The Royal-Thomian 7TH Annual Badminton Encounter 2014 was a clean sweep to Royal as they won the U 16 and U 19 titles and dominate the courts.
The match was held at the S.Thomas’ College Sports Complex .The two age groups consisted of the traditional 5 matches each(3 singles and 2 doubles) with the best of 5 being the champion. In the under 16 category Royal College won all three singles without a 3rd set for each single thus rendering the doubles unnecessary. In the under 19 stage the Thomians won only one single enabling the Royalists to win with two singles and a doubles.
In the under 16 category the first single was between the Thomian Captain Dharaka Peiris and Nilesh Wijesekara of Royal. The Thomians started off well drawing first blood and Peiris maintained a healthy lead .The score was 18 – 14 in the Thomians favour when the tables turned and Wijesekera made a strong comeback winning the set. The score was 22-20.The second set showcased Wijesekera’s skills as he played consistently and was able to fend off the strong Thomian attack with the score reading 21-16 at the end of the set, thus winning the match for the royalists.
The second match was between Adeesh Peter of S.Thomas’ and Druvinka Perera from Royal. Both sets were played competitively but Royal triumphed in the end with the scores reading 21-18 and 21-19 respectively.
The final single was played by Thomian Sithara Hapuhinna and Royalist Thevin Rahubadda. The royalists decided to begin their massacre then with Rahubadda thrashing Thora 21-8 and 21-13 respectively ,thus winning the match and the under 16 Cup.
The under 19 challenge began with a fresh outlook as Thomian and former Captain Johan De Silva beat Harindu Adikari of Royal in a very heated match. The first set saw the school- by –the- sea gain their first victory with the score reading 21-8. Though Reid avenue hit the shuttlecock into the net a lot and made some bad calls in the first set, they made up for it in the second. Johan got a good lead with the score reading 20-12, but Harindu came back strong and pulled off a spectacular performance by gaining 8 points while Johan just needed one more . Amazingly Harindu won the set with a close 23-21 pushing the match into the 3rd set. However the Thomains were not about to let go; Johan played hard sending multiple smashes which in fact caused him an injury halfway through the set. Nevertheless he won the match with a score of 21-14 finally brining heart to the Thomian supporters.
The second match saw the Thomian Captain Deelaka Wijesooriya facing his opposing captain Malitha Kariyawasam. Royal won the first set closely (21-17) only for the Thomians to make a comeback in the second with another close win of 21-18. However the 3rd set saw Malitha playing hard and winning with a comfy 21-13.
National player and Royalist Chamika Karunarathne went full steam against Thomian Sandanidu De Silva beating him by huge margins of 21-13 and 21-11 respectively. Though he was not himself at first, Karunarathne played remarkably well later on.
The final doubles match saw royal still on a hot streak. Royalists Malitha Kariyawasam and Chamika Karunarathne beat Thomians Johan De Silva and Deelaka Wijesooriya by considerable margins once again (21-14 and 21-16 respectively).
The Royalists walked away with both the Cup and Shield which they deserved after a good day of badminton.
