Sri Lanka’s Buwaneka Goonethilleka reached the semi-finals of the Men’s Singles in the ongoing HUNDRED Sri Lanka International Series 2025, underway at the St. Joseph’s College Indoor Complex in Darley Road, Colombo on Thursday morning.
The former Sri Lanka champion staged a revamped style of play to outsmart Naren Iyer of India, currently ranked 243 in the world, by 2-1 to put himself in an assured position of a podium finish in the five-day international competition, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton Asia (BA).
Buwaneka, who is assured of a medal, claimed the first set by 21/17 in the quarter-final clash against the top ranked Indian, who made a remarkable comeback to level the game by winning the second set 21/12. With the crucial third set proving to be important to claim his first international medal since 2019, Buwaneka made a gallant return to outsmart Iyer 21/13 and secure his berth in the Men’s Singles semi-final.
Earlier on, he outsmarted Henrikho Kho of Indonesia in straight sets, in the Round of 32 game after claiming the game by 21/7 and 21/15. In the Round of 64, Buwaneka, currently ranked 1032 in the world, indicated his intention of reaching a podium finish, after defeating Siddhartha Mishra of India 2-1. Buwaneka claimed the first set 21/15, but Mishra recovered to level the game after winning the second set 21/14, as the Sri Lankan claimed a resounding 21/9 win in the third set to move forward.
Sri Lanka’s Rasindu Hendahewa also reached the pre-quarter-final but retired during the second set conceding the win to Indian Ginpaul Sonna, who had claimed the first set 21/15 and was leading the second set 11/6 at the time of the stoppage. In the Round of 32, Rasindu beat Nicholas Raj of India in straight sets, by 21/19 and 21/13. On Tuesday, he claimed a yet another commanding win against Atharva Joshi of India in straight sets (21/11, 21/18) in the Round of 64.
Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) hosts nearly 260 players from 16 nations, including Sri Lanka, at the six-day competition which culminates on March 7th. A total prize money of USD 5,000 is on offer at the HUNDRED Sri Lanka International Series 2025 which is sponsored by HUNDRED, LiNing, Mobil, McFoil and 3M.
