National Champions Mihiliya Methsarani and Ravindu Laksiri proved themselves yet again to win the main events at the Karakal-Emperor Squash Open Championship held at Tamil Union Squash Complex.
Mihiliya Methsarani and Ravindu Laksiri the upcoming and promising duo had a tremendous season last year winning both the Junior and Senior National squash titles .The Champions kept the momentum going winning both the Open and u-19 events in the first open tournament organized for the year by the Sri Lanka Squash Federation.
Mihiliya who had an easy victory over Naduni Gunawardena in the Girls U-19 final was made to struggle in the Womens Open final by the same opponenet .The Womens Open final saw Mihiliya taking the first two sets easily at 11/5 and 11/4 before being dragged to the back foot by Naduni Gunawardena. Naduni took the third set at 11/8 and took the last set to a tie breaker before losing at 11/13 after a closely contested encounter.
In the Mens Open final top seed Dilshan Gunawardena suffered another defeat at the hands of the bottom seed Ravindu Laksiri. The duo who is famous for stretching games to hectic five setters repeated the same though both played a very defensive game. Dilshan took the first set quite easily at 11/7 before losing the second and third sets at 11/4 and 11/2 respectively .However Dilshan bounced back changing the pace of the game and successfully reversed the game in his favor at 11/8.The last set saw Ravindu slowing down the pace of the game once again and taking the upper hand to clinch the game at 11/3 and with it the Mens Open title.
In the Boys U-19 final Ravindu beat Udantha Hewage in straight sets with the final scores on 11/3, 11/7, 11/5.
Boys U-17 Champion Shamil Wakeel too performed really well when he won the third place in the Mens Open event. Shamil beat Viduranga Udantha in straight sets to clinch the Boys U-17 title.
Saduni Gunawardena and Kasuni Gunawardena who emerged champions at the Girls U- 17 and G-15 age groups respectively did well to qualify for the Womens Open Semifinals as well .The Womens Open semifinals saw three Gunawardena sisters fighting for a slot in the finals.
Druwinka Perera went on to clinch the Boys under 15 title when he had the better of Mohomed Hakim in straight sets while Raveen Nanayakkara beat Methmal Wood in a closely contested game to take home the boys U-13 title.
Dewmini Gallage and Chanithma Sinaly qualified for two finals each .Dewmini went on to win the Girls U-11 final when she overcame Chanithma Sinaly in straight sets and lost to Sameera Deen in the Girls U-13 final in straight sets. Chanithma clinched the Girls U-09 title after overcoming Ansnya Perera in straight sets.
S Rajapaksha and S Perera clinched the Boys U-11 and U-13 events respectively.
The tournament was organized and conducted by the Sri Lanka Squash Federation as the 1st ranking event for year 2014. Emperor Sports sponsored the tournament continuing their support to promote Squash in Sri Lanka.
Results of as follows
BOYS U- 9
S Perera Bt KDST Karunarathne 11/8,11/7,11/9 (3/0)
GIRLS U -9
Chanithma Sinaly Bt Ansnya Perera 11/9,11/8,11/9 (3/0)
BOYS U- 11
S Rajapaksha Bt DHT Randina 11/6,15/13,11/4 (3/0)
GIRLS U -11
Dewmini Gallage Bt Chanithma Sinaly 11/3,11/7,11/6 (3/0)
BOYS U- 13
Raveen Nanayakkara Bt Methmal Wood 11/7,11/9,11/0,11/7 (3/1)
GIRLS U -13
Sameera Deen Bt Dewmini Gallage 11/9,11/8,14/12 (3/0)
BOYS U- 15
Druvinka Perera Bt Mohamad Hakeem 11/7,11/8,11/6 (3/0)
GIRLS U -15
Kasuni Gunawardana Bt Malshi Rajapaksha 11/5,11/4,11/4 (3/0)
BOYS U- 17
Shamil Wakeel Bt Viduranga Udantha 11/4,11/2,11/2 (3/0)
GIRLS U -17
Saduni Gunawardana Bt Malshi Rajapaksha 11/3,11/3,11/3 (3/0)
BOYS U- 19
Ravindu Laksiri Bt Udantha Hewage 11/3,11/7,11/5 (3/0)
GIRLS U -19
Mihiliya Methsarani Bt Naduni Gunawardana 11/5,11/5,11/3 (3/0)
MENS OPEN
Ravindu Laksiri Bt Dilshan Gunawardana 7/11, 11/4, 11/2, 8/11, 11/3 (3/2)
WOMENS OPEN
Mihiliya Methsarani Bt Naduni Gunawardana 11/5, 11/4, 8/11, 13/11 (3/1)
MENS OVER 35
SSSK De Silva Bt CH Thalagala 11/4,11/4,8/11,11/6 (3/1)
MASTERS OVER 45
M Rizwan Bt Gp/Capt Wijeweera 11/7,11/2,7/11,11/4 (3/1)
VETERAN OVER 50
K Padmakumara Bt Cmde WMPL Weerasinghe 10/12,11/3,11/3,11/8 (3/1)
BOYS U 13 NOVICES
Seniya Jayathilaka Bt HT Kukulage 8/11,4/11,11/7,11/6,11/8 (3/2)
GIRLS U 13 NOVICES
MLW Rajapakhsa Bt NAT De Silva 11/6,4/11,8/11,11/2 (3/1)
BOYS U 17 NOVICES
D De Silva Bt R Weerathunga 9/11,11/4,11/6,11/5 (3/1)
MENS NOVICES
LAC Usama Bt HMA Priyantha 11/9,9/11,11/4 (3/0)
MENS PLATE
HSU Thrimavithana Bt Ruweesha Jayawardana 11/6,4/11,11/5,11/7 (3/1)
