Sandesh Kantimahanti defended his Boys ATF Series Colombo title for the second year running while Indian Chandrika Joshi who entered the tournament via the Wild Card route took home the Girl’s Singles.
This is the continuation series of the ATF Under 14 Junior Series that was held in Colombo after its remarkable success last year. The Sri Lankans who participated in the tournament this year ended up in the final spots but failed to deliver when it came to the decider.
The top performer from Sri Lanka was Nelaka Dissanayaka who finished second in Colombo during week 1, losing out to Sandesh in the finals. Dissanayaka was the highest achiever from Sri Lanka and sent the top seed in the tournament, Rahul Jaideep from India, home defeating him 6-0,6-3 to get through to the semi finals.
The defending champion Sandesh Kanthimahanti had it easy in the entire tournament working his way up the ladder defeating the Sri Lankan players all through to the semifinals. Sandesh faced Indian Arun Venkat in the semifinals and earned his way by defeating Venkat 6-1, 6-1. The finals being the decider for the start of the ATF series saw Sandesh Kanthimahanti slice through Dissanayaka, winning the game 6-1, 6-1.
The Canadian national Sandesh will progress in the ATF series with a opening win continuing his success story at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts once again. Nelaka Dissanayake ending up in the runner up spot was an achievement for the country with him ending up in a higher spot in the continuation series being a possibility.
Wild Card entry and Junior Tennis Champion of India Chadrika Joshi got herself the Girls title in Colombo by defeating Sri Lankan Siyara Silva in the final. Siyara Silva was the best performer in the Lankan representation in the Girls draw alongside Anika Seneviratne who ended her ATF Colombo run in the semifinals.
Chandrika Joshi defeated Anika Seneviratne 6-4, 6-3 to earn her spot in the finals. Both Seneviratne and Joshi entered the singles draw via the wild card qualification while Joshi had to defeat 3rd seed Riya Uboveja 2-6, 6-4,6-2 to earn her way into the semi finals. Finalist Siyara Silva’s route to the finals was more of a shortcut in the early stages but she earned the final spot defeating #4 seed Sharon William 6-2, 6-3.
The final that was the encounter between Chandrika Joshi and Siyara Silva saw the Indian champion winning the game 6-3, 6-1. Siyara ended up finishing second at the conclusion of the Colombo week that is a great feat for Sri Lanka tennis. Fourteen-year-old Anika Seneviratne ended up in third place after defeating Sharon William in the third place play-off 5-3, 4-0.
It was a successful campaign for the Lankans in the opening Colombo series of the ATF Under 14 Championships in comparison to last year’s disappointing performance and the players who achieved places will look to improve on their ratings in the coming months.
