Unseeded Ramith Herath continued his giant killing performances while creating another major upset on the fifth day of the SLTA Clay Court Tennis Nationals 2020, which continued at the SLTA Courts in Green Path, Colombo yesterday.
The 15-year-old schoolboy from Royal College powered his way into the quarter-finals of the Men’s Singles event with a hard fought 6-4, 4-6, 11-9 three-set win over the sixth seed Sean Sanderson.
Earlier, Herath had toppled the 11th seed Suneth Fernando even more convincingly in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 in a pre quarter-final fixture.
Meanwhile, Savit Weerasinghe grabbed the opportunity from the walk over that he received from the top seed Sharmal Dissanayake by cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 triumph over Neshan Gunasekera.
The bottom seed Akila Vimukthi also warmed-up in style by romping to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over the 15th seed Dinuka Sandaruwan during a one-sided pre quarter-final encounter.
Unseeded Kiran Vairavanathan created a minor upset when he defeated the 12th seed Gayanath Senadeera 6-2, 6-3.
Meanwhile, the third seed Sankha Atukorale was in tremendous form as he demolished the 14th seed Suranga Pushpakumara 6-0, 6-3 to join the quarter-final line-up.
The fourth seed Dumindu Dilum was even more ruthless as he destroyed the 13th seed Manjula Samaraweera in straight sets 6-2, 6-0.
The seventh seed Yasitha de Silva also joined the last eight in the Men’s Singles with a smashing 5-2, 6-2 victory over the unseeded Rukmal Cooray.
In the Men’s doubles quarter-finals, the number six combination of Dhilvan Herath and Avika Kelegama edged-out the pair of Jaitra De Saram and Zaidh Zihar 6-2, 3-6, 10-7 in an exciting three-setter.
