Tennis: S. Thomas’ beat St. Peter’s to regain Schools Shield title

S. Thomas' College Mount Lavinia regained the Milo National School Games Boy’s Tennis Shield defeating St. Peter's College Colombo in the final.   Incidentally this year's final was a repeat of the past 2 finals with a S. Thomas' triumph in 2013 followed by a Peterite victory in 2014.   The Thomians' victory is made extra special by the fact that they did not lose a single match throughout the entire tournament.   After a relatively quiet couple of rounds the Thomians faced the more fancied Royalists in the semi finals having lost to them last weekend in the annual RoyalThomian tennis encounter.   However Avindra Perera and Viranka Fernando recorded convincing straight set victories to avenge last week's loss.   The start of the final was delayed due to inclement weather but this had no effect on the atmosphere as large crowds were present to support both schools.   Chehan Fernando got St Peter's off to a flying start winning the first set 6-2 against Avindra Perera amid loud cheers from the Peterite supporters.   However the 14 year old Avindra, recently crowned the under 18 national champion orchestrated a stunning comeback to silence the Peterites, breezing through the remaining two sets 6-2 6-2 to get the Thomians one match away from regaining the title they won in 2013.   The Thomian supporters gathered were not to be disappointed as Viranka Fernando gave a stunning display of powerful ground strokes to beat Davishka Ranasinghe 6-3 6-0 and thereby clinching the final and the shield with a 2-0 win.   Thomian ace Avindra Perera was named the Best Player of the NSG, awarded by the Ministry of Education, to put the icing on the cake.