A Junior Commissioned Officer from the Madras Engineering Group (MEG) Bengaluru has qualified for the Wimbledon Main Draw.

By qualifying for the Wimbledon Main Draw, Naib Subedar Sriram Balaji has become the first player from the services to do so.

Balaji’s partnership with Vishnu Vardhan qualified for the main draw after a win over Denys Molchanov and Igor Zelenay in the second round of the Wimbledon qualifiers.

“Naib Subedar Sriram Balaji has qualified for the Wimbledon Main Draw. First in the history of Services, player to qualify and reach this level,” tweeted the Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADG PI)-Indian Army

Balaji started his career in tennis in the year 2000 when he was 10 years old and ranked 1st in India in under 12 categories in the year 2002.

He joined Madras Sappers in February 2017 and till date he has won five ATP Challengers Cup.

In May, the Balaji Vishnu Vardhan pair won the Doubles title in Challenger ATP men’s tournament held tournament held at Samarkand, Uzbekistan, defeating Mikhail Elgin of Russia and Denis Istomin of Kazakistan. With that, the duo has qualified for Wimbledon Men’s Doubles. They are the only Indian pair to take part in this Wimbledon.

His present world ranking is 117.

Last year in April, he won the Davis Cup match in doubles category, defeating Uzbekistan.

The MEG personnel also known as Madras Sappers have a rich sporting tradition. Over the years, MEG has had many Olympians and sportsmen.

source: http://www.bangaloremirror.indiatimes.com / Bangalore Mirror / Home> Bangalore> Others / by Bangalore Mirror Bureau / June 20th, 2018