Sri Lanka’s teenage tennis sensation Dinara de Silva continued to impress, claiming her second consecutive Girls’ Singles title at the ITF SSC J30 Week 2 Tennis Tournament, which concluded on Saturday at the SSC Courts in Maitland Place.
The 16-year-old national champion, delivered a brilliant performance in the final, defeating India’s Aleena Farid in straight sets, 6-3, 6-1. This latest triumph comes just a week after she lifted the Week 1 Singles title at the same venue beating Japan’s SakinoMiyazawa 6-3,6-0. With these wins cementing her reputation as Sri Lankas brightest young tennis prospect and scaling the International Junior Rankings.
Earlier in the year, Dinara was Runner-Up at week 1 of the ITF J30 event held at SLTA courts. She participated in played week 1 where she had to play the finals the day before commencement of the Ordinary Level exams. The scheduling clash resulted in her missing weeks 2 and 3 of the tournament
Next up Dinara will represent team Sri Lanka at the Billy Jean King Cup Tournament to be held in Sri Lanka starting 16th of June. Sri Lanka will be playing in group 3 and looking to get back to Group 2 this year having pulled out mid tournament last year as the players including Dinara were diagnosed with Dengue. Representing Sri Lanka Juniors over the last 3 years Dinara has anchored team Sri Lanka with an unbeaten record in the preliminary rounds carrying Sri Lanka into final Asia Oceania qualification rounds
Dinara, a promising talent from St. Bridget’s Convent, won her first Junior National title at the age of 13 and her first National title at the age of 14. She has now won 5 ITF J30’s in Sri Lanka and in Pakistan over the last 12 months despite having had to take time off to recover from Dengue and study for the OL exams. Now the National Champion raises hopes of seeing her improve rankings and represent Sri Lanka at Junior Grand Slams, as she travels overseas to play the higher grade tournaments post her commitments with Sri Lanka Tennis.
