The annual Royal Thomian Encounter played for the E.F.C Pereira Memorial Trophy was held on the 2nd of November at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association.
In addition to the all important Under 19 encounter the junior players of both schools participated in the under 13 and 15 age groups. All three age categories were played using a five match format comprising of three singles matches and two doubles matches. The under 13 matches were played using a first to reach 7 games format and the senior matches were played using a first to reach 9 games format.
The day’s proceedings commenced at 9.00 am with the under 13 encounter. The juniors put on a fine display which proved the fact that Tennis in Sri Lanka is on route towards a brighter future. The Royal College team captained by Januda Goonesekera won this event 3-2. The young Royalists posted convincing wins in the two doubles matches and Kaveesha Rathnayake went on to win the deciding singles with a score of 7-4.
After the conclusion of the under 13 matches the under 15 players of both schools contributed towards a very closely contested tie. The Thomian team captained by Dulitha Ellawala defeated the Royalists with a score of 3-2. The Royalists won the first singles and the second doubles whereas the Thomians won the second singles and the first doubles. The deciding singles match went down to the wire and it was the Thomian Yasith Rathnayake who emerged victorious with a score of 9-7.
The stage was set for an enthralling encounter between the senior players of the two prestigious institutions. The S. Thomas’ team captained by Venuka Hulangamuwa and coached by Anjuna Anthony were looking to retain the trophy which the Thomians claimed for the first time last year. The Royalists captained by Udishtran Raviraj and coached by Sylvester Francis were aiming to bring the trophy back to Reid Avenue after the devastating loss the team faced in 2012. The tie commenced with the first singles which was played between the hard hitting Eroo Samarasinghe of Royal College and the consistent Jerique Rajapakshe. The power and strength of the Royalist was too much for the Thomian as he cruised to an easy win with a score of 9-4. The next match saw the Thomian captain Venuka Hulangamuwa in action. Together with his partner Sebastian Sanconi they out played the Royalists to win the first doubles with a score line that read 9-1. The second single was a matchup between the best players from both schools and it proved to be the match of the day. The Thomian vice captain Avishka Perera and Royal vice captain Dhanushka Abeywardena lit the court on fire with their speed, power and agility. Ultimately it was the Thomian player who used his wonderful serve and powerful forehand to claim the win with a score of 9-8(Tie break score 7-3). The Royal pairing of Udishtran Raviraj and Senith Abeynaike played some good tennis to take Royal to a 6-2 lead in the second doubles and the Thomian Avindra Perera was able to get off to a 2-1 lead in the third singles. However the rain intervened and play was stopped. The bad weather continued and a decision was made to play the remainder of the two matches on the 10th of November.
The Royalists received a walk over in the doubles match which meant that the third singles was going to be the deciding match. All the pressure was on the young Thomian Avindra Perera and the Royalist Umesh Sooriyabandara. The Thomian player used an array of strokes to outclass and outplay the Royalist in every sense of the word and in doing so he was able to win easily with a score of 9-2. The final score of the tie was 3-2 in favour of the Thomians which meant that they were able to successfully defend the coveted E.F.C Pereira Memorial Trophy.
The prize giving was held soon after the match with the presence of the Warden of S. Thomas’ College Professor Indra De Soyza and the Principal of Royal College Mr. Upali Gunasekera. The chief guest for the event was Mr. Dijen de Seram who was a distinguished past pupil of S. Thomas’ College. The Thomian captain Venuka Hulangamuwa lifted the trophy with pride and went on to prove that on the day it was the Thomian Grit that prevailed over the Royal Spirit.
