The 2014 Carlton Junior Tennis Cup which was worked off at the SLTA premises commenced on the 25th of October and was undoubtedly the islands largest tournament as far as the history of the sport of tennis is concerned. The tournament witnessed its successful conclusion on the 28th of October.
The tournament produced junior tennis of the highest quality as many youngsters took to the courts of the SLTA over the course of the last four days in order to showcase their talent and ability on a brilliant platform provided through the generous sponsorships given by the Hambantota Sports Club, Suncity Travels, E wis, Zigo and Havelock City.
The results of the tournament were as follows.
Red ball boys category (under 7)
Winner- St. Thomas’ College
Runner up- Ananda College ‘A’
2nd Runner up- Royal College ‘A’
Red ball girls category (under 7)
Winner- Ave Maria Convent, Negombo
Runner up- St Joesphs College, Negombo
2nd Runner up- Visakha Vidyalaya
Orange ball boys category (under 8)
Winner- Ananda College ‘A’
Runner up- Royal College ‘A’
2nd Runner up- Maliyadeva College
Orange ball girls category (under 8)
Winner- St. Josephs Girls College Negombo
Runner up- Bishops College
2nd Runner up- Holy Family Convent, Jaffna
Green ball boys category (under 10)
Winner- Ananda College ‘A’
Runner up- Maliyadeva College
2nd Runner up- Royal College ‘A’
Green ball girls category
Winner- Ave Maria Convent, Negombo
Runner up- Visakha Vidyalaya
2nd Runner up- Newstead Girls College, Negombo
Yellow ball boys category (under 12)
Winner- St. Peters College
Runner up- Maliyadeva College
2nd Runner up- Ananda College ‘A’
Yellow ball girls category (under 12)
Winner- Newstead Girls College, Negombo
Runner up- Visakha Vidyalaya
2nd Runner up- St. Bridgets Convent ‘A’
The prize giving of the tournament was as colorful as the opening ceremony and witnessed the likes of the President of the SLTA Mr, Iqbal Bin Issack, CEO of HSC Mr, Ravin Du Plessis, officials of the SLTA along with representatives of the sponsoring organizations making their way out to the center court in order to commend the youngsters for their hard work and effort as well as distribute certificates of participation to all the junior players that took part.
The Chief Guests for the event were two of the country’s finest tennis stars namely Amritha Muttiah and Dineshkanthan Thangarajah. Muttiah who is without a doubt Sri Lanka’s most accomplished female tennis player addressed the gathering and expressed the following sentiments. ‘ I remember my days as a junior player and one unforgettable memory was my first all island mini tennis tournament where I became the runner up, I lost and I thought of giving up but my mum motivated me to carry on and that inspired me to become who I am today so always remember that winning begins with inspiration’. Following the same trend of thought she offered the parents who were present the following advice. ‘Do not be discouraged if your kids fail because at this age the most important thing to do is ensure that they enjoy the game, moreover do not pressurize them as this will make it tougher for them to perform instead be there for them through thick and thin and show faith in them as it is guaranteed to make them work harder and therefore lead to better results’
The highlight of the prize giving was the awarding of the overall boys and girls championship awards to the winning schools. Ananda College bagged the award in the boys category while Visakha Vidyalaya and Ave Maria Convent, Negombo shared the honor in the girls category.
Following the conclusion of the prize giving the Papare.com was able to catch up with the head coach of the Ananda College team Mr. Anupa Mattemagoda who stated the following. ‘Winning the overall trophy at such a mammoth tournament is a feat I am extremely proud of and this victory would not have been possible if not for the hard work of my assistant coaches, past Anandian tennis players and most importantly players such as the likes of Nelaka Dissanayake, Apna Perera, Anjana Sameera, Chathurya Nilaweera, Achinthya Nilaweera and Senuk Gunaratne who performed exceptionally well during this tournament’. ‘This win also bears testimony to how strong our teams junior tennis programme is and it is something that our coaching staff is going to keep improving on in the years to come’ he reiterated.
ThePapare.com also spoke to the head coach of the Ave Maria Convent, Negombo team Mr. Dumindu Dilum. ‘I am a very young coach and it is a privilege for me to inspire a group of talented young girls to achieve such a large success’ he stated. He also went on to complement under Anjelika Kurera, Ashanthi Senewiratne and Nimna Fernando who were the stars of the Ave Maria team.
ThePapare.com takes this opportunity to congratulate the tournament organizers and all the players for a successful stint.
