The Sri Lankan entourage did not let victory fall in the hands of the foreign rankers, as three men took home gold, in the second week of the ITF Futures Open Wheelchair Tournament 2018, Colombo Leg. The second week fixtures were worked off at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association over 5 days of sizzling tennis.
War hero knocks world ranker out of the park
Suresh Dharmasena, a veteran war hero turned tennis player…
Gamini Dissanayake got his fair share this time around, making a brilliant come back from 2016 to claim the Men’s title, while the blazing doubles duo Ranaweera and Dharmasena left no surprises for the fans, taking home the doubles title. Dissanayake had major titles back in 2016 when he was crowned Sri Lanka’s National Champion, as well as the Malaysian Open Champion. Thereafter, his reigns were taken over by Dharmasena and Ranaweera, who excelled in both singles and doubles. Dharmasena and Ranaweera coming off 2017 blues in Malaysia, Thailand and Bangkok.
Read: 11 Medals in 3 Tournaments for Wheelchair Tennis
Gamini Dissanayake’s road to victory:
Dharmasena started 7th seed in a draw of 32, faced 5 rounds of tennis before reaching his crown. Knocking fellow teammate L Senaratne out of the draw in the first round, Dissanayake cruised past Karunakaran Karthik with a brisk 6/1,6/1 win in the second round. Suresh Dharmasena was next in line where Dissanayake was awarded a walkover after being one set up. 4th seed Carlos Anker was victim to Dissanayake’s streak in the semifinal going down tamely at 6/2,6/0. Ha-Gel Lee of Korea, top seed of the tournament, had to defend his honour in the second week after being thrashed by Suresh Dharmasena in the first week of the series in Negombo. Dissanayake left no room for that as he shadowed over the Korean in a 6/2, 6/4 victory.
Photos: SL Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament
Photos of Sri Lanka Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament…
Dharmasena-Ranaweera’s road to victory:
Following their recent victories in the past year, the duo started out as bottom seeds (2nd) in the draw with a bye in the first round. Toughest match for the duo was in the quarterfinal against fellow teammates Dissanayake and Senaratne, which pushed for a three-set victory. Korean pair Han-Gel Lee and Sang-Ho Oh stood between them and gold on the final day of the 5-day tournament. Dharmasena and Ranaweera beat out their competition 6/4,6/4 to take home the second week doubles title.
The clan is currently on their third and final week of the series at the SSC Open, taking place on the fine courts of SSC; ThePapare.com will bring exclusive photographs and news of the tour so stay logged!
