Senura and Bimandee claim double crowns
Winners and runners-up paddlers of all categories with the officials of TTASL
Senura Silva of Ananda College and Bimandee Bandara of Hillwood College, Kandy were named the Best Players in Boy’s and Girl’s categories respectively at the Junior National Table Tennis Championship 2020, where both paddlers won two double titles each.
Senura and Bimandee both won the Under-18 and Under-15 Singles titles in their respective categories with their vast experience. Senura beat schoolmate Hiruna Warusawithana in straight sets to claim the Under-18 Singles title after overcoming Dewmith Weerasena of Lyceum International School, also in straight sets. He won all of his games with ease, both in the Under-18 and Under-15 age categories.
Bimandee too had very little trouble in winning both the Under-18 and Under-15 Singles titles, where she overcame Ayla Chitty of Ladies’ College and Chameesha Thushadi of Kegalu Balika Vidyalaya respectively. Bimandee too was very hard to overcome, as she eased past the rest to claim the two titles without much trouble.
Senura and Bimandee with their titles
For their outstanding performances by clinching double titles each, Senura and Bimandee were adjudged the Best Boy Player and Best Girl Player at the Junior Nationals Championships 2020.
Senura and Bimandee are recipients of the Crysbro Next Champ scholarships arranged by the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka. Both paddlers are also selected under the High Performance Development Programme initiated by the National Sports Council of Sri Lanka.
Dewmith Weerasena of Lyceum International School claimed the Under-12 Boy’s Singles championship, while the Girl’s Singles title of the same age category was won by Sandinthie Jayasinghe of Musaeus College.
Agasthy Ananditha of Vidyartha College Kandy emerged the Under-10 Singles Boy’s winner while the Under-10 Girl’s Singles title was won by Anugi Onara of Devenanda College, Ambalangoda.
The Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka (TTASL) conducted the Junior National Championships 2020 last weekend at the Bandaragama Indoor Stadium as the championships could not be held during the year 2020 after the country was on lockdown several times and sports activities could not be held.
However, the response in numbers of entries was encouraging, attracting 145 boys and 135 girls paddlers in age group events of Boy’s and Girl’s Under-10, 12, 15 and 18 categories. The players gave their best in the two-day event in their respective age groups.
Minister of Youth affairs and Sports, Namal Rajapaksa, graced the occasion as chief guest and presented the champion and runner-up trophies to the finalists. Certificates were also awarded to players who reached the quarter-final stage onwards and trophies were awarded to the semi-finalists.
Bimandee Bandara won two titles and the award for Best Player
Senura Silva was the Best Player among boys after winning two titles -- the Boy's Under-18 and Under-15 Singles
| Final results | |
| U-18 Girl’s Singles:Final: Bimandee Bandara (Hillwood Kandy) beat Ayla Chitty (Ladies College) 3-1 Semi-finals: Bimandee Bandara (Hillwood Kandy) beat Lesanya Sethsuthumdee (Dharmasoka Ambalangoda) 3-0, Ayla Chitty (Ladies College) beat Manisha Shalindi (Dharmasoka Ambalangoda) 3-0 U-18 Boy’s Singles: Final: Senura Silva (Ananda) beat Hiruna Warusawithana (Ananda) 3-0 Semi-final: Senura Silva (Ananda) beat Dhanushka Wijesinghe (Kingswood) 3-0, Hiruna Warasawithana (Ananda) beat Saluka Premachandra (Ananda) 3-1 U-15 Girl’s Singles: Final: Bimandee Bandara (Hillwood Kandy) beat Chameesha Thushadi (Kegalu Balika) 3-0 Semi-finals: Bimandee Bandara (Hillwood Kandy) beat Nadithi Rehansa (Prajapathi BV) 3-0, Chameesha Thushadi (Kegalu Balika) beat Oneli Lehansa (Musaeus) 3-1 U-15 Boy’s Singles: Final: Senura Silva (Ananda) beat Dewmeth Weerasena (Lyceum) 3-0 Semi-finals: Senura Silva (Ananda) beat Vinuka Gunawardena (Royal) 3-0, Dewmeth Weerasena (Lyceum) beat Asthif Rusth (Royal) 3-1 U-12 Girl’s Singles: Final: Sandinthie Jayasinghe (Musaeus) beat Tamadi Kavindya (Devenanda Ambalangoda) 3-1 Semi-finals: Sandinthie Jayasinghe (Musaeus) beat Sinethmi Thesanya (Devenanda Ambalangoda) 3-1, Tamadi Kavindya (Devenanda Ambalangoda) beat Bindu Jayanula (Devenanda Ambalangoda) 3-1 U-12 Boy’s Singles: Final: Dewmeth Weerasena (Lyceum) beat Hareen Nimdinu (Dharmasoka Ambalangoda) 3-1 Semi-finals: Dewmeth Weerasena (Lyceum) beat Janith Batugedara (Royal) 3-0, Hareen Nimdinu (Dharmasoka Ambalangoda) beat Safiullah Akram (Hill Country) 3-1 U-10 Girl’s Singles: Final: Anugi Onara (Devenanda Ambalangoda) beat Nisandi Nimthara (Southland Galle) 3-0 Semi-finals: Anugi Onara (Devenanda Ambalangoda) beat Menuji Weerasighe (Vishaka) 3-2, Nisandi Nimthara (Southland Galle) beat Yoshini Jayawardena (St. Anthony’s) 3-1 U-10 Boy’s Singles: Final: Agasthy Ananditha (Vidyartha Kandy) beat Naviru Methsitha (Dharmasoka Ambalangoda) 3-0 Semi-finals: Agasthy Ananditha (Vidyartha Kandy) beat Danula Attanayake 3-0, Naviru Methsitha (Dharmasoka Ambalangoda) beat Rusath Wickramasinghe 3-2 |