechu Appaiah^ 70th / 39th - 1961 - P. Senaka Kumara & Dechu Appaiah^ 71st / 40th - 1962 - S. Akthar Ali^ & Dechu Appaiah^ 72nd / 41st - 1963 - Rupert Ferdinands & Ranjani Jayasuriya 73rd / 42nd - 1964 - R. Venkatesan^ & L. Mahadevan^ 74th / 43rd - 1965 - Sie Nie Sie^ & Lita Liem^ 75th / 44th - 1966 - Bernard Pinto & Lita Liem^ 76th / 45th - 1967 - G. Elsenbroich^ & Lita Liem^ 77th / 46th - 1968 - Anand Amritraj^ & Sria Gooneratne 78th / 47th - 1969 - Rupert Ferdinands & Sria Gooneratne 79th / 48th - 1970 - Rupert Ferdinands & Wendy Molligoda 80th / 49th - 1971 - Anand Amritraj^ & O. Chanmugam 81st / 50th - 1972 - R. Venkatesan^ & Udaya Kumar^ 82nd / 51st - 1973 - P. Senaka Kumara & Susan Das^ 83rd / 52nd - 1974 - Saeed Meer^ & Lanny Kaligis^ 84th / 53rd - 1975 - Lasantha Fernando & Nirupama Mankad^ 85th / 54th - 1976 - Jamiel Ahamed^ & S.A. Gunawardena 86th / 55th - 1977 - Arjun Fernando & Manisha Perera 87th / 56th - 1978 - Pravin Singh^ & Manisha Perera 88th / 57th - 1979 - Frank Sebaratnam & Manisha Perera 89th / 58th - 1980 - Sriyan Senadira & Kamala Hedge^ 90th / 59th - 1981 - R. Suarez^ & Manisha Perera 91st / 60th - 1982 - Frank Sebaratnam & R. Krishana^ 92nd / 61st - 1983 - Frank Sebaratnam & S.D. Soysa 93rd / 62nd - 1984 - Arjun Fernando & Laura Pesenti^ 94th / 63rd - 1985 - Arjun Fernando & Lihini Weerasuriya 95th / 64th - 1986 - Arjun Fernando & Lihini Weerasuriya 96th / 65th - 1987 - Arjun Fernando & Lihini Weerasuriya 97th / 66th - 1988 - Arjun Fernando & Lihini Weerasuriya 98th / 67th - 1989 - Umesh Wallooppillai & Vajira Premaratne 99th / 68th - 1990 - Rohan de Silva & Sobhini de Silva 100th / 69th - 1991 - Umesh Wallooppillai & Saranga Sangakkara 101st / 70th - 1992 - Jayendra Wijeysekera & Lihini Weerasuriya 102nd / 71st - 1993 - Rohan de Silva & Saranga Sangakkara 103rd / 72nd - 1994 - Jayendra Wijeysekera & Saranga Sangakkara 104th / 73rd - 1995 - Jayendra Wijeysekera & Saranga Sangakkara 105th / 74th - 1996 - S. Narla^ & Saranga Sangakkara 106th / 75th - 1997 - Jayendra Wijeysekera & Saranga Sangakkara 107th / 76th - 1998 - Aasir Iddamalgoda & Sobhini de Silva 108th / 77th - 1999 - Jayendra Wijeysekera & A. Rajaih^ 109th / 78th - 2000 - Dinuka Ranaweera & Vajira Premaratne 110th / 79th - 2001 - Renouk Wijemanne & Shalini Pereira 111th / 80th - 2002 - Franklyn Emmanuel & Dinali de Silva 112th / 81st - 2003 - Franklyn Emmanuel & Thiyumi Abeysinghe 113th / 82nd - 2004 - Wincent Ligard^ & Udanthi Narahenpitage^ 114th / 83rd - 2005 - Harshana Godamanna & Jithmie Jayawickrema 115th / 84th - 2006 - Harshana Godamanna & Jithmie Jayawickrema 116th / 85th - 2007 - Amrit Rupasinghe & Jithmie Jayawickrema 117th / 86th - 2008 - Harshana Godamanna & Jithmie Jayawickrema 118th / 87th - 2009 - Harshana Godamanna & Amritha Muttiah 119th / 88th - 2010 - Harshana Godamanna & Amritha Muttiah 120th / 89th - 2011 - Thangarajah Dineshkanthan & Amritha Muttiah 121st / 90th - 2012 - Thangarajah Dineshkanthan & Amritha Muttiah 122nd / 91st - 2013 - Thangarajah Dineshkanthan & Amritha Muttiah 123rd / 92nd - 2014 - Heera Ashiq^ & Amritha Muttiah 124th / 93rd - 2015 - Thangarajah Dineshkanthan & Thisuri Molligoda 125th / 94th - 2016 - Sharmal Dissanayake & Thisuri Molligoda 126th / 95th - 2017 - Sharmal Dissanayake & Medhira Samarasinghe 127th / 96th - 2018 - Sharmal Dissanayake & Anika Seneviratne 128th / 97th - 2019 - Sharmal Dissanayake & Anjalika Kurera 129th / 98th - 2020 - Yasitha de Silva & Anika Seneviratne 130th / 99th - 2021 - Yasitha de Silva & Anjalika Kurera * According to SLTA records, women’s singles segment of the tournament begins only in 1888, four years after the tournament was launched. Only the men’s singles had been held in the first four years, from 1884 to 1887. From 1889 to 1899, the women’s singles event had either not been held or there were no proper records of it being available ^ Foreign nationals who won the title since World War II. Please note that this record on foreigners MAY NOT BE 100% accurate ** The only available and credible record on the Sri Lanka Tennis Nationals is found in the book “75 years of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association: 1915-1990”, compiled by D. Lam Seneviratne, former President of the SLTA *** The compiler of this report is one of the editors of the 100th anniversary souvenir of the SLTA, published in 2015