S.Thomas’ College emerged victorious over their Royalist counterparts by winning three of their five matches at the S.Thomas’ College tennis courts, earning the prestigious E. S. P. Perera memorial trophy.
It was bright and early when things started, as the players from the two respected schools shook hands and warmed up.
It was the under – 13 age group that started things off in a rather slow manner. However, that all changed when Aneeth of Royal College and S.Thomas’ College’s Zaidh Zihar exchanged some pretty intense rallies for their age group.
It was these two young gentlemen that set the tone for the remaining matches.
However, this was not reflected in the doubles as it was a comprehensive win for the Royalists in that department, as they won all the doubles matches in all the age groups.
The singles matches saw more competition from both, the home team (S.Thomas’ College), and a formidable away team (Royal College).
Although these two schools have shared a rivalry in all sports they compete in, they also showed sportsmanship and camaraderie as well, especially in the under – 15 singles match between the Thomian’s Rakesh, and the Royalist’s Thehan.
This match saw Thehan emerge victorious, however, as it ended, Thehan embraced his Thomian counterpart in a brotherly manner, highlighting the sportsmanship that was present in the day’s proceedings.
The real highlight that showed the intensity of the matches were when the under 19s took to the courts and played their hearts out, in particular, during the match between Pasidu Sooriyabandara of Royal and Vihan Herath of S. Thomas’.
This was a long and strenuous match for both players as they suffered many phases of fatigue, which in turn led to many silly mistakes.
Initially, the Royalist seemed to be on the front foot as Pasidu played a tactical game, placing all his back hand shots on the Thomian’s weaker points. However, the Thomian was quick to respond by forcing the Royalist to make mistakes, and this was seen midway through the match when fatigue consumed the him.
The Thomians, however, concluded the encounter slightly edging their rivals by just one match, eventually clinching the E. S. P. Perera Memorial Cup.
The final results of the matches are as follows;
Under 13
Royal College won 4 matches – won 1 match S. Thomas’ College
Under 15
Royal College won 4 matches – won 1 match S. Thomas’ College
Under 19
Royal College won 2 matches – won 3 matches S. Thomas’ College
