Fourteen year old Anika Seneviratne was the key highlight of the day winning both her preliminary round games in the under 14 & under 16 categories whitewashing the two opponents 6-0,6-0.
Young Anika Seneviratne who currently also is in the national seeding list left her opposing players speechless as she staged a complete game out not letting either of them win a single point against her. Vonara de Alwis was Anika’s first prey in the under 14 singles game and later Senithi Weerasekara was caught in her hunt.
Anika will face lower seed Prabudhdhi Perera in the quarter final which will decide who would get through to the semi-final. Perera defeated non seeding player Samadhi Jayasinghe 6-3,6-0 earlier last morning and will face the up and coming Seneviratne in the Girls Under 16 title hunt.
Top seed in the boys Under 18 age group, B. Suren had an easy rally to defeat Sheal Karunaratna 6-4, 6-3 and will face seeded player Avindra Perera in the quarter final which is expected to be played this morning. Victory was not served on a platter for the seeded player Chehan Fernando as he had to work his way through Isuru Wijeratne winning the game 7-5, 6-3. Chehan will now face Vikum Jayasinghe in the quarter final clash in the Boys under 18 match-up.
It was a good day for the Peterite Inthujan Selvaratnarajah when he had the perseverance to defeat the seeded player Amandha Gunawardena after a thrilling encounter that lasted for over an hour. Starting off in a positive note, Selvaratnarajah got a comfortable 6-2 win in the first set but Gunawardena fought back brilliantly to win the second set 6-7 (2) on break points. The third being the decider for the quarter finalist, it was Selvaratnarajah who raced to the six game mark winning the game 6-4.
Another exciting is encounter on the cards is the first semi final clash where the top two seeds in the under 18 division, Thisuri Molligoda and Medira Samarasinghe will be competing for the final spot in the title run. Alongside the duo are the other top seeds Nethmi Waduge and Rukshika Wijesoriya who will be eyeing the other position in the final encounter. With all four of the top seeded players making it to the semi finals, it will be interesting to see who will make it to the top two.
Play will resume at 8.00 a.m. and the semi finals for the Girls Under 18 Singles will start at 11.30 a.m.
