Viren Nettasinghe in action 

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka’s top seed shuttler, Viren Nettasinghe, booked his berth in the quarter-finals of the Dove Saipan International 2024, which is underway at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium in Saipan, with a resounding 2-0 win against Aryamann Tandon in the Round of 16 on Wednesday.

Nettasinghe, the top seed of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Grade 3 International Challenge Tournament, overcame Tandon in straight sets after the Indian staged some early resistance in both sets.

Nettasinghe claimed the first set 21-18 and dominated the second set before sealing the pre-quarter-final game with a 21-15 win.

Tandom showed some promise after his straight set (21-15, 21-13) win against South Korea’s Pyeong Gang Choi in the previous round to set up a Round of 16 clash against Nettasinghe, who faced a stiffer opponent in Chi Ting Chen in the last round.

Cheng of Chinese Taipei, who impressed in the Round of 64 against Ean Camacho of the host country, continued his form to trouble Nettasinghe.

But the in-form Olympian thwarted all obstacles to shatter Cheng in straight sets, 23-21 and 21-18 after a close encounter, setting his sight on the title in his last international appearance before the Paris Olympics.

Nettasinghe is set to take on RyomaMuramoto of Japan in the quarter-finals in the six-day competition conducted by Northern Marianas Badminton Association.

Nettasinghe, the first and only Sri Lankan to earn direct qualification for the Paris Olympics, also makes history for his country by becoming the youngest badminton player to represent the nation at the Olympics.

Earlier this week, the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka named Nettasinghe as one of the flag-bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics alongside Dilhani Lekamge, the female javelin thrower.