Inter School U 15 tennis – Ananda rally themselves to victory

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The boys finals and the playoff for third and fourth place of the under 15 segment of the All Island Inter School Tennis Tournament was held on the 16th of June at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association.

 

The matches were played on the hard courts where each tie was played using a best of five match format comprising three singles and two doubles. Each match was worked off using a best of three set format and tournament was refereed by Ifam Basheer who ensured that the tournament ran smoothly.

The finals were contested by St. Peters College and Ananda College who had performed exceptionally over the course of the tournament. Both schools topped their respective groups and entered the semi finals without suffering a single loss. The Peterites entered the finals after having defeated Royal College 3-1 where as the Anandians secured their place in the finals courtesy a 3-0 drubbing which they dished out to St. Thomas’ College. 

Finals Action

The finals was set to be an engaging encounter as both Ananda and St Peters were considered to be evenly matched. The Peterites went into a 1-0 lead as their star player Inthujan Selveratnarajah defeated Vibudha Wijebandara who challenged the Peterite shot for shot which resulted in a wonderful display of tennis. Inthujan ultimately came away with a 6-4 6-4 victory which elevated his schools chances of winning the tie. 

The Anandians struck back through Deelaka Ranasinghe and Ravindu Palliyaguru who pulled off a stunning win in the first doubles against the Peterite combination of Aadil Reza and Thevinda Piyadigama. The victorious duo won the first set 6/1 and looked as if they would wrap the match up with ease but squandered a total of four match points only to lose the second set 7-5. However they regrouped and played well to win the third and final set 6-4 resulting in a final score line of 6-1 5-7 6-4. 

With the scores leveled at one match apiece it was everything to play for as far as the second single and the second double were concerned. The Anandians came out all guns blazing as they played with great finesse and confidence to win both matches. Dushan Wijethunga dropped only two games as he defeated his Peterite opponent Luqman Mowjood 6-1 6-1. The second doubles proved to be even more decisive as the combination of Kithmin De Silva and Pasindu Perera defeated their opponents 6-0 6-0.

Wins in the first doubles, second singles and second doubles resulted in the Anandians winning the finals with an emphatic score line of three matches to one.

Third Fourth Playoff

The play off for third and fourth place was contested by arch rivals Royal College and St Thomas’ College. The Royalists got off to an idea start as they scored a win in the first singles through Januda Jayasekera who defeated his opponent Rusiru Fernando 6-4 6-0. The Thomian led 4-1 in the first set only to be on the receiving end of a complete turnaround as Januda fought his way back into the match to go on to win with ease.

The first doubles was an easy affair for the boys in blue and gold as Nadil Silva and Venushka De Silva defeated Prathap Jayathilleke and Kiran Ranatunga 6-2 6-0. After having two matches in the bag the Royalists needed to win just one more match to secure third place. They achieved this through Vikum Jayasooriya and Akeel Hyder who defeated Akil Ismail and Mohamed Raji 6-1 6-3 in order to win the second doubles and record a 3-0 win in favor of the Royalists.

Final Standings

Winner- Ananda College

Runner up- St. Peters College

Third Place- Royal College

Fourth Place- St Thomas’ College