Senior National Squash Championships; the most looked forward to and the final tournament conducted by The Sri Lanka Squash Federation for this year will be held from the 20th to the 23rdof December at the Sugathadasa Squash Complex.
The Mens Open event will be tightly contested with all the top ranked players competing for the glorious crown .All eyes will be on current top National ranked players Ravindu Laksiri, Gihan Suwaris and Dilshan Gunawardena while veterans Navin Samarasinghe and Saman Thilakarathna stand in their way challenging the speed and stamina of the youngsters with their expertise and control.
Gihan Suwaris who emerged victorious at the recently concluded SSC Open Squash Championship will be eyeing to repeat the same performance where he beat the defending National champion in the semi finals. Dilshan Gunawardena who is currently ranked no 3 too would be eyeing for the crown .This young lad who is capable of making upsets on his day proved his class at the recently concluded SSC Open Squash Championship having the better of top seed Ravindu Laksiri in the semi finals and almost winning the championship taking, Gihan Suwaris for a five setter in the final. Current top National ranked player and Junior National Champion, Ravindu Laksiri will be making plans to identify where he went wrong during the last tournament and keep the momentum going as he had being doing through out the year..
Veteran Navin Samarasinghe will be trying to defend his title and make way for eight National titles and for a consecutive fifth win. At the same time thirteen times National Champion and runner up at the last edition of the Senior National squash Championship, Saman Thilakaratne would be eyeing to make an upset win and add another title under his belt .Both Navin and Saman share a wealth of International exposure representing Sri Lanka at Asian Senior Championships, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games and even captaining and leading the National Squash team towards a Bronze medal at the previous South Asian Games.
Last years Junior National Champion and a Bronze medalist at the previous South Asian Games Binura Jaysuriya too will be competing for the prestigious crown making it pretty tough for all the ranked players from the quarter final stage onwards. Holder of three Junior National titles and two bronze medals at the South Asian Games, Eranga Alwis will be another senior player to be watched. Yasir Issadeen who has represented Sri Lanka at the previous Asian Senior Squash Championships too will be in line for the title adding the much needed glamour to the competition.
The Womens Open event too will be tightly contested with the junior players taking on the stage. With the absence of Nirasha Guruge, Tehani Guruge and Sharya Guruge among whom they share eight National titles, Mihiliya Methsarani will be the top seed while Naduni Gunawardena will be the bottom seed for the Womens Open event. Mihiliya the current junior National Champion and a semi finalist at the last edition of the Championship would definitely try to clinch her maiden Senior National Championship after staying on top unbeaten through out the last few National ranking tournaments. Meanwhile Naduni an equally talented hard fighter, who was only able to secure the second place in most of the National Ranking tournaments held during the year would be having other plans to cut down her mistakes and grab the title.
Dulakshi Elikawela, Fathoum Issadeen and Gayara Jayasuriya are the other top players who are in line for the title,being able to provide stiff opposition to the favorites
The tournament will be worked under eight different categories and they are
*Mens Open, *Womens Open, *Mens over 35, *Mens over 45, *Mens over 50, *Veterans over 55, *Mens Novices, *Womens Novices
