The South Korean team were looking to qualify for the finals of the International Tennis Federation’s flagship wheelchair tennis event for the first time in four years.

They took a giant stride to achieving the feat when they claimed a victory against Malaysia in their opening match in Sri Lanka.

In Kyung Han gave them the lead by beating Malaysia’s Norisah Bahrom 6-3, 7-6, before Ju-Youn Park thrashed Nur Aqidah Zainuddin 6-0, 6-0 to complete a 2-0 victory.

Park repeated her performance against Zainuddin as the second tie with Malaysia got underway, the South Korean completing her two matches without dropping a game.

It helped ensure South Korea’s qualification, with Han having beaten Bahrom 6-0, 6-3 in their second clash of the tie.

South Korea’s women’s team are now set to compete in the finals for the 17th time, with competition taking place in The Netherlands during May.

Japan are favourites to book their place in the men’s competition, after they claimed victories in their opening two matches.

They began by brushing aside Malaysia 3-0 with Kouhei Suzuki and Satoshi Saida earning wins in their singles matches before the latter combined with Yoshinobu Fujimoto to win a doubles tie.

The Japanese team repeated their 3-0 success when they played against China.

Victory over hosts Sri Lanka tomorrow would secure Japan’s place in the finals.

Their opponents suffered a 3-0 loss to China in their first match, before bouncing back to overcome Malaysia 2-1 in their second match.

Americans and African qualifiers have already taken place, with a European event is scheduled to be held from April 11 to 15 in Vilamoura in Portugal.

The finals are due to take place in Apeldoorn from May 28 and June 3.