Thomasine Doreen Sansoni (11 October 1911 – 22 June 1977) was a Sri Lankan

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

player and national No. 1. She won a total of twenty eight career titles in singles, doubles and mixed doubles from 1935 to 1946. Adaptable at competing on two natural surfaces she won titles on both

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

and

grass Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family (biology), family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and spe ...

courts. She remains the most successful Sri Lankan female player.

Tennis career

Sansoni began her tennis career in 1931. In April 1933 she reached the semi-finals of the national championships played at the Hill Club in

Nuwara Eliya Nuwara Eliya ( ; ) is a city in the hill country of the Central Province, Sri Lanka. Its name means "city on the plain (table land)" or "city of light". The city is the administrative capital of Nuwara Eliya District, with a picturesque landsc ...

. She won her first singles at the

Ceylon Championships The Ceylon Championships (1884-1972) later known as the Sri Lankan Championships (1972–76) was a men's and women's national tennis tournament held at the Hill Club LTC, Nuwara Eliya British Ceylon now Sri Lanka from 1884 through 1976. History ...

in 1935. At the same event that year she earned the distinction of being the first female player to achieve the triple crown by winning both the doubles and mixed doubles. In 1936 she successfully defended her Ceylon Championships title and won the event a further five times, (1937-1940, 1946) her seven singles titles remain a national record she shares with British colonial player Mrs. G. D. H. (Tiny) Alston. In addition she won the Malayan Championships four straight times from 1936 to 1939. In December 1945 she won the singles title at the

Bengal Championships The Bengal Championships was a combined men's and women's grass court tournament founded in 1887 as the Bengal Lawn Tennis Championships then the second oldest tournament in India. The tournament was played at the Calcutta Cricket Club grounds, Cal ...

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

, India defeating M. Nolan in straight sets. Her final title came at the

All India Championships All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and profe ...

in January 1946 where she won the singles title, defeating Sarah Mody in three sets. Sansoni was also a successful doubles player, winning the Ceylon ladies doubles championships four times and the mixed doubles championship eight times, partnering with her cousin Hildon Sansoni. Her combined nineteen national titles remain a record. She won the Malayan Championships doubles title in 1936 and the mixed doubles title in 1938. She won the doubles title at the 1941 All India Championships in

Baroda Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

, partnering with Indian player Khanum Haji.

Playing style

Personal life

Sansoni was born in

Negombo Negombo (, ), also known as Punchi Romaya (Little Rome), is a major city in Sri Lanka, situated on the west coast and at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, in the Western Province, Sri Lanka, Western Province, from Colombo via the E03 expressway ...

into a prominent

Burgher Burgher may refer to: * Burgher (social class), a medieval, early modern European title of a citizen of a town, and a social class from which city officials could be drawn ** Burgess (title), a resident of a burgh in northern Britain ** Grand Bur ...

family. Her father was Waldo Sansoni, (1883-1966 ),

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, a former lieutenant colonel commanding the Ceylon Light Infantry regiment, who later became a

district judge District Judge may refer to: * A United States federal judge, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate * A judge in a state court (United States), where the state is divided into judicial districts * * A judge in the district courts ...

, and her mother was Thomasin Gertrude Harriet Schrader, (1889-1941) Sansoni had four siblings from her father's first marriage.

Career finals

Singles (15) titles (13) runner's up (2)

References

Sources

* Altendorf, D. V. "GENEALOGY OF THE FAMILY OF SANSONI OF CEYLON VOL 49" (PDF). thedutchburgherunion.org. Sri Lankan Dutch Burgher Union. 1959.

External links

University of Adelaide Sri Lanka papers ca. 1800-1999Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA)https://thuppahi.Dr. Michael Roberts/about
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sansoni, Doreen Sri Lankan female tennis players 1911 births Year of death missing People from Negombo Sri Lankan people of Italian descent Burgher people Sportspeople from Western Province, Sri Lanka