Sri Lanka’s internationally ranked wheelchair tennis players Lance Bombardier DSR Dharmasena (ITF Rank 62), Corporal Dissanayake Gamini (ITF Rank 82) and Corporal Suresh Ranaweera (ITF Rank 101) after receiving their new chairs from CICT General Manager (Commercial and Marketing) Catriona Jayasundera along with officials from the SLTA and officers from the Army
Sri Lanka’s internationally-ranked wheelchair tennis players received a further boost with a donation of custom-made wheelchairs by Colombo International Container Terminals (CICT), a longstanding benefactor of the sport, and its parent company, China Merchants Group (CMG).
Part of CICT’s continuing support to the Wheelchair Tennis Programme of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA), the three professional grade, titanium wheelchairs were presented to Lance-Bombardier DSR Dharmasena (ITF Rank 62), Corporal Dissanayake Gamini (ITF Rank 82) and Corporal Suresh Ranaweera (ITF Rank 101) who and have brought recognition to Sri Lanka at international level.
The trio of players are war heroes and differently-able due to injuries sustained during battles against the LTTE in the North. The donation of these wheelchairs, costing approximately Rs 1.6 million took place recently at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association. The funds for the donation were channelled through the China Merchants Charitable Foundation (CMCF), China Merchants Group’s CSR arm.
CMCF and CICT have together donated Rs 30 million to SLTA’s Wheelchair Tennis Programme between 2015 and 2019, becoming the main sponsor for wheelchair tennis in the country. This support has enabled Sri Lankan players to participate in many international tournaments against the top 40 countries that play wheelchair tennis.
In 2016, CICT also funded the refurbishment of two international standard hard surface courts at the SLTA to bolster the sport in the country.
Currently, Sri Lanka has 13 wheelchair tennis players who have secured international rankings.