The 101st initiation of the National Tennis Championship will see light this August as the heavyweights of the Sri Lankan tennis arena battle it out in a bid to establish supremacy.
The National Tennis Championship that is organized by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association is Sri Lanka’s most sought after tennis tournament attracting the best in the field and will be held in two legs.
The first of its two legs, the Junior National Championships will commence on the 5th of August and will span over for a period of a week while the premier focus tournament, the Senior National championship is expected start on the 12th of August.
Speaking at the launch held for the National Championship, Tournament Director and Vice President of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association Udith Wickremasinghe added the following on the player participation for the junior and senior nationals.
“We have over 800 entries enlisted for the Junior Nationals itself and this is a great feat while we believe that this number will surely reach over 1000 this year with the nationals entries finalized”
A total of 20 titles are on offer for the Junior Nationals ranging from the under 10 categories to the top tier under 18 age group of both boys and girls.
The Senior Nationals that will commence on the 12th will include the top tier players from Sri Lanka competing for the title along with a handful of participants from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Photo Album – 101 Junior National Tennis Championships 2016 – Press Conference
The championship race for the open title will be a delight to watch as the heavyweights in the Men’s category Sanka Atukorale, Yasitha De Silva & Sharmal Dissanayake will face tough competition from the Pakistan national Heera Ashiq who already has a Sri Lankan national title under his name.
The excitement of the Men’s title hunt will only be second to the Women’s Open with the up and coming talent proving to be a huge threat to experience.
Defending champion Thisuri Molligoda will have a tough time defending her prize against Nethmi Waduge, Medhira Samarasinghe and Amritha Muttiah. Emerging player Anika Seneviratne is also expected to play the open race and it will be an interesting tussle at the tournament.
The Senior Nationals will run parallel to the Junior Nationals where the Senior games will commence at 2.30 p.m. in the evening and the Junior games will start at 8.00 a.m.
Britannica biscuits will be the main sponsor for the 101st edition of the National Championships while Perera & Sons and Janashakthi will come in as Co-Sponsors.
Salonpas will be the Official Medical Partner for the nationals title while Ralhum Trading will continue as Official Ball Sponsor for the 10th year running.
