After 14 days of exciting action on the SLTA playing courts where the best of the best battled for the most revered silverware on offer for Tennis in country, the 100th National Championships were concluded last weekend.
The 100th episode of the national run saw the emergence of new contenders in the race to be the best in the country in Tennis, while many of the reigning heroes had to take a step back to give way to the new talent. ThePapare takes a look at the top performers and the major upsets in the national tournament.
The Men’s title
Defending Champion Heera Ashiq had to give up his quest for a second consecutive title as he was beaten by Dineshkanthan in the Men’s open title in the quarterfinals. The Men’s title had its interesting twists and turns right upto the final encounter.
19 year old Sharmal Dissanayaka had the best campaign in the tournament. Sharmal who is currently the only Sri Lankan player in the ITF World rankings, made his route to the finals defeating Bangladesh national Delwar Hossain in the initial round and then top seed Yasitha De Silva to get through to the semi final. The semi final clash which decided the finalist was between Sharmal and Pakistan national Tanveer Ashiq. After a close contest, Sharmal got through to the finals to face his old team mate Dineshkanthan.
The finals were a let down however as Sharmal walked away injured after two games to give Dineshkanthan his fourth national title. As the 23 year old Dineshkanthan added his fourth national title to his trophy cabinet, he joins an elite group of individuals who have won four or more national titles in tennis.
The Women’s title
All eyes were fixed on the celebrated Women’s title which was on offer as defending champion Amritha Muttaiah had the let go the title which she had retained over the last five years to eighteen year old Thisuri Molligoda.
It was the first occasion where an eighteen year old player went on to win Women’s open silverware when Thisuri Molligoda defeated Nethmi Waduge in the finals. Unfortunately, the queen of the racket sport in the country, Amritha did not make it to the finals as she was defeated by Nethmi Waduge in the semi finals.
Waduge’s success story in this 2015 season continued in the Women’s nationals as she went on to book her spot in the Women’s open final defeating Muttiah 7-5, 7-5. This was a disappointment for the former national champion as the Visakha power duo; Thisuri and Nethmi met for the Women’s final. Thisuri Molligoda was crowned the new national champion when she defeated her counterpart 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
Thisuri and her alma mater can be proud of her achievement as it has been two decades since Visakha last produced a national champion in the racket sport. With this win, Thisuri is set to be the top Sri Lankan as Muttiah drops down a few places. Prior to the tournament both Molligoda & Muttiah shared the top position with 1050 points each.
Doubles Titles
Amritha Muttiah was able to lay her hands on some silverware this 2015 season, however, when she and Medhira Samarasinghe took the Women’s Doubles crown. The duo defeated Nethmi Waduge and Rukshika Wijesooriya 6-3, 6-0.
The Pakistan siblings Heera Ashiq and Tanveer Ashiq bagged the Men’s Doubles title last weekend after defeating Yasith De Silva and Sanka Atukorale. The Ashiq brothers did not have luck on their sides in the singles tournament but playing as a team, they seemed a force beyond measure. The word is that they will continue to play their tennis in the island next season as well.
Mixed Doubles
Sixteen year old Medhira Samarasinghe secured a double crown when she won the mixed doubles along with Sanka Atukorale defeating Heera Ashiq and Roshenka Fernando. The national title pair; Dineshkanthan and Thisuri ended up in third place.
Wheelchair Singles
Gamini Dissanayaka took home his fourth Wheelchair national title last week defeating Suresh Dissanayaka in the final 6-2, 2-6, 6-3. It was disappointing to see the veteran Upali Rajakaruna facing an early exit in the first round games itself.
