Sri Lanka’s hopes in the ITF Wheelchair Series that is currently being played in the country will depend entirely on Gamini Dissanayaka, who was the only emerging player to make it to the quarterfinals in the second leg of the ITF international wheelchair series taking place at the SSC tennis courts.
The ITF Wheelchair International Series is a continuation series under the ITF that is the sole governing body of tennis internationally and the Sri Lankan leg marks a significant beginning in the upliftment of the sport in the country.
The Sri Lankan series consists of seeded players from around the world competing to improve their rankings in the world table. The men’s singles draw started off yesterday and a total of seven players from Sri Lanka participated in the main draw. Unfortunately only the defending champion of the wheelchair national title, Gamini Dissanayaka was able to progress. The veteran Upali Rajakaruna lost out to Zujun Wei of China and the rest of the players were no match for the international talent.
The quarterfinals will start off this evening and the Lankans will have something to look forward to when the Men’s doubles take place as Sri Lanka has two pairs in contention for the title. Upali Rajakaruna and D.S.R Dharmasena progressed forward to the quarterfinals defeating the Chinese pair 6-1,6-2. Also W.K. G. Nadeeka and H.M. L. Senaratne defeated the Malaysian pair 6-3, 6-0 to advance in the other quarter.
Play will resume at the Singhalese Sports Club courts this afternoon.
