COLOMBO, Saturday, January 17 (ePRESS) – Davis Cup player and former national champion Thehan Wijemanne and his younger brother Methvan Wijemanne produced dominant performances to book their places in the men’s singles semi-finals of the YETI SSC Open Tennis Championship, played at the SSC Courts in Colombo.
They were joined in the last four by teenager Ganuka Fernando and Harishva Parameshwaran, while Dinara de Silva, Annaya Norbert, Yuhansa Peiris and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi advanced to the women’s singles semi-finals.
In the men’s singles quarter-finals, Methvan Wijemanne delivered a flawless performance as he crushed Aahil Kallel 6/1, 6/1, showing excellent control and consistency. His elder brother Thehan Wijemanne, a seasoned Davis Cup campaigner, was equally impressive as he brushed aside Neven Kannangara 6/1, 6/2.
The biggest upset of the day came when young Ganuka Fernando stunned national runner-up and Davis Cup player Ashen Silva with a confident 6/3, 6/4 victory, underlining his growing potential. Harishva Parameshwaran also secured his semi-final berth with a solid 6/2, 6/4 win over Rehan Gunawardhana.
In the women’s singles quarter-finals, Yuhansa Peiris was ruthless as she demolished Dulkini Ranasinghe 6/0, 6/0. Annaya Norbert battled hard to defeat Biyanka Acquistapace 6/4, 7/6, while Sandithi Usgodaarachchi showed great fighting spirit to recover from a set down and beat Vinethya Dharmarathne 2/6, 6/3, 6/1. Dinara de Silva completed the semi-final line-up with a commanding 6/1, 6/0 win over Arushi Thomas.
