The Sri Lankan U12 Boys’ Tennis team finished their Group stage encounter in 2nd place and will hold on to momentum heading for the knockouts at the ITF Asia 12 & Under Team Tennis Championship, currently ongoing in Dhaka Bangladesh.
The annual competition attracts many young players from the South Asian region, all vying for ranking points in the Asian Ranking system and to qualify for the finals of the ITF Asia 12 & Under Team championship.
Stepping into day 3 of the tournament, Team Sri Lanka was up against Nepal in their final group match. With a win against Maldives in their opening fixture, Sri Lanka were looking for an unbeaten run to finish on top of the table, but, Nepal made sure to steal the spotlight.
Photo Album : Sri Lanka U12 National Tennis Team 2019
Day 3 Results
In a cracker of a match, Senuk Herat-Gunaratne overpowered Pranav Manandhar in two tie-break sets to gain early momentum. Both sets going into tie-breakers, Senuk was pushed to the limit but did extremely well to leap over the finish line first, with the final scores reading 7/6 (4), 7/6 (4).
Next was Nepal’s top player Arrav Samrat Hada up against Lisal Goonethilleke in the 1st singles. Hada proved too strong for Goonethilleke, as he made it a one-sided affair throughout. Final scores read 6/0, 6/1 in favour of Hada.
It all came down to the deciding doubles; Arrav Hada and Pranav Manandhar took it upon themselves to finish off the tie against Lanka’s Lisal Goonethilleke and Methvan Wijemanne. And finish they did, 6/2, 6/4, to top the group ahead of Sri Lanka and Maldives.
Despite being tied up at 3 games and 4 games all, the Nepalis managed to power through to victory. Nepal and Sri Lanka will advance on to the knockout semifinals from Group 2 while India and Bangladesh made it through from Group 1.
Sri Lanka will take on India later today, 27th June, in the semifinals where the winner will play in the finals and the loser will play for 3rd place.
Meanwhile, the Sri Lankan Girls’ team also made the knockout round in 2nd place behind India. They will play their knockout semifinal against Nepal today.
Day 1 Results
On the opening day of the competition, the girls’ team comprising of Ruvi Lewkebandara, Shashinika Chandrasinghe and Arushi Thomasge were drawn against Bhutan to kick start their campaign.
The Girls’ 2nd singles (Opening match) was between Ruvi Lewkebandara and Bhutan’s Tenzin Jurmey. In a flash, Sri Lanka registered their first win in straight sets, 6/0, 6/1. Not long after, the 1st singles and the doubles were also wrapped up by the Lankans in dominant fashion, with Shashinika winning the singles (6/1, 6/0) and Arushi and Ruvi winning the Doubles, 6/0, 6/0.
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Day 2 Results
However, the girls were no match for India’s wrath the next day as they found themselves on the losing end of all three rubbers. Riya Sachdeva beat Lewkebandara early in the day, 6/1, 6/3 to tip the scales.
Ika Raju Kanumuri bagged the 1st singles against Shashinika Chandrasinghe 6/0, 6/4 to officially win the tie for India. In the doubles, Charuni Thomasge and Chandrasinghe went down to Riya Sachdeva and Samiksha Dabas, 6/0, 6/2.
The Boys’ team had a thrilling start to the tourney, winning their opening fixture against Maldives. The Boys’ team for the year comprises of Senuk Herat-Gunaratne, Lisal Goonethilleke and Methvan Wijeymanne.
In the Boys’ 2nd singles, Senuk Herat-Gunaratne faced off against Daoud Shaheeb of Malayasia and registered an easy win, 6/0,6/1. This was followed by their tie-sealing 1st singles between Kaisaan Rasheen and Lisal Goonethilleke, where the latter won the match 6/0, 6/1.
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The customary doubles also went Lanka’s way in a 6/1, 6/1 massacre. Methvan Wijemanna paired up with Lisal Goonethilleke to defeat Mohamed Meekail and Daoud Shaheeb to end the day unbeaten.
Keep it logged on to ThePapare.com to find out the latest results and updates from the tournament.
