Hasini and Hasara reach South Africa International semis
Sri Lanka’s Hasini Ambalangodage and Hasara Wijayaratne reached the Women’s Doubles semi-final of the South Africa International 2024 Badminton Tournament at the John Tyers Hall at Access Park in Cape Town on Saturday.
Hasini and Hasara, who are currently enjoying a successful series of competitions in the African continent, defeated Deborah Godfrey and Anri Schoonees of South Africa in the Women’s Doubles quarter-final in straight, setting sight to their second major title within a week after claiming a gold medal at Botswana International 2024 last Sunday.
The Sri Lankan top ranked Women’s Doubles pair was given a stiff challenge by the South African duo from the outset. But Hasini and Hasara were resolute in their approach as they steadily changed the momentum of the game towards their favour and claim the sets with scores of 21/16 and 21/15 to reach the semi-final stage. They will meet Vilina Appiah and Tiya Bhurtun of the Mauritius in the semi-final.
Earlier, in the Round of 16, the Sri Lankan duo recorded an easy straight win against South Africa’s Lydia Godfrey and Yiwen Luo, with set scores of 21/11 and 21/9. The finals of the four-day BWF graded competition, organsied and conducted by Badminton South Africa, will be played on Sunday.
Last week, Hasini and Hasara clinched the Women’s Doubles gold medal at the Botswana International 2024, defeating South Africa’s Amy Ackerman and Deidre Laurens in the final. A week prior, the pair claimed the silver medal at the Zambia International 2024, after a gruelling battle against Maldivian pair A. Abdul Razzaq and F. Abdul Razzaq.