The Hill Club Nuwaraeliya Open Ranking Tennis Championship which commenced on the 12th of April came to a close on the 16th of April. The tournament lived up to its expectations as those who were present at the Hill Club were treated to a scintillating display of Tennis from a host of players ranging from the under 14 age group to the over 45 category.
Dineshkanthan Thangarajah completed a double as he scored wins in both the men’s singles and doubles events. Thangarajah’s greatest challenge came in the semi final when he took on the experienced Sankha Atukorale. The match went down to the wire and it was ultimately Dinesh’s resolve and will power that got him over the line as he came out on top with a score line of 3-6 6-4 13-11 (The final set was a super tie break). The bottom half of the draw witnessed many upsets, the first being when Aritha Weerasinghe toppled the second seed Ashiq Tanveer. However Aritha was defeated in the semi finals by one of the country’s top juniors Aadavan Pushparaj. Aadavan came into the finals backed by some big wins in the tournament but was unable to present a challenge to Dinesh who dispatched him with ease in order to win the men’s singles title. The strength and topspin generated from Thangarajah’s racquet proved to be too much for the youngster and the top seeds domination was reflected in the 6-0 6-1 score line.
A first to reach the 9 game format which was used in the men’s doubles event and it was Dineshkanthan who once again rose to the forefront as he teamed up with Ashiq Tanveer to beat Sankha Atukorale and Delwar Hossein 9-8 (Tie break score 7-3).
The biggest upset of the tournament came in the women’s singles event when the unseeded Rukshika Wijesooriya defeated both the top and bottom seeds in order to win the title. Wijesooriya dismantled the bottom seed Nilushi Fernando and went onto play a wonderful game of Tennis in the finals in order to defeat the number one seed Thewuni Devaraja. The match was decided by a super tie break and the final score read 6-2 5-7 10-5 in favour of Wijesooriya who won her first major title.
Final Results
Men’s Open Singles
1.Dineshkanthan Thangarajah [1]
2.Aadavan Pushparaj
Men’s Open Doubles
1.Tanveer Ashiq [1]
Dineshkanthan Thangarajah
2.Sankha Athukorala [2]
Delwar Hossein
Veteran Over 45 Doubles
1.Chammika De Silva
Jayantha Kelegama
2.Sylvester Francis
Dayan Madawala
Women’s Open Singles
1.Rukshika Wijesooriya
2.Thewuni Devaraja [1]
Mixed Doubles
1.Delwar Hossein
Nilushi Fernando
2.Aritha Weerasinghe
Rukshika Wijesooriya
Boy’s under 12 Singles
1.Ashen Silva [1]
2.Nelaka Dissanayake [2]
Boy’s under 14 Singles
1.Avindra Perera [1]
2.Nuwantha Dissanayake [3]
Boy’s under 16 Singles
1.Amandha Gunawardene [4]
2.Kavindu Diluka [3]
Boy’s under 18 Singles
1.Dhanushka Abeywardena [1]
2.Aadavan Pushparaj [6]
Boy’s under 14 Doubles
1.Avindra Perera
Yasith Ratnayake
2.Nelaka Dissanayake
Nuwantha Dissanayake
Boy’s under 18 Doubles
1.Dhanushka Abeywardena [1]
Eroo Samarasinghe
2.Archana Lokuge
Niroshan Perera
Girl’s under 12 Singles
1.Anika Seneviratne [2]
2.Neyara Weerawanse [1]
Girl’s under 14 Singles
1.Piyumi Wickramasinghe [3]
2.Umeshi Ranaweera [4]
Girl’s under 16 Singles
1.Rukshika Wijesooriya [1]
2.Sathi Siyara Silva
Girl’s under 18 Singles
1.Thewuni Devaraja [1]
2.Fathoum Issadeen
Girl’s under 14 Doubles
1.Prabuddhi Perera [1]
Anika Seneviratne
2.Sathi Siyara Silva [2]
Piyumi Wickramasinghe
Click here for detailed results
