After a fortnight of exciting action in the Tennis courts, the premiere flagship Tennis tournament will conclude this week at the SLTA clay courts with the final matches scheduled to be played tomorrow.
The 100th Colombo Championships, which coincided with the centenary celebrations of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association, had its share of rivalry with the top seeds of the country metering it out against the rest. This year’s tournament had a new initiative as the top seeds from Bangladesh and Pakistan were in the main draw up against the Sri Lankan heavyweights.
The continuous downpour of rain delayed proceedings on the final day as the much awaited finals will see progress this afternoon.
Disappointment hulled over for the Sri Lankan national champion Dineshkanthan in his semi-final game between the Indian top seed Ashwin Vijayaragavan where Vijayaragavan secured a well -earned 6-3,6-3,6-3 win over the national champion to advance through to the finals. Unfortunate for Dineshkanthan, his Indian counterpart held the upper hand right throughout the game till the final set.
Sri Lanka’s #8 Heera Ashiq made the other upset in the other semi-final winning the game against the fourth seed Nishangan Nadarajah 6-1,3-0. Sadly for Nadaraja, he had to retire in the second set due to an injury giving Ashiq the ticket to the finals. Heera Ashiq will face one of the biggest tests of his life in the finals when he faces the Indian star Ashwin Vijayaragavan.
Sri Lanka’s top seed in the Women’s division and defending national title holder Amritha Muttiah will meet young Nethmi Waduge in the finals. Thisuri Molligoda who faces Muttiah in the semifinals proved to be no threat for the defending title holder who defeated Molligoda 6-0,-6-1 without any effort.
Anika Seneviratne had to give way to the veteran Nethmi Waduge in her semi- final match as Waduge went on to secure a 6-1,6-2 win over the former. With the battle ending up at the Top two seeds of the country, the predictions looks to be another Amritha victory on the books.
The exciting two week contest will come to a close in the next two days with the finals of the age categories will see a finish.
