Navin and Sharya emerge winners at SSC Open Squash Championship

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Category: squash

Published on Monday, 12 December 2011 20:56

Written by Eranga Alwis

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Current National Champion Navin Samarasinghe and Veteran Champ Saman Thilakeratne met head to head for the first time since last years Senior National Squash Championships, in the Mens Open Final at the SSC Open Squash Championships.

Navin had to do a lot home work in order to get through to finals as he was stretched to a five setter by the new kid on the block Dilshan Gunawardena in the semi finals. It took some time for the youngster to settle down and Navin went on to take the first set quite easily with the scores reading 11/5.But lightning started to strike warning of a storm ahead with Dilshan taking the second set 11/8 with some classic front court winners. Even thunder started to crack down as Dilshan went on to take  the third set 11/5 to take the lead.

With just another set to be won to qualify for the finals Dilshan was on full fire, but Navin was not to be deprived of the final and he played a quiet and a calm game with fewer errors and took the 4th set 11/7 to tally the set scores 2-2.With the match coming into the fifth set Navin used all his experience to thrash exhausted Dilshan 11/8 after leading 10/5 earlier on.

The other semi final was played between former National Champion Saman Thilakaratne and the junior champion Ravindu Laksiri. Though Ravindu outsmarted Saman with his classy volley shots and front court killers and took the first game 11/6 the last laugh was Saman’s as went on to take the next three sets quite easily with the scores reading 11/6,11/5,11/4.

With two National Champions in the court to battle out for the Championship,one the current holder of the title and the other who held the title for more than a decade what more could anybody expect than this kind of an encounter. Saman the Champion Play maker who guided Sri Lanka Squash into a new direction in the International arena with his superb knocks in the International circuit wanted to try and cut loose this time around as he was unsuccessful in registering a win against Navin for quite some time,while Navin who had a warning signal in the semi finals had other ideas to remain unbeaten.The first set itself went for a tie breaker and after a hard struggle Navin took the first game 13/11. Saman who wanted a win desperately capitalized on Navin’s mistakes and put more pressure on him taking an early lead in the second set. Navin was not able to catch up and Saman’s cross court winners added more woes to Navin forcing him to make more mistakes.

Saman took the second game 11/6.With the set scores levelled Navin played a more controlled game with fewer errors and took the last two sets at 11/5 to take the match and the Mens Open Championship.

Meanwhile in the Womens Open final Sharya was stretched to a five setter by upcoming star player Mihiliya Methsarani in a match full of fireworks. Mihiliya who took part in the Womens Open event for the first time took the early lead and took the first set 14/12 after a lot of hard work.The second set too continued with both players fighting for each and every point and ended in favor of Sharya with the scores on 11/9. Mihiliya made maximum use of her volley shots and drop shots and took the third set 11/5 and also the lead with it.However Sharya used her experience and took the fourth set 11/7 and the final set 12/10 after a fierce battle. Sharya with her win proved she is still at the top while Mihiliya showed early signs of her ability to dominate the National Womens Squash arena in the years to come.

The Boys U-19 final was played among Dilshan Gunewardena and Ravindu Laksiri and Ravindu went on to trash his opponent in straight sets with the scores on 11/6,11/5,11/6.In the Girls U-19 final Dulakshi Elikawela beat Mandakini Gunasekara to clinch the title.

Two finals were played between Viduranga Udantha and Shamil Wakeel for the Boys U-15 and U-17 Championships and Viduranga went on to take the boys U-15 title while Shamil took the Boys U-17 title.The match Viruranga won he beat his opponent in a 4 setter with the scores reading 11/8,116,6/11,11/9 while Shamil won the other in straight sets with the scores on 11/7,11/3,11/4

Girls U-17 event was won by Fathoum Issadeen in a 4 setter after loosing the first set 8/11 to Dinithi Nanayakkara.However Fathoum took the last 3 sets 11/7,11/8,11/8 to take the match.In the Girls U-15 final Mihiliya emerged victorious beating Sanduni Gunawardena in straight sets with the scores on 11/3,11/4,11/4 to take the title. Sanduni who took part in the Girls U-13 final clinched the championship beating her younger sister Kasuni Gunawardena in straight sets.Druwinka Perera took the boys U-13 title when he beat Senindu Induwara Dharmathilake in a tight 4 setter.
Meanwhile  Methmal Wood went on to clinch the boys u-11 championship for the first time when he beat top seed Heshan Balasuriya in a close encounter with scores reading 11/8,12/10,11/7.Sameera Deen clinched the Girls U-11 title after beating Dulna Nimsiri in straight sets while M I F Ansome beat F S Rajapaksha in straight sets to take the Boys U-09 event.

Results

Mens Open Final-Navin Samarasinghe beat Saman Thilakeratne-13/11,6/11,11/5,11/5

Womens Open Final-Sharya Guruge beat Mihiliya Methsarani-12/14,11/9,5/11,11/7,12/10

Boys U-19 Final-Ravindu Laksiri beat Dilshan Gunawardena-11/6,11/3,11/5

Girls U-19 Final-Dulakshi Elikawela beat Mandakini Gunasekara

Boys U-17 Final-Shamil Wakeel beat Viduranga Udantha-11/7,11/3,11/4

Girls U-17 Final-Fathoum Issadeen beat Dinithi Nanayakkara-8/11,11/7,11/8,11/8

Boys U-15 Final-Viduranga Udantha beat Shamil Wakeel-11/8,6/11,11/6,11/9

Girls U-15 Final-Mihiliya Methsarani beat Sanduni Gunawardena-11/3,11/4,11/4

Boys U-13 Final-Druwinka Perera beat Senindu Induwara Dhrmathilake-4/11,12/10,13/11,13/11

Girls U-13 Final-Sanduni Gunawardena beat Kasuni Gunawardena-11/7,12/10,11/2

Boys U-11 Final-Methmal Wood beat Heshan Balasuriya-11/8,11/9,11/7

Girls U-11 Final-Sameera Deen beat Dulna Nimsari-11/9,11/5,11/1

Boys U-09 Final-M I F Asmone beat F S Rajapaksha-11/8,12/10,11/7

Mens over 35 Final-Saman Thilakarathne beat Lal Wickramasinghe –11/2,11/7,11/5

Mens over 45 Final-Mohomed Rizwan beat K Padmakumara-11/6,11/5,11/6

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