Sri Lankans dominate wheelchair tennis

Richard Dwight

Competing in the third Sri Lanka open International Wheelchair Tennis (WCT) tournament along with Sri Lankan WCT players, are participants from India and Malaysia. The tournament which commenced yesterday at the SLTA courts concludes on Sunday March 28, is sponsored by Leonard Cheshire Disability International Sri Lanka.

The sponsors have been generous enough to make this a US $ 2,000 prize money tournament to be one of the significant wheelchair tennis tournaments on the ITF-NEC series.

Sri Lanka has made quite an impression in wheelchair tennis, in that the high ranking, Upali Rajakaruna enjoys a world ranking of 137, whilst Gamini is placed at 191. Both are expected to do well in the preliminaries that are now on.

In keeping with current form and as expected front liners Upali Rajakaruna and Gamini have won through their second round and quarter final matches. Many Sri Lankans along with Malaysian Kee King went as far as winning the second round and losing thereafter Rajakaruna, K. P. S. Perera, Gamini and Kee King of Malaysia have entered the semi- finals which would be worked off today.