The National tennis tournament has been in full swing over the past few days, producing Tennis of the highest caliber that has been a treat to the eye from a spectator’s point of view.
In addition to the junior events that kicked off on the 8th of August the senior events are also currently in play leading to a whole new dimension being added to the quality of tennis, resulting in the full cohort of Sri Lanka’s talent in the sport being displayed at the hard courts of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association.
The following are some of the key results from the events that have taken place over the course of the past few days.
Men’s Singles
The men’s singles quarter-final matches were worked off during the course of today’s play.
The top seed Dineshkanthan Thangarajah contested the opening quarterfinal encounter along with the former Royal College tennis captain Mohamed Shaakir. Thangarajah’s prowess proved to be too much for Shaakir who was rattled and over powered by the top seeds strong stroke play and aggression leading to a final score line of 6-1 6-1 6-1.
The second quarterfinal between Tanveer Ashiq and Amresh Jayawickrema produced a stunning match that went down to the wire as both men pushed each other to produce top notch tennis leading to the tournament’s first 5 set encounter. Ashiq who came out on top dropped the first set 1-6 but came back strongly to win the second set 6-4. However Jayawickrema got his nose in front again as he served well and secured an elusive break of serve leading to him winning the third set 6-3. With a two set to one advantage Jayawickrema seemed to be the favorite to win but Ashiq staged a remarkable come back to win the fourth and fifth sets 7-5 7-5 leading to a final score line of 1-6 6-4 3-6 7-5 7-5.
The third and fourth quarterfinals proved to be straight forward affairs as Ashiq Heera and Sankha Atukorale won their matches in straight sets. Heera saw off Delwar Hossein with a simple 6-3 6-2 6-1. The bottom seed Atukorale who has been in fine form throughout the tournament defeated Ibrahim Hussein 6-2 6-0.
Women’s Singles
In addition to the Men’s Singles the quarter-final stages of the Women’s singles was also held today.
Amritha Muttiah who is the hot favorite to win the title recorded an emphatic 6-0 6-0 victory in the first quarter final over Sandani Fernando. It must be noted that Muttiah is yet to lose a single game in the tournament, however as she now progresses in to the semi finals the going is sure to get tougher for the top seed.
The under 18 girls singles winner Medhira Samarasinghe carried her winning form to the quarterfinals as she won her match to progress in to the semi finals. Samarasinghe defeated the fourth seed Nilushi Fernando in straight sets with a score line of 6-2 6-3.
The upset of the day was created by the youngster Thisuri Molligoda who defeated the experienced third seed Roshenka Fernando in the third quarterfinal. Molligoda was crushed in the first set but played level headed tennis to fight back and win the match in three sets. The final score was 2-6 6-3 6-0.
The second seed Thewuni Deveraja was given a major scare in the final quarterfinal of the day by Nethmi Waduge. Waduge won the first set 6-4 and came close to winning the second but eventually lost it in a tie break. Deveraja after having leveled the match went on to use the momentum she had gathered to win the final set and the match resulting in a final score of 4-6 7-6(3) 6-4.
Upcoming Events
Tomorrows schedule is set to feature matches from a wide array of categories from both the Junior as well as senior events.
Some of the important matches scheduled for tomorrow are as follows.
Men’s Open Doubles Semi finals
1) Sankha Atukorale and Nishangan Nadarjah vs Chehan Fernando and Delwar Hossein
2) Heera Ashiq and Tanveer Ashiq vs Dineshkanthan Thangarajah and Amresh Jayawicrema
Girls under 16 singles finals
Medhira Samarasinghe vs Hasindhi Lokuge
Boys under 14 singles finals
Avindra Perera vs Savit Weerasinghe
Updates from tomorrows matches will be posted on ThePapare.com after the day’s proceedings come to a close.
