The Singhalese Sports Club Open Tennis Championship that was to resume on Monday was postponed for the fourth consecutive day last afternoon due to the prevailing weather conditions.
The SSC Open that started on the 4th of May continues on to its 20th day of play with the matches to commence at 2.30 p.m. at SSC grounds if the weather clears up today.
The SSC Open is one of the few ‘A’ grade ranking tennis tournaments in the country and the two prized titles of the tournament are the Men’s and Women’s open championships. These two coveted titles go hand in hand with the other junior games tagged along with the veteran titles. A total of 22 events had the participation of 355 players ranging from ages 14 to 55 years.
The two youth prospects from Ladies’ College and Visakha Vidyalaya; Medhira Samarasinghe and Nethmi Waduge are tied up in the Women’s Open single that is expected to be played later in the evening. Medhira found her way to the finals when she defeated the experienced Amritha Muttiah 0-6, 7-5, 6-2 in the semi-final. 19-year-old Nethmi Waduge didn’t find it easy with Roshenka Fernando in the semi-final losing the first set 6-7(6). The Visakhian later fought back in the last two sets to win them 6-4, 6-3 guaranteeing her the final spot.
Bangladeshi national Delwar Hossain and Yasith De Silva will meet in the Men’s Open final this afternoon. The Davis Cup team player Yasith defeated seeded player Nishangan Nadarajah in a closely contested game that extended to almost two hours. Yasith won the game 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, and 7-6(5) to get his promotion to the final. His counterpart Delwar Hossain initially had to battle it out with Sanka Atukorale in the quarterfinals and later defeated M. Shaakir to get his ticket confirmed for the finals.
Alongside the two premiere titles, the encounters for the junior titles will be played at the SSC courts if the weather clears up by this afternoon.
