Saduni staves off sister Kasuni to win under 9 final

By Saif Izzadeen

Vishaka Vidyalaya school girl Saduni Gunawardena beat her younger sister Kasuni Gunawardena from the same school in the Girls under 9 final to become the champion on the first day of the SSC squash tournament which was worked off at the SSC Squash courts yesterday.

This tournament which is organized by SSC in collaboration with the Sri Lanka Squash Federation is sponsored by DPEX World Wide express. This year a record number of entries has entered the tournament. Although they are sisters, they played extremely hard and this kept the spectators happy and biting their nails. The first set proved to be a good tussle before Saduni who displayed some good shots to overcome her sister 9-5.

In the second set Saduni Gunawardena scored a 9-0 win. In the third set Kasuni Gunawardena took a 3-0 lead before Saduni used all her experience to win the set and match at 9-3. All in all it was a good battle. In the third and fourth place play off Malshi Rajapaske of Vishaka Vidyalaya defeated Shalina Peiris of the same school 9-5, 9-1 and 9-5. In the semi finals Saduni Gunawardena beat Malshi Rajapaske 9-1, 9-0 and 9-0 while Kasuni Gunawardena beat Shalina Peiris 9-0, 9-1 and 9-0.

In one semi final of the under 15 Boys novices event Dinuk Weerasekera of Royal College will meet Hasala Gamalath of Royal College. Both players are in good form and an absorbing game can be expected.

In qualifying matches of the under 19 section Milfer Faizal of St. Peter’s College beat Praveen Fernando also from St. Peter’s College 9-5, 9-0 and 9-3 while Thilina Silva of St. Peter’s College beat T.D. Jagodaarachchi of St. Sylvester’s College Kandy 9-2, 9-2 and 9-0. The highlight in the morning was the five set thriller between W.C.A. Welihinda and R. Vithanage in the Boys under 15 novices category.

It was a good match from the start as both players dished out good fare and kept the spectators on the edge of their seats. It was a match befitting a final. Both players must been congratulated for a fine game. The final score line read 9-4, 2-9, 3-9, 9-1, 9-3.