Lochana defend Men’s title; Varangana emerge Women’s champ
Lochana de Silva and Varangana Jayawardena bagged the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles of the NCPBA All-Island Open Badminton Championship that concluded at the Sports Department Indoor Stadium in Anuradhapura this weekend. Lochana went on to claim a double crown by also claiming the Mixed Doubles title at the seven-day tournament organised and conducted by the North Central Province Badminton Association (NCPBA) under the approval of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB).
Lochana defended his Men’s Singles title in straight sets, despite some resistance from finalist Sethum Perera, as he went on to win both sets by identical scores of 21-18 and 21-18. Varangana, on the other hand, had to undergo an initial setback before bouncing back to claim the Women’s Singles title by 2-1. She won the first set with ease by 21-10, but Rashmi Bhagya Mudalige made a strong comeback to claim the second set by 21-10. But Varangana proved her composure in the third set with a clinical comeback to claim title with a 21-13 win.
Lochana claimed his double crown with the win of the Mixed Doubles partnered by Rashmi Bhagya, in an exciting final that stretched to three sets. The eventual champions lost the first set to Thulith Palliyaguru and Panchali Adhikari by 21-16 but returned strong to equalize with a score of 21-12 in the second set. The third set went down to the wire with both sides battling it out to the last drop, but Lochana and Rashmi rounded up the battle in their favour claiming the decisive set by 24-22.
The Men’s Doubles final too proved to be an exciting affair as the game extended to become a three-setter battle, in which Thulith Palliyaguru and Oshamika Karunaratne emerged winners by 2-1. The winners claimed the first set with ease by 21-16 but faced an unexpected setback in the second as they lost by the same margin 16-21 at the hands of Dinuru Priyashantha and Dulneth Senaratne. But they made a strong comeback in the third set, to claim the title after a 21-19 win.
Hasini Ambalangodage and Hasara Wijayaratne made little work against Isuri Attanayake and Sithumi de Silva in the Women’s Doubles final, as they eased past in both sets by 21-14 and 21-9 to claim a straight win and the title.
Despite facing an initial setback, losing the first set by 21-15 to Hiruka Sahanmin, Pamith Bandara bounced back to win the Under-19 Boy’s Singles title with a 2-1 win. Pamith secured the title with a comeback win in the remaining sets which ended in his favour by 21-15 and 22-20.
Komuthu Kethnara claimed the Under-19 Girl’s Singles title in straight sets against Amantha Thathsarani, who withdrew midway of the second set. Kethnara won the first set 21-18 and when Amantha withdrew, the second set was already in favour of the winner who led by 11-6.
The tournament featured several categories, including Open events in Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles. Additionally, competitions were held under Boys and Girls categories for age groups of Under-11 to Under-19, with events for Men’s and Women’s of Over-30, extending up to a combined age group of 110. Special events included plate competitions for Men’s and Women’s Singles.
Winners received a combined cash reward of LKR 750,000 in addition to trophies, medals, and certificates. The North Central Province All-Island Open Badminton Championship was sponsored by Mcfoil, Mobil, Li-Ning, 3M, and GAC.