In the 9th edition of the Sri Lanka Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament, the Sri Lankan players had to make an early exit in the Men’s Singles from the second round of games that were played on the first day of the tournament, 19th February 2016.
This year’s SL open wheelchair tennis tournament will be held from the 19th to the 21st of February 2016 at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts. This tournament is one of the three future tournaments that are being held this month and will see the participation of players from over twenty five nations from across the world, including players amongst the top ranks.
The Men’s and Women’s Open Singles matches were worked out on day one of the tournament. In the Men’s’ Open 1st round matches of the main draw, Sri Lankan player K. Dharmakirthi beat Ji Hwan-Lee of South Korea 7-6(6)5-7(10-8) and qualified for round two. R.A.L.S. Ranaweera beat Yushazwan Yusuf of Malaysia to also qualify for round two with a match score of 6-3, 6-2. Unfortunately Dharmakeerthi lost to Francesc Tur of Spain in the second round. Ranaweera had to also make his exit when he lost to D. Dalmasso of France. Gamini Dissanayake, who was the winner of the Men’s Singles in the recently concluded Negombo Open was expected to perform well but was dismissed from round one itself when he was defeated by Junhui Ding of China.
In the second draw matches, K. Dharmaratne beat U.G. Dhanapala to qualify for the semi-finals where he will meet H.M.L. Senaratne who won against Karthik Karunakaran of India to secure his place in the semis. Sri Lankan A.M.D. Jayaratne also entered the semis by defeating fellow countryman W.A.S.P Weerasinghe.
In the Women’s Open Singles Zhenzhen Zhu and Jin Ling Huan of China won their quarter finals and will face each other in the semi-finals. Thisara Jayasinghe of Sri Lanka lost to Nokwanda Hlongwane of Russia 6-0, 6-1 in their Quarter final. Hlongwane will meet Ziying Wang of China in the semi-final.
The rest of the Singles rounds and the Doubles rounds matches will take place till the 21st of February.
The full results of Day 1 of the SL Open Wheelchair Tennis Tournament are as follows:
MEN’S SINGLES
Main Draw
| 1st Round | |||
| o Ariffahmi Zaquan ARIFFIN (MAS) | 6-4 | 7-5 | Yusuke NISHIMURA (JPN) [1] |
| o Alwande SKHOSANA (RSA) | 5-7 | 6-1 [10-8] | K.A.M. PRADEEP KUMARA (SRI) |
| o Zujun WEI (CHN) | 6-0 | 6-0 | Mohammed Talib THALIJ (IRQ) |
| o Dong SHUNJIANG (CHN) | 6-3 | 4-6 [10-8] | Sang-Ho OH (KOR) [6] |
| o Leon ELS (RSA) [3] | 6-2 | 6-4 | Xiao Min FENG (CHN) |
| o Hussein Hamid HEL (IRQ) | 6-0 | 6-1 | Mariappan DURAI (IND) |
| o W K G NADEEKA (SRI) | 6-3 | 6-4 | K.M. KARUNARATNE (SRI) |
| o Ha-Gel LEE (KOR) [5] | 6-0 | 6-0 | D S R DHARMASENA (SRI) |
| o Abu Samah BORHAN (MAS) | 6-2 | 6-4 | Roland NEMETH (HUN) [8] |
| o Junhui DING (CHN) | 4-6 | 6-4 [10-6] | Gamini DISSANAYAKE (SRI) |
| o K A DHARMAKIRTHI (SRI) | 7-6(6) | 5-7 [10-8] | Ji-Hwan LEE (KOR) |
| o Francesc TUR (ESP) [4] | 6-4 | 6-4 | W.P.J. WIJESIRI (SRI) |
| o David DALMASSO (FRA) [7] | 6-0 | 6-2 | N R L JAYASUNDARA (SRI) |
| o R.A.L.S. RANAWEERA (SRI) | 6-3 | 6-2 | Yushazwan YUSUF (MAS) |
| o Sung-Bong HAN (KOR) | 6-0 | 6-0 | Yuriy GOLOVIN (RUS) |
| o Ho Won IM (KOR) [2] | 7-6(3) | 6-4 | Upali RAJAKARUNA (SRI) |
| 2nd Round | |||
| o Ha-Gel LEE (KOR) [5] | 6-0 | 6-0 | W K G NADEEKA (SRI) |
| o Abu Samah BORHAN (MAS) | 6-2 | 6-4 | Junhui DING (CHN) |
| o Francesc TUR (ESP) [4] | 7-6(6) | 6-3 | K A DHARMAKIRTHI (SRI) |
| o David DALMASSO (FRA) [7] | 2-6 | 6-4 [10-8] | R.A.L.S. RANAWEERA (SRI) |
| o Sung-Bong HAN (KOR) | 7-6(8) | 6-1 | Ho Won IM (KOR) [2] |
Second Draw
| Quarterfinal | |||
| o K D M DHARMARATNE (SRI) | 6-2 | 6-2 | U.G. DANAPALA (SRI) |
| o H.M.L SENARATNE (SRI) | 6-0 | 6-1 | karthik karunakaran KARTHIK (IND) |
| o Firdaus IBRAHIM (MAS) | 7-6(3) | 6-0 | P.W.S.K. PARANAWITHANA (SRI) |
| o A.M.D. JAYARATNE (SRI) | 6-2 | 6-2 | W A S P WEERASINGHE (SRI) [2] |
WOMEN’S SINGLES
Main Draw
| Quarterfinal | |||
| o Zhenzhen ZHU (CHN) [1] | 6-1 | 6-0 | Hui Min HUANG (CHN) |
| o Jin Lian HUANG (CHN) | 6-2 | 6-1 | Qing Xian HUANG (CHN) |
| o Nokwanda HLONGWANE (RSA) | 6-0 | 6-1 | Thisara ARACHCHILAGE JAYASINGHA (SRI) |
| o Ziying WANG (CHN) [2] | 6-1 | 6-0 | Madhu BAGRI (IND) |
