Suresh Dharmasena, a veteran war hero turned tennis player, brought home gold once again at the first international wheelchair tennis tournament for the year 2018. He beat out Korean top seed Ha-Gel Lee, who is ranked 2th in the world, in the finals of the Negombo Open ITF Series tournament in a straight set victory.
යුධ විරුවන් දෙදෙනෙකුගේ නොනවතින මෙහෙයුම – On your Wheels – සිංහල Documentary
“සීරුවෙන් සිටින්!”… ඔබට සීරුවෙන් ඉන්නට නොහැකිය. ඔබ සතුරාට බිය ය….
Unseeded Dharmasena currently holds a world rank of 95 and has been in fantastic form since last year, reaching major levels in the international arena. He was one part of the duo that reached the finals in the Thailand Open ITF Tournament as well as the Bangkok Open in the 4th quarter of 2017.
Read: 11 Medals in 3 Tournaments for Wheelchair Tennis
Dharmasena went through 5 rounds of rigorous action before facing the top seed Korean Ha-Gel Lee in the quarterfinals. The Lankan pulled through in straight sets 6/2,7/5. This win is one of Dharmasena’s top achievements as Lee was a representative at the World Paralympic games on four different occasions.
After this victory Dharmasena went on to beat his comrade Gamini Dissanayake in the semifinals with a quick 6/2,6/3 win. The toughest match by score for the champ was the final clash against Korea’s San-ho Oh where he managed to pull through in the decisive third set 6/3,3/6,6/1.
Read More: Sri Lanka Women survive with 9th place finish
With the Lankan clan carrying high morale to the second and third week of the ITF tour Colombo edition, some scintillating tennis in upon us. The second week is currently underway at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association and will see its final day on the 17th of February. The final week will kick off the very next day as the fine five court course at SSC is set to host.
Stay logged to ThePapare for more exclusive news and photographs from this series!