Godamanne prevails over Dineshkanthan to take men’s singles
View(s):By David Stephens
Harshana Godamanne was forced to dig deep and extract some inspired tennis, after he was pulled into a 7-5, 6-7 (10-8), 6-2, 6-2 slugfest against Thangarajah Dineshkanthan in order to clinch the Queen’s Club Gymkhana Open ‘A’ Grade men’s singles title, at the Queen’s Club courts yesterday.
Harshana Godamanne. Pic by Amila Gamage
Godamanne and Dineshkanthan went tit-for-tat during the opening set, with both men striking the ball crisply from the baseline. Although Godamanne was broken at 2-1, he struck back with a service break of his own to even things up.
Things were deadlocked until at 6-5, Dineshkanthan erred to deliver the set to his opponent. In the second set, the rallies grew furiously, and this appeared to suit Dineshkanthan’s game better. Nevertheless, there was not much separating both players, and in the blistering afternoon heat they threw themselves around the court with great determination.
As the set rode into a tie-break, their tenacity grew and in turn inspired them to produce some spectacular performances. Godamanne won the battle for the tie-breaker splendidly, which stole him a point from a rally he looked almost certain to lose. This was after Dineshkanthan had him scampering to all corners of the court.
However, there were one too many outright winners to retrieve and Dineshkanthan moved on to take the set, and make an already exciting match even better after he converted his third set point. Godamanne however was in no mood for gruelling five-setters and promptly adjusted his game.
He immediately began utilising his soft touch at the net to test Dineshkanthan’s movements. His drop shot in particular was exquisite, and he never shied away from pulling it out during the crucial moments of the match.
Each time his opponent raced to the net to halt the ball’s second bounce, Godamanne pumped his fist triumphantly as he watched the match inch closer towards his possession. Once he had surrendered the third set at 6-2, Dineshkanthan’s prospects of victory seemed as faint as the fading light. Godamanne finally shoved him into darkness with a cross-court whip at 5-2, to end a hard-fought encounter.
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