Sri Lanka squash champ Laksiri wins tournament in England

By Susil Premalal  

Sri Lanka’s top ranked men’s squash players Ravindu Laksiri and Shamil Wakeel performed exceptionally well at the Mote Open and Exeter Golf and Country Club Open PSA Satellite Tournaments, held in Maidstone and Exeter England respectively. 

 
In the Mote Open, Laksiri went on to beat two Englishmen 3-0 and overcame higher ranked Korean Hoony Lee in five sets in the semi final before losing to the top seed Perry Malik in a four-setter thus winning his first PSA satellite runner-up position on foreign soil.   

Wakeel too displayed superb court craft to beat Ireland’s Dylan Moran in straight sets. In the quarter-finals Wakeel lost 3-2 in a tightly contested match to the top seed and eventual winner.   

In the Exeter Golf and Country club Open PSA Satellite Tournament Laksiri,displayed a fine brand of squash to win the tournament thus becoming the first Sri Lankan squash player to win a PSA tournament outside Sri Lanka.   

Laksiri continued his form beating two Englishmen and then Alex Smith from Ireland in straight sets in the quarter-finals. In the semi final he had to overcome stiff opposition from Englishman Mike Harris in a tight five-setter.   

 In the final Laksiri created a major upset to beat top seed James Peach from England in a closely contested four-set match. Having lost the first set, Laksiri made a comeback saving game points to win the second set 13/11. He was in control of the other two sets and went on to win 11/7 and 11/8. In both instances, Laksiri defeated players who had PSA rankings significantly higher than him.   

Both players are employed at Brandix Lanka Ltd which is a keen sponsor of Sri Lanka Squash. Their Chairman Priyan Fernando stated that the performance of the duo was a significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s journey to international competitiveness and the growth of the sport in Sri Lanka. 

(SP)