Savinaka and Ranithma win MBA Open Singles titles
View(s):Savinaka Weerasekera and Ranithma Liyanage won the Men’s and Women’s Open Singles titles at the MBA Open Badminton Championship, held in Colombo.
Organised by the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) under the auspices of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) and took place at the Mercantile and Lumbini College indoor courts, the championship also saw Ranithma claiming a double by winning the Mixed Open Doubles title along with Alan Dharmasaputra.
Savinaka defeated Lochana de Silva 21-17, 8-21, 21-14 in the Men’s Open Singles final, while Raninma managed to defeat Warangana Jayawardene 21-12, 21-14 to win the Women’s Singles title.
Oshamika Karunaratne and Tulith Palliaguru won the Men’s Open Doubles title defeating Dinuru Rashmika Priyashantha and Siyath Dulneth Senaratne in a thrilling three-setter with a scoreline of 21-17, 18-21 and 21-17, while Anurangi Hansamala Maskorala and Vidara Suhasni Vidanage managed to win the Women’s Open Doubles title defeating Rashmi Bhagya and Warangana with scores of 21-19 and 21-18.
In the Open Mixed Doubles final, Marcelo Vittorio and Praveena Jayasundara lost to Ranithma and Dharmasaputra 21-15, 21-14.
In the Under-19 Boys’ Singles final, Shenuk Samararatne won the Singles title defeating Thilina Rajakaruna 21-19, 21-10, while the Girls’ Singles title in the same age group was won by Amantha Thathsarani, who defeated Rukshika Baskaran 21-16, 20-22, 21-16 in the final.
The Boys’ Doubles title in the same age group was won by Rithira Sendhil Abeygunawardena and Thenul Ransaja Ganewatta who defeated Sanjula Handapangodage and Shenuk Samararatne 21-16, 8-21, 21-19 in another thriller.
A prominent event in the national badminton calendar, the Mercantile Open Badminton Championship, also acted as a Level 1 ranking tournament. The tournament was sponsored by McFoil, Mobil, Li Ning, 3M, and GAC.