The finals of the SSC Open Squash Championship saw the top seeds of both the Mens and Womens Open categories walking off as champions.
The Mens Open final saw top seed Dilshan Gunawardena ending his win less drought season and retaining his top ranking by a mere two point lead over his opponent Ravindu Laksiri who won all the major championships this year . However top seed in the Womens category Mihiliya Methsarani continued her uninterrupted run after being streched for a one hour long five setter by Nadindi Udangawa.
In the Mens Open final Dilshan went on to take a 2-0 lead winning the first two sets at 11/5 and 11/8 before Ravindu bounced back to take the third set at 11/4.However Dilshan kept calm and went on to lead at 10/6 with only one point needed to win his first open championship of the year before Ravindu posed a real threat taking the score upto 9/10.Even under pressure Dilshan realized the importance of winning the fourth set and played a very defensive game and made sure the match was not dragged to another five setter after a long patient rally .Dilshan took the last set at 11/9 to win the win the title.
Champion of the Mens Open Final Dilshan Gunawardena receiving his trophy from the President of SSC Mr.Tommy Ellawala
The Womens final went on for 1 hour and 8 minutes before Mihiliya bagged the title after trailing behind 1-0 and 2-1 initially. Nadindi Udangawa who came back into the arena after some time went on to take the initial lead winning the first set at 11/8 before Mihiliya took the second set to even things off.However Mihiliya who had the opportunity to win rhe third set was deprived of the chance when Nadindi took to a tie breaker and went on to win the third set at 13/11.A pressured yet determined Mihiliya fought bravely making maximum use of her drop shots and played a low and tight game thereby preventing Nadindi from using her arsenal of timely shot selection and specialy the volley drop. Nadindi who was not the fittest could not do much in the final two sets and Mihiliya went on to take the last two sets at11/6 and 11/3.
Champion of the Womens Open Final Mihiliya Methsarani receiving her trophy from the President of SSC Mr.Tommy Ellawala
Gihan Suwaris who took Dilshan for a five setter in the semi finals beat Shamil Wakeel in a four setter after losing the first set to take the third place in the Mens open category.
Naduni Gunawardena beat Fathoum Issadeen in straight sets to take the third place in the Womens Open category.
Mihiliya went on to win a double crown when she beat Wadundara Suwaris in the girls u-19 final while Ravindu Laksiri went on to take the boys u-19 title when he beat Rashendra Rajarathna.
Fathoum Issadeen beat Wasundara Suwaris in a hard fought five setter while Shamil Wakil beat Indeera Wijayapura to take honors in the u-17 category.
Druwinka Perera and Kasuni Gunawardena went on to win the u-15 championships when they beat Tuwin Nilakshsna and Kiyara Guruge respectively in the finals.
In the U-13 category Methmal Wood and Sameera Deen emerged Champions while M Asmone and Dewmini Gallage emerged runners up respectively.
Yehani Kuruppu had the better of Chanithma Sinaly in the girls u-11 final while Shehansa Rupasinghe beat Ridmi De Silva to take the girls u-09 title.
Thinura Randima grabbed the boys u-11 title while Senith Dias grabbed the boys u-09 title when they beat Nevindu Lakman and C R Liyanaracgchi respectively in the finals.
Winners of the SSC Squash Championship 2014 in all the Categories
