The tennis maestro Dineshkanthan Thangarajah and eighteen year old Thisuri Molligoda were crowned National tennis champions for the year 2015 in the 100th Nationals after closely contested finals which were worked off at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association premises a short while ago.
Sri Lanka’s cream in the racket game Dineshkanthan Thangarajah got back the honour of being the national champion after a lapse of two year when he defeated his Davis Cup co-partner Sharmal Dissanayaka 6-4,3-2. The game however did not live up to the intensity of a final encounter as his opponent Sharmal retreated from the game after the second game injured. As the rules of the book dictate that if in the case of an injury, the remaining player shall be awarded victory, Dineshkanthan Thangarajah thus bagged the 100th national title and his fourth.
Though the final encounter was a piece of cake for Dineshkanthan, he fought his way through the earlier rounds to end up in the final game. The best of Dinesh was in his game against the defending champion, the Pakistan national Heera Ashiq. A game that lasted more than four hours, it portrayed the 23 year old’s true potential as a champion. Later in the semifinals, he defeated Sanka Atukorale to end up meeting Sharmal Dissanayake. This was the first occasion where the 19 year old Sharmal reached the Men’s final and will be eyeing to set the record straight to someday win the title for himself.
The Women’s open was the highly anticipated clash of the day with the Visakhian power duo Thisuri Molligoda and Nethmi Waduge meeting each other once again in yet another final. This was the first time where two eighteen year old players made it to a Women’s National final which is an indication of the young talent in store for the racket sport in the country.
Thisuri had the edge in the first set as she went on to defeat her counterpart Nethmi Waduge 6-4. It was an even combination but Nethmi’s earlier setback was sufficient for Molligoda to cruise to 6 points. Fighting back in the middle set, Nethmi set the game straight winning the second 6-3. With the decision of the Women’s title going down to the penultimate set, it was Thisuri Molligoda who made history winning the set 6-3 and being crowned the new Women’s national title contender.
It was an impressive show by both players to have come up the distance defeating the heavyweights in the league. Earlier in the tournament it was Nethmi Waduge who gave the exit note for the defending champion Amritha Muttaiah in the semifinals winning the game 7-5,7-5. It was disappointing to see the household name in the tennis arena, Muttaiah exit but on the courts it is sheer talent that speaks.
With Molligoda’s win in the Women’s open, the ranking tables will be seeing shifts with the likes of a new top seed.
The games will conclude tomorrow and will be followed by the awards night that is scheduled to start at 5.30 p.m.
