The prize giving of the 99th National Tennis Tournament was held on the 28th of August at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) premises.
This year’s tournament which was sponsored by Bharathi Airtel Lanka (Pvt) Ltd attracted a record number of over eight hundred entries including over 300 entries from outstation participants, showcasing the wide reach and scope that the sport has achieved. It also served as a platform for some of the established players to showcase their skill, along with the fact that it facilitated the birth of new and young talent which is a strong indicator of the fact that there are great things to come for our little island with regards to the sport of tennis. Last but not least the tournament witnessed the setting of a new and remarkable record when Amritha Muttiah won her sixth consecutive Women’s Singles crown, surpassing the previous record of five consecutive wins which was set by Saranga Sangakkara who happens to be the sister of Sri Lankan cricketing great Kumar Sangakkara.
The prize giving which commenced at 5.30 pm served as a means of celebrating the achievements of the players who gave their utmost on court in order to make the tournament an enormous success. The event was graced by an illustrious head table comprising the honorable minster of sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage, Shirantha Perera (Head of Service Experience at Airtel), Iqbal Bin Issack (President of the SLTA), Udith Wickramasinghe (Vice President of the SLTA), Ravi Perera (Vice President of the SLTA), Pradeep Goonesekera (General Secretary of the SLTA), Suresh Subramaniam (General Secretary of the Asian Tennis Federation) and M.M. Mohamed (Managing Director of Ralham Trading).
The highlight of the prize giving was the awarding of the ‘Airtel player of the tournament’ in both the men’s and women’s categories. Heera Ashiq who won both the men’s singles and doubles events won the prestigious award in the men’s category while the youngster Medhira Samarasinghe who won the Girls under 16 and 18 singles titles along with the women’s doubles and mixed doubles titles won the award in the women’s category. The Papare.com was fortunate to catch up with both players who had the following thoughts regarding the tournament.
Heera stated the following. ‘I am beyond grateful to the SLTA for taking the effort to bring me down from Pakistan to play this tournament and a special mention should be made to Miss Zarina who was the one who coordinated the small things such as my visa’. ‘I would also like to congratulate the organizers on a job well done as they did their level best to ensure that all the players had a memorable tournament and finally I would like to thank my brother Tanveer for motivating me to go the extra mile this year as it was my fourth attempt to win the title’ he reiterated.
Medhira who bagged a total of four titles, which is a remarkable achievement considering the fact that she is only fifteen years old had the following ideas to express regarding her performance. ‘Winning all these titles is something beyond what I could have ever even dreamt of and I am beyond happy about the way I played and carried myself throughout the course of the two weeks’. ‘I always focused on enjoying myself on court and making the best of every opportunity I was presented with and I am glad that it all ended on a positive note’ she added.
The Papare.com was also able to speak to the referee of the tournament Dharaka Ellawala. ‘It was a great honor and privilege to referee a tournament that is of such a high caliber and dealing with the mammoth amount of entries brought out the best in me as well as my team of officials’ he stated. He also went on to express his heartfelt wishes to all the participants who played a key role in making the tournament a success.
