Sri Lanka’s top-ranked Tennis player Apna Perera and the rising youth Tennis talent Annaya Norbet displayed dominant performances to bag the SLTA–YETI Hard Court Tennis Championship Men’s and Women’s Open (Singles) titles, respectively.
The extravagant tournament was held on the SLTA hard courts in Green Path, Colombo, during the last weekend. The elite event of the national Tennis calendar was organised by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association, and it was sponsored by YETI Isotonic, which is Sri Lanka’s number 1 sports beverage.
During the Men’s Open Singles Final, Sri Lanka’s top seed and Davis Cup player Apna Perera, met with another pure talent who had already featured in the Davis Cup – former Peterite player Ashen Silva. Perera did well against the resistance of Silva, 06 – 03, to clinch the first set without much difficulty. However, the second set was a real twister among the players, and it went deep as a tiebreaker phase appeared to decide the winner. Ashen Silva rose to the occasion and managed to overcome the national champion to bag a crucial victory during the second set.
That defeat was an eye-opener for the two-time national champion, and he displayed a clinical play during the third set from the first strike from his racket to the last cheer of the crowd. With this dominant performance (06 – 03, 06 – 07, 06 – 01), Apna Perera defended his title, but the spirited play of the runners-up, including former national champion Ashen Silva, should also be admired. This brilliant victory completed a hat-trick of hard court titles, adding to his triumphs in 2023 and 2024.
Apna Perera is definitely a future prospect of Sri Lanka in the field of Tennis, and his dominating performance signals his potential to bring international victories for the motherland. Perera’s Tennis journey began at the age of seven when he was schooling at Ananda College. He was privileged to train under veteran Coach Anupa Maththamagoda at the ACM Academy, and he had played a pivotal role behind the success of this rising national talent.
In the Semi Finals of this segment, Apna easily defeated Methwan Wijemanne by 02 – 00 sets (6-1, 6-1), while Ashen Silva overcame Lithium Jayabandu again by 02 – 00 sets (6-3, 6-2).
During the Women’s Open Singles Final, female Tennis prodigy from Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya, Annaya Norbet, clashed against former hard court national champion, Vishakian Dinethya Dharmarathne. The 14-year-old schoolgirl delivered a stunning performance to beat the fancied Dharmarathne by two straight set victories (06 – 02, 06 – 02). Annaya Norbet gained the upper hand of the game from the start, and her tactical and technically sound play kept the former national champion at bay.
During the other games, the Semi Finals of the Under 16 Boys’ segment saw comfortable victories for the St Peter’s College players. Firstly, Mayooran K. Kuberane beat the outstation boy Shennon Anderson of Maliyadeva College, Kurunegala, by two straight sets (06 – 01, 06 – 01). Then the other Peterite, Ashlin De Silva, easily defeated Nevan Kannangara of St Joseph’s College with a 02 – 00 set victory (06 – 02, 06 – 02) to reserve the spots of the Finals for Peterites.
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