Mihiliya Methsarani from Sirimavo Balika Vidyalaya and Ravindu Laksiri from D S Senanake College clinched the top spots at the 24th Junior National Squash Championship
The tournament which got underway from 5th of this month at the Tamil union squash complex was organized and conducted by the Sri Lanka squash federation. Munchee-Ritzbury chocolates were the sponsors of the tournament and it was the 8th continuous year they were sponsoring this most looked forward to annual junior championship
Mihiliya Methsarani who shone bright this year grabbing two bronze medals for her motherland at the Youth Asian games and Asian juniors squash championship proved her mettle once again winning the girls u-19 title overcoming Naduni Gunawardena in a four setter.Mihiliya took the initial lead by winning the first set 11/4 quite easily.However the second set saw Mihiliya finding it harder to convert most of her favorite shots to winners and Naduni retrieving most of her opponent’s shots without much trouble.With more pressure being added Mihiliya made too many errors.Naduni capitalized on this and took control over the second set and finished the game at 11/5 to tally the set scores. The final two sets saw both the players trying to play a more calm game avoiding too many winners shots.However Mihiliya took the last two games at 11/7 each to defend her title and retain the Nirasha Guruge challenge trophy for yet another year.
Mihiliya also grabbed a double crown when she best Wasundara Suwaris in straight sets in the girls u-17 final.
In the Boys under 19 final top performer Ravindu Laksiri went on to defend his title when he overcame upcoming star Shamil Wakil in another four setter.Both the players played a very sensible game of squash with more long rallies and a few unforced errors.The first set lasted for 15 minutes with the score on 11/9 in Ravindu’s favor.The second too saw both the players fighting hard .Though Ravindu lead 6/2 and 8/4 at times it was Shamil who took the second game to tally the set scores.The fine display of squash put up by Shamil came to an end when his fuel tank got empty towards the latter part of the match after playing a very agile and yet a speedy game in the first two sets.Ravindu took the last two games at 11/2 and 11/1 to retain the Navin Piyatissa Challenge trophy for one more year.
Shamil Wakil however secured the top spot in the boys u-17 category when he beat Rashendra Rajarathna in straight sets
In the girls U-15 final Wasundara Suwaris won the title after being stretched for a hectic 45 minute five setter by Kasuni Gunawardena.Wasundara registered the win after winning the first, third and the fifth sets with Kasuni closely followed at 12/10,12/10 and 11/9 respectively.Kasuni won the second and fourth games at 11/7 and 11/5 respectively.
Boys under 15 top seed Senindu Induwara Dharmathilaka clinched his age group title without much resistance when he beat upcoming star Druwinka Perera in straight sets with the score on 11/9,11/5 and 11/7.Senidu using his height to advantage kept vollying and played some lovely winner shots with a touch of deception to register his victory.
Boys under 13 top seed Druwinka Perera too clinched his age group championship without much trouble overcoming Raveen Nanayakkara in straight sets
Girls u-13 top seed Samerra Deen beat Dewmini Gallage in a four setter to take home the girls u-13 title while Dewmini Gallage beat Yeheni Kuruppu to clinch the Girls u-11 title.Chanithma Sinaly beat Anangi Perera to take the girls u-09 title
M I F Asmone and Nevindu LAmman grabbed the boys u-11 and boys u-09 titles when they beat Dulina Perera and Akila Atapaththu respectively.
The Air Vice Marshall A B Sosa challenge trophy awarded to the most promising junior squash player-boys category and Wing Commander Noel Fernando challenge trophy awarded to the most promising junior squash player-girls category were won by Raveen Nanayakkara and Wasundara Suwaris respectively
The results of the tournament are as follows
Main events
Boys u-9
winner-Ravindu Lakman
runner up-Akila Atapaththu
Girls u-9
winner-Chanithma Sinaly
runner up-Anangi Perera
Boys u-11
winner-M I F Asmone
runner up-Dulina Perera
Girls u-11
winner-Dewmini Gallage
runner up-Yeheni Kuruppu
Boys u-13
winner-Druwinka Perera
runner up-Raveen Nanayakkara
Girls u-13
winner-Sameera Deen
runner up-Dewmini Gallage
Boys u-15
winner-Senindu Dharmathilaka
runner up-Druwinka Perera
Girls u-15
winner-Wasundara Suwaris
runner up-Kasuni Gunawardena
Boys-17
winner-Shamil Wakil
runner up-Rashandra Rajarathna
Girls u-17
winner-Mihiliya Methsarani
runner up-Wasundara Suwaris
Boys u-19
winner-Ravindu Laksiri
runner up-Shamil Wakil
Girls u-19
winner-Mihiliya MethsaranI
runner up-Naduni Gunawardena
Novices
Novices boys u-11
winner-Jehan Chapman
runner up-Minuka Jayawardena
novices girls u-11
winner-Ravindi Rathnayake
runner up-Dasuni Kaweesha
novices boys u-15
winner-Binura Wadugodapitiya
Runner up-K W M S W Wanigasooriya
novices girls u-15
winner-Navodya Rathnasiri
runner up-Inuri Gunasekara
novices boys u-19
winner-Malith Diyabalanage
runner up- Dinusha Rajapaksha
novices girls u-19
winner-KhadijaYonnees
runner up-Hasini Suhara
