The Emperor Open National Ranking Squash Championship which got underway at the Tamil Union Squash complex concluded with the finals being played recently.
Both the Mens and Womens Open events saw bottom seeds upsetting the favorites in hard fought encounters.
The Mens Open Final saw Gihan Suwaris outplaying Dilshan Gunawrdena in a tightly contested five setter where the former went to win the first two sets. The match was crucial to both the players as Dilshan was trying to defend the title which he won for the first time at the previous tournament and as Gihan was trying to reclaim his long lost glory. The first set saw both the players pulling out their deadliest weapons by the way of sharp nick shots, thundering kill shots and smooth volley drops .After tie breaking at 10 each Gihan went on to take the first set at 14/12 and went on to wrap up the second set at 11/8 to take the initial lead. The third set too saw Gihan taking the lead but unable to finish the game due to stiff resistance provided by his opponent. Dilshan who didn’t seem to be as weary as Gihan in the fourth set kept on the pressure and managed to tally the set scores at 2 each after finishing the game at 11/8.Gihan knowing it was a do or die situation controlled the game and made as few as possible unforced errors and took the final set at 11/6. However the match was a clear repetition of the Mens Open final at the last Years SSC Open Squash Championship where Gihan beat Dilshan in the same manner winning the first ,second and fifth sets .
In the Womens Open Final upcoming star Naduni Gunawardena went on to win her first ever Womens Open title after outplaying Mihiliya Methsarani in another exciting match. Mihiliya who was dominating the arena for the last two years or so could not get things together this time around. Naduni who played a well controlled game from the beginning gave no room for Mihiliya to rise to the occasion. Naduni went on to take the first ,third and fourth sets at 11/8,11/3,11/3 to seal victory in a hard fought game after Mihiliya took the second set at 12/10.
The Girls U-19 final was also played between Mihiliya and Naduni and Mihiliya went on to take the title in another hard fought match.
Ravindu Laksiri who lost to Gihan Suwaris in a Mens Open semi final clinched the Boys U-19 title after defeating Udantha Hewage in the final.
Druwinka Perera and Wasundara Suwaris too came out on top winning two age group titles each. Druwinka, another stylish player who has a huge potential proved his mettle by winning both the Boys U-13 and U-15 age groups while Wasundara, the younger sister of Jubilant Mens Open Champion went on to clinch the Girls U-15 and U-17 age group titles.
The results of the Emperor Open Squash Championship are as follows
Mens Open
Winner-Gihan Suwaris
Runner up-Dilshan Gunawardena
Womens Open
Winner- Naduni Gunawardena
Runner up- Mihiliya Mehsarani
Boys U-19
Winner-Ravindu Laksiri
Runner up-Udantha Hewage
Girls U-19
Winner-Mihiliya Mehsarani
Runner up-Nadindi Udangawa
Boys U-17
Winner- Shamil Wakeel
Runner up- Viduranga Udantha
Girls U-17
Winner-Wasundara Suwaris
Runner up- Raheena Deen
Boys U-15
Winner-Druwinka Perera
Runner up-Senindu Induwara Dharmathilaka
Girls U-15
Winner- Wasundara Suwaris
Runner up-Kasuni Gunawardena
Boys U-13
Winner-Druwinka Perera
Runner up-Heshan Balasuriya
Girls U-13
Winner-Sameera Deen
Runner up-Devmini Gallage
Boys U-11
Winner-M IF Asmone
Runner up-S S Rajapaksha
Girls U-11
Winner- Devmini Gallage
Runner up-Chanithma Sinaly
Boys U-09
Winner-Nevindu Lakman
Runner up-Akila Atapattu
Girls U-09
Winner-Chanithma Sinaly
Runner up-Anagi Perera
