Tennis: Unseed Weerasinghe, Pushparaj record stunning wins as Junior Nationals set off

Unseed players Savith Weerasinghe and Aadavan Pushparaj pulled off stunning wins over the fourth and fifth seeded players Akila Vimukthi and Archana Lokuge respectively in the Under-18 Boys Singles encounters played at the SLTA courts in Greenpath, Colombo on Saturday (8).   Weerasinghe and Pushparaj had little difficulty in brushing off the challenge put in by the much fancied Vimukthi and Lokuge respectively as they won the game with ease in the three setters.   In the other matches that were played for the in the Under-18 boys category saw the second, sixth and eighth seeded players Chehan Fernando, Amandha Gunawardena and Avindra Perera along with Sheal Karunaratne, Vibuda Wijebandara. Isuru Wijeratne, Vikum Jayasuriya, Dinith Wickramanayake, Praveen Steele, Ramith Jayanetti, Inthujan Selvaratnarajah, Rusiru Fernando winning their matches to advance to the next round.   In the Under-18 Girls Singles third and fourth seeded players Thisuri Molligoda and Ruskhika Wijesooriya along with Sethara Ambawatte, Pamoda Jayasekera, Janali Manamperi, Tarah Greig qualify to the next stage of the championship.   In the Under-18 Boys Singles the top five seeded players are: B. Suren, Anish Wijesinghe, Chehan Fernando, Akila Vimukthi and Amandha Gunawardena while Medhira Samarasinghe, Nethmi Waduge, Thisuri Molligoda and Ruskhika Wijesooriya are top seeded players in the girls’ category.   The Junior National Tennis Championship 2015 conducted by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) coincides with centenary celebrations of the SLTA and will run until August 23.