COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, August 24, Monday (ePRESS) – Aahil Kaleel of S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia produced a gritty performance to clinch the Boys’ Under-16 Singles title at the YETI-SLTA 111th National Tennis Championship, organised by the Sri Lanka Tennis Association and played at the SLTA Courts in Colombo on Saturday.
Kaleel fought back after a tense battle to overcome Saha Kapilasena in three sets – 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-2 – in the final. The opening set went into a tiebreaker where Kaleel held his nerve with solid baseline play and accurate serving to take the lead. Kapilasena rallied strongly in the second set, breaking early to level the contest. But in the deciding set, Kaleel showed better stamina and court coverage, breaking twice to seal victory in just over two hours of play.
Meanwhile, in the Girls’ Under-16 Singles semi-finals, Venuli Jayasinghe of Maliyadeva Girls’ College Kurunegala advanced when Githmi Fernando of Ave Maria Convent Negombo was forced to retire at 0-3 due to injury. In the other semi-final, Yuhansa Peiris of Bishop’s College Colombo outplayed Sandithi Usgodaarachchi of Musaeus College 6-3, 6-1, displaying a strong forehand and consistent returns.
In the Boys’ Under-16 Doubles final, the St Peter’s College pair of Mayooran Kubheran and Ashling de Silva combined well at the net to defeat Royal College’s Naqeeb Hussain and Ashwin Denver of St Peter’s College 6-2, 6-3. Their aggressive volleys and strong service games proved decisive in straight sets.
Meanwhile, the men’s open final between defending national champion Apna Perera and Ashen Silva will be played today, while women’s national champion Dinara de Silva will face Nesangi Hemakumara in the women’s open singles final today (Sunday) at the SLTA courts in Colombo.
