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| Sunday, 3 July 2005 |
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Disabled soldiers perform creditably at World Cup Wheelchair Tennis by Lal Gunasekera Sri Lanka's Wheelchair Tennis team comprising three disabled soldiers performed creditably well at the Invacare World Cup Team Championship in Groningen, Netherlands last week to be placed 10th out of 16 countries in the overall world group II listing and coming second in the consolation event. The Sri Lankans were represented by the experienced Bertie Silva and Upali Rajakaruna who have won laurels for their motherland in all parts of the world earlier, while Nishantha Pathmasiri was the only newcomer. They were accompanied by Major General Seevali Wanigasekera. Sri Lanka were eliminated from the eight-team main draw this year, but surprised many in the consolation event which also featured China, Croatia, Greece, Russia, Finland, South Africa and Denmark. The Lankans 'whitewashed' both Denmark and Finland 3-0, but conceded victory (0-2) to Russia, who were the ultimate winners of the consolation event. The President of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA), Suresh Subramaniam, said that it was a creditable achievement by the three disabled soldiers, taking into consideration that this was only their second appearance at the World Cup event. The SLTA revived Wheelchair Tennis in Sri Lanka about three years back with our players already qualifying to play in the Para-Olympics and World Cup with the sport making rapid progress. Subramaniam further commented that Sri Lanka's Wheelchair Tennis players were very successful in Australia and New Zealand last year which was made possible with the generous sponsorship package of South Asia Gateway Terminal (SAGT), who renewed their Rs. 1 million sponsorship deal for the second year and chipped in with another Rs. 1/2 million deal to initiate the sport among the juniors too. A separate fund has been set up by the SLTA for senior and Junior Wheelchair Tennis. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
