DOHA (Qatar) - The game between Sri Lanka and Australia at the FIBA U16 Asian Championship 2023 is special for Dhiluk Samarawickrama.

"BEING ABLE TO SHOWCASE OUR TALENTS AT THE INTERNATIONAL LEVEL IS A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT FOR US AND OUR COUNTRY."

While the Sri Lankan youngster will be playing for his national team as he has been ever since the SABA Qualifiers, he will also be playing against Australia - a country that he has also called home. Samarawickrama is based in Victoria where he plays with the Casey Cavaliers U18 team, which makes this game against Australia a reunion in a way with a majority of the players on the team coming from Victoria as well.

"There are about five players on the Australia team I have played against," said Samarawickrama. "So far we have had a couple of chats and we mainly talked about the excitement of the upcoming games."

There's no doubt a bit of an Australian basketball connection, as Samarawickrama notes Boomers legend Patty Mills as one of his favorite players along with Cleveland Cavaliers' Darius Garland.

"Both of them play different games but I really love the way that they use their smaller height to their advantage."

But even without this game against Australia, every game he's played for Sri Lanka has been special. Ever since his first appearance at the SABA Qualifiers last month to the first game ever at the U16 Asian Championship - both for himself and for Sri Lanka - has been special.

"It feels amazing," said the 1.82M (6'0") guard about the country's debut in the competition. "Being able to showcase our talents at the international level is a great achievement for us and our country."

The magnitude of being able to represent a nation in a sporting event can sometimes be lost among youngsters, but that certainly is not the case for Samarawickrama. He knows first-hand from an early age what it means to have that flag on your chest.

"Ever since I became serious about my basketball, I have had my eyes on playing for Sri Lanka," he said. "Both of my parents played for Sri Lanka and my mum captained as well. Having heard about the experiences from my parents made me super interested in representing Sri Lanka."

It's been a unique journey for Samarawickrama and it was all inspired by watching Space Jam - "the original Space Jam" he insisted.

"I started playing basketball after watching the original Space Jam. Michael Jordan is the main reason and he is my favorite player of all time.

"I really decided to take it seriously after I experienced playing in Spain," he added, referring to the time he played for "The Travel Team" an international U12 team that played in a tournament in Spain in late 2018, even winning against the youth teams of Barcelona and Valencia.

"That experience made me realize how much I truly love the game and want to continue playing it."

So he continued to play. From The Travel Team to the Casey Cavs and now to the Sri Lanka youth national team. It was a tough loss for Sri Lanka in their first game against Lebanon where Samarawickrama scored 12 points and grabbed 5 rebounds. But he and the team know that there is a bigger picture and that this is just the first step in showing what they can do.

"It's a great honor and a huge dream to be able to represent a country. By coming here, I feel like we are able to show that Sri Lankans can ball too!"

FIBA