Anika, Chathurya bag third and fourth major titles
The 105th Colombo Tennis Championship which concluded last week turned out to be another successful one for Anika Seneviratne and Chathurya Nilaweera.
Anika Seneviratne
The two players, having tasted success in the 105th National Tennis Championship, continued their form and maintained their consistency.
Anika, having clinched the Women’s Singles National title, was in top form as she added two more trophies to her cupboard by winning the Women’s Singles title at the 105th Colombo Tennis Championship. She then partnered her sister Alana to bag the Women’s Doubles title to bring her tally of three major titles wins. It was sweet revenge for the sisters as they were beaten in the national championship doubles final.
Chathurya, who also had success at the National Tennis Championship winning two titles, bagged two titles at the 105th Colombo Tennis Championship. He clinched the Boys Under-18 Singles title and then partnered with Thehan Wijemanne to bag the Boys Under-18 Doubles title.
He was unfortunate to miss out in winning a fifth as he had to concede a walkover in the Under-16 Boys Doubles event, which he qualified with his brother Vichinthya Nilaweera.
However, the 105th Colombo Tennis Championship saw some of the top players skipping the tournament. Sharmal Dissanayake, Yasitha de Silva, Sankha Athukorala, to name a few, pulled out of the competition due to injuries and other reasons. Among those who participated, some of the winners of the national championship in the junior category were defeated. The biggest upset was in the Men’s Open’s category where Chathurya Nilaweera and Thehan Wijemanne were beaten by Vibuda Wijebandara and Savit Weerasinghe in the final. In the junior category up and coming players in the boys’ and girls’ categories –
Chathurya Nilaweera
Ganuka Fernando, who bagged the National Boys Under-12 title and Dinara de Silva, who bagged two titles the Under-12 and Under-14 titles — were unable to make any headway.
Lithium Jayabandu bagged the Boys Under-12 title while Arushi Thomas and Ruvi Lewkebandara took the Girls Under-12 and Under-14 titles. Kairan Vairawanathan, the reigning Boys Under-16 champion lived up to his reputation by winning the same title in this championship.
Teenager Luca Knese, who won the National Under-18 title, went a step further when he bagged the Men’s Open title with an easy win over Vibuda Wijebandara. National champions Ransath Peiris and Sandaru Guruge clinched the Boys Under-14 Doubles title while Aleesha Silva and Movini Fernando bagged the Girls Under-14 Doubles title.
Meanwhile Kiran Vairawanathan, the National Under-16 champion, will be looking to win the title while in the girl’s event of the same age group Hasali Gajaba came out victorious against Saajida Razick. Oneli Perera overcame Vishmi Serasinghe to clinch the Girls Under-18 title. Saajida Razick, who lost out in the Under-16 Singles event, made amends with her partner Dinethya Dharmaratne to defeat the pair of Hasali Gajaba and Minuki Wanniarachchi in a thrilling encounter to emerge the Girls Under-16 Doubles champions.