Anika Seneviratne who was the favourite for the under 18 Girls’ Championship title of the Junior Nationals was defeated in the finals by Medhira Samarasinghe at the SLTA courts on the 11th of August.
Being ranked no. 1 for the age group at this tournament and having played exceptionally well throughout, Anika had a slight edge over Medhira and seemed like she had the match on her side when she won the first set.
However, this year’s under 18 SSC Open Tournament Champion and last year’s under 16 Junior Nationals title-holder Samarasinghe, who had displayed consistency in playing brilliantly during the course of the tournament, continued her good form to come out stronger in the next two sets, which she won. The scores read 3-6 6-2 6-1 in this nail- biting final.
The finals of the doubles of the same age group which also took place on the same day was played between last year’s under 16 runner-up duo Anya Gunawardene and Janali Manamperi and Natasha Munaweera and Sathi Silva.
Gunawardene and Manamperi won the match in straight sets scoring 6-2 6-3 to win the Girls’ Under 18 Doubles title of the Junior Nationals.
The Under 18 Doubles and Singles finals of the boys’ category which are expected to be spectacular matches will take place today (12th).
The singles match between top-notch players Avindra Perera and Aadavan Pushparaj will undoubtedly showcase some great tact and tough competition as both players have been showing their colours in all their games.
Pushparaj will also partner with Naadir Nazar to take on Kavindu Diluka and Archana Lokuge to vie for the doubles title.
The semi-finals of the under 16 Boys’ singles and matches of the Senior Nationals will also be worked off today.
