The defending champion of the Clay Court Nationals, Dineshkanthan Thangarajah, was stripped of his crown by Sharmal Dissanayake in the Men’s Open final, today (23rd May).
Photos: Clay Court Nationals 2019 | Day 12
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The 3-time hard court National title holder and Davis Cup represent, Sharmal Dissanayake won his maiden Clay Court National title, defeating veteran superstar Dineshkanthan Thangarajah in the big finale. Final scores read 6/4, 6/2 in favour of Dissanayake.
Dineshkanthan’s road to the final
Starting as the 2nd seed in the Men’s main draw, Dineshkanthan started his tournament with a Bye in the 1st round. He made easy work of the two matches that followed against Savit Weerasinghe and A. Wijesinghe, 6/1, 6/4 and 6/0, 6/0 respectively.
Photo Album : Clay Court Nationals 2019 – Day 14
In his quarterfinal match, he was made to sweat by 8th seed C. Fernando, but Thangarajah’s experience put him through the loop with a 6/3, 7/5 win. Junior Davis Cup top player, Chathurya Nilaweera stood at the semifinal mark, but went down tamely, sending the defending champion through to the final (6/2, 7/5).
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Sharmal’s road to the final
Sharmal Dissanayake started his stint as top seed in the tournament, with the highest Men’s ranking in the country. After a Bye in the first round, he defeated Liu-Hui Retallick in Round two,6/4, 6/3.
Highlights – Clay Court Nationals Men’s Final
From thereon, Sharmal eased his way into the final with three easy wins over Luca Knese (6/1, 6/1), Dumindu Dilum (6/1, 6/1) and Rostom Ali (6/0, 6/1). It was a fitting final with two of the biggest names in Sri Lanka clashing in the 2nd edition of the Clay Court Nationals.
With the Men’s Open Singles done and dusted, the Women’s title is still in heated contention.
Stay logged on to ThePapare.com to read about the other winners and results of the Clay Court Nationals 2019!
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