Sri Lanka’s Buwaneka Goonethilleka touched the semi-finals of the Men’s Singles in the HUNDRED Sri Lanka International Series 2025, at the St. Joseph’s College Indoor Complex in Darley Road, Colombo.
The earlier Sri Lanka champion staged a revamped style of play to outsmart Naren Iyer of India 2-1, currently ranked 243 in the world, to be guaranteed of a podium finish in the five-day international competition, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) and Badminton Asia (BA).
Buwaneka demanded the first set 21-17 in the quarterfinal clash against the top ranked Indian, who made a remarkable comeback to level the game by winning the second set 21-12.
With the vital third set proving to be important to claim his first international medal since 2019, Buwaneka made a gallant return to outsmart Iyer 21-13 and secure his berth in the Men’s Singles semi-final.
Formerly, he outsmarted Henrikho Kho of Indonesia in straight sets, in the Round of 32 game winning 21-7 and 21-15. In Round of 64, Buwaneka, currently ranked 1,032 in the world, indicated his intention of reaching a podium finish, after beating Siddhartha Mishra of India 2-1.
Buwaneka claimed the first set 21-15 but Mishra improved to level the match after winning the second set 21-14 before the Sri Lankan claimed a resounding 21-9 win in the third set to move forward.
Sri Lanka’s Rasindu Hendahewa also reached the pre quarter-finals but retired throughout the second set conceding the win to Indian Ginpaul Sonna, who had claimed the first set 21-15 and was leading the second set 11-6 at the time of the stoppage.
In the Round of 32, Rasindu beat Nicholas Raj of India in straight sets 21-19 and 21-13. Earlier, he claimed yet another commanding win against Atharva Joshi of India in straight sets (21-11, 21-18) in the Round of 64.
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