Unmatched Familian Annaya Norbert wins top honours at the SLTA-YETI Tennis Age Group Championship.

Sri Lanka’s top-seeded school tennis talents, Annaya Norbert of Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya, Sanuthi Wong of Colombo International School (CIS) and Sayuri Muthuthanthiri of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, emerged victorious in their respective age group finals at the SLTA-YETI Hard Court Championship 2025, organised by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association (SLTA) at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts, Colombo 07.

Under 18 Girls’ Singles Final

The unmatched talent from Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya, Annaya Norbert, displayed her class again and proved her fine talent by defeating Githmi Fernando of Ave Maria Convent, Negombo, in the finals. Annaya, who clinched the Women’s Open Singles title, got a fine start to the game by bagging the first set as 06 – 02. During the second set, Annaya kept Githmi Fernando under tremendous pressure with powerful strikes and excellent ground coverage. Hence, Githmi failed to score any points, while Annaya cruised to the victory by bagging her second singles title.

>>Apna and Annaya clinched SLTA – YETI Hard Court National titles<<

During the first semifinal of the Under 18 Girls Singles segment, Annaya Norbert showcased flying colours against Sahansa Damsiluni of Visakha Vidyalaya and booked her spot in the finals. In the other semifinal, Githmi Fernando delivered some crunching strikes and easily defeated Dulkini Ranasinghe of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo. During the quarterfinal stage, the champion, Norbert, thrashed Christina Fernando with a couple of straight-set victories (06–00 and 06–00).

Under 16 Girls’ Singles Finals

During the final, the tennis prodigy from HFC Bambalapitiya, Annaya Norbert, clashed against another young talent, Sanditi Usgodaarachchi of Musaeus College. Though Usgodaarachchi tried her level best to resist against the champion player, Annaya cruised to a straight-set victory with 06-01 and 06-02 points. In this way Annaya continued her winning form and completed a triple crown in singles events at the hard court tournament.

During the semifinals, the runner-up, Sanditi Usgodaarachchi, defeated Buvindee Imihami of Bishop’s College with ease. Scores read as 06 – 00 and 06 – 01, and Buvindi failed to build any pressure on her opponent throughout the game. During the second semifinal, the in-form player, Annaya Norbert, clashed against Akesha Silva of Newsted College, Negombo, who had won the national title at the CL Synergy SSC Open Tennis Championship a few months ago. The game saw a lot of competitiveness compared to other semifinals, but the 14-year-old girl came up strong with her highly technical and tactical play to beat the national champion with 06 – 03 and 06 – 03 points. Annaya Norbert managed to display her superb skills by overpowering Dinethma Ekanayake 06–01 and 06–01 at the quarterfinal stage.

Under 14 Girl’s Singles Final

In the final battle of this age group, the rising youth player, Sanuthi Wong of St Peter’s College, Kurana, clashed against another reputed youth player, Dinethma Ekanayake of Maliyadeva Girls College, Kurunegala.

During the first set, Ekanayake gave Wong a tough time with her better ground-covering ability. But Wong’s tactical play was decisive during the tiebreaker point phase of the game, and it pushed Ekanayake to the back foot at the backend of the game. Hence, Wong managed to edge out her opponent with 07 – 05 points. During the second set Wong never allowed her opponent to settle and bagged the game with a 06 – 01 point victory in the second set.

In the Girls Under-14 final, Sanuthi Wong of St Peter’s College, Kurana, edged Dinethma Ekanayake 7-5, 6-1.

In the under-14 semifinals, Sanuthi Wong defeated Samaira Fernando of Colombo International School, while the outstation talent, Dinethma Ekanayake, overpowered Risindi Hevawasam of Ave Maria Convent, Negombo. During the quarterfinals, Wong faced a shock after losing the first set. But the fine talent proved her class under pressure and fought back to defeat Navya Banagala (02 – 06, 06 – 00, 06 – 04).

Under 12 Girls’ Singles Final

In the U12 final, Sayuri Muthuthanthiri of Visakha Vidyalaya, Colombo, managed to control the game from the start against Taalia Silva of Colombo International School. Muthuthanthiri executed an eye-catching nippy play by never allowing her opponent to settle and wrapped up the game with 06 – 02 and 06 – 02 points.

During the semifinals, Taalia Silva defeated Thiyansa de Silva of Stafford International Colombo, while Sayuri Muthuthanthiri overcame Savinma Amarasinghe of Musaeus College with another spirited performance.