Yasitha wins maiden title, Anika bags triple
Anika Seneviratne returns a shot
Yasitha de Silva fought his way to beat Savit Weerasinghe 6/2, 7/5 to clinch the Men’s Open Singles title while Anika Seneviratne cruised to victory over Savini Jayasuriya 6/2, 6/1 in the Women’s finals at the Clay Court Tennis Nationals at the SLTA courts yesterday.
For seventh seeded Yasitha it was his maiden title but for Anika it was the third time she laid her hands on it, having won it the last two years. Anika had little challenge from fourth seeded Savini to annexe another feather to her cap.
Earlier Yasitha also partnered Sankha Athukorala to win the Men’s Open doubles event. In the Women’s Open doubles, top seeded siblings Anika and Alana Seneviratne along with the pair of Savini Jayasuriya/Janali Manamperi and Oneli Perera/S. Sumanaweera have qualified to the semi-finals.
Yasitha de Silva in action - Pix by Priyantha Wickramaarachchi
Thehan Wijemanne, who put in a stunning performance in the Men’s Open Singles event with a win against second seeded Akila Vimukthi in a quarter-final encounter, qualified to the semi-finals of the Boys U-18 event along with Jaitra de Saram, Dhilva Herath and Deladure Arachchilage.
In the Girls U-18 Singles, top and bottom seeded players Tania Doloswala and Savini Jayasuriya along with Oneli Perera and V. Serasinghe are the four players to book their berth in the semi-finals. The championship will continue today.