Mihiliya Methsarani, a student of Sirimavo Balika Vidyalaya made both her Alma Mater and country proud when she bagged a Bronze medal at the 20th Asian Junior Squash Championships held in Jordan last week.
Mihiliya achieved the feat qualifying for semifinals in the Girls U-17 age group overcoming stiff opposition from other Asian countries. In the first outing she beat Mami Zukai of Japan in straight sets with the final scores reading 11/2, 11/5 and 11/2. In the Quarter finals Mihiliya went on to continue the trend overcoming Sadia Gul of Pakistan in a hard fought five setter. The Quarter final saw Mihiliya winning the first two sets and heading for a straight win. But things turned around in the third set when her opponent came back strongly to take the next two sets. However Mihiliya wrapped up things taking the last set and booking herself a place in the semifinals. In the semifinal the Sri Lankan wonder girl faced the top seed, Choi Uen Shan from Hong Kong which she lost in straight sets.
Mihiliya went on to rewrite the Sri Lankan Squash record book being the first Sri Lankan girl to win a Bronze medal in an Asian Junior Championship.
Druwinka Perera too proved to be a tough fighter when he qualified for the Quarter finals in the Boys U-13 age group. In the Quarter final this young lad played a game of his life when he stretched the top seed Muhammed Hafaz Zhafri Abdul from Malaysia to a five setter. At one stage Young Druwinka was leading two sets to one and heading for a medal before getting his dreams burst due his lack of exposure compared to his opponent. In the qualifying rounds Druwinka had the better of Hamza Alsaraj of Jordan in straight sets.
In the other matches Naduni Gunawrdena won her first match in the Girls u-19 age group against AQla Ahdaib from Jordan in straight sets before losing out to bottom seed Ho Ka Po from Hong Kong in straight sets.
The Boys U-19 age group saw Ravinsu Laksiri winning his first match against Saif Albraikat from Jordan in straight sets and losing to bottom seed Syed Ali Bokhari in a hard fought game in the second round.
Rashendra Rajarathna too won his initial match against Majd Hidaib from Jordan in straight sets in a four setter and lost the next match against Third/fourth seed Yuen Tsun Hei from Hong Kong in an one sided affair.
The other team members lost their matches in the initial stages while Pabashi Rajapaksha ,Shamil Wakeel and Ruweesha Jayawardena put up a tough fight before losing out in hard fought games in the initial stage.
