Tennis: J.L. Morrison wins Mercantile cchampionship

It was a successful debut campaign for J. L. Morison’s at the annual Mercantile Tennis Tournament held at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association this week. J. L. Morison’s was represented by Dilshan Balasuriya, Ahmed Shaakir and Dhanushka Liyanage.

Ahmed Shaakir, a former tennis captain of Royal College, emerged as the champion in the men’s division I Singles category for the second consecutive year defeating the likes of Amith Weerasinghe and Shehan Gomesz in straight sets to clinch the title.

Shaakir then teamed up with Dilshan Balasuriya, a past captain of Trinity College tennis, and had a good run in the men’s division I Doubles segment which ended in the semi-finals when they were edged out by the number 2 seeds, Shehan Gomesz and Sohan Patrick. 

The match was a closely contested affair with both sides playing aggressive tennis to the delight of the spectators. Shaakir and Balasuirya, however, could not pull off an upset as they were on the losing side of the match tie-breaker.

Dhanushka Liyanage, who was formerly a tennis player of Imperial College London, also had a successful tournament when he played strong attractive tennis to emerge as a quarter-finalist in the Men’s division III category.

J. L. Morison’s, a leading pharmaceutical company in Sri Lanka, will be hoping to build on their excellent debut tennis campaign with a stronger performance in the following year.