The Sri Lankan Junior Paddlers dominated the recently concluded South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships that was held at the Habibi Public School Gymnasium in Karachi, topping the leader board with the medal count.
The South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships held in Karachi saw Sri Lanka dominating 9 out of the 10 gold medals on offer only losing out in the Cadet Boys’ Singles. With Sri Lanka topping the tables in the South Asian championships, they have gained qualification for the Asia Junior & Cadet Table Tennis Championship which is set to be held in Bangkok, Thailand during the month of September.
Photo Album – Felicitation – Junior Table Tennis and Silhouette Shooting teams
Champion paddler Imesh Udaya Ranasinghe set the tone for the championship while he and Krishan Wickramarathne ended up in the Junior Boys’ Singles finals. Ranasinghe ended up as champion while Wickramarathne took the silver medal honours.
It was the same story in the Girls’ Junior Singles where two Sri Lankan players ended up in the finals. Hansani Piumila defeated Chamathsara Fernando 4/1 to win as Sri Lanka took home both medals. Sri Lanka also went on to secure the Gold and Silver in the Cadet Girls Singles as Imasha De Silva took the gold medal and Thanushi Rodrigo secured the silver.
The only individual event that Sri Lanka could not secure a gold was the Cadet Boys’ Singles where Faizan Zahoor of Pakistan defeated Harshana Karadawala of Sri Lanka. The scores read 11-9, 11-4, 11-7 in favour of the Pakistani.
Continuing their success, Sri Lanka won gold in the four team events which were Junior Boys’, Junior Girls’, Cadet Boys’ and Cadet Girls’. With the five gold medals in the individual category, Sri Lanka secured themselves 9 gold medals in total from the 10 on offer.
Pakistan along with Nepal, Maldives and Sri Lanka took part in this year’s edition that was held in Karachi. India could not participate in this year’s tournament due to visa issues with the Pakistan authorities.
Full Results
Team events:
Junior boys: Sri Lanka beat Maldives 3/0, beat Nepal 3/0, and beat Pakistan 3/0
Junior girls: Sri Lanka beat Maldives 3/0, beat Nepal 3/0, and beat Pakistan 3/0Cadet boys: Sri Lanka beat Maldives w/o, beat Nepal 3/0, and beat Pakistan 3/2
Cadet girls: Sri Lanka beat Maldives 3/0, beat Nepal 3/0, and beat Pakistan 3/0
Individual events
Junior boys singles: Udaya Ranasinghe (SL) beat Krishan Wickramaratne (SL) 4/1 (8,-11, 8,6,8)
Junior girls singles: Hansani Piumila (SL) beat Chamathsara Fernando (SL) 4/1 (3, 13,-12, 7,8)
Junior boys doubles: Udaya Ranasingha/Krishan Wickramaratne(SL) beat Syed Obid Shah/Fahad Khawaja (Pak) 3/0
Junior girls doubles: Hansani Piumila/Chamathsara Fernando (SL) beat Aisath Rafa/Laisa Fathuhulla (Mal) 3/0
Cadet boys singles: Faizan Zahoor (Pak) beat Harshana Karandawala (SL) 3/0 (9,4,7)
Cadet girls singles: Imasha de Silva (SL) beat Thanushi Rodrigo (SL) 3/2 (-8,4,10,-9,7).
