Vinod, Taniya win top honours at Junior Golf
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Vinod Weerasinghe and Taniya Minel Balasuriya receiving their trophies
Vinod Weerasinghe and Taniya Minel Balasuriya crowned as boys’ and girls’ champions respectively at the 11th Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Champiosnhips concluded at the Royal Colombo Golf Club on Friday
Vinod captured the boys’ title for the 3rd consecutive year and will be eligible to defend his title once again next year. Vinod carded a 72 (one over par) final round, his best score in the 2018 championship to seal a comfortable victory by 18 strokes from runner-up Haroon Aslam of Victoria Golf & Country Resort. Haroon ensured his Runner-up position nine strokes clear of Dhuwarshan the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club representative the 2017 Junior Open Silver Division Winner.
Taniya Minel Balasuriya continued her consistent form carding a 72 (one over par) in the final round to become the Sri Lanka Junior Open Girls champion for the second consecutive year, by an outstanding 17 strokes from Kayla Perera who returned a two under par second round score, which was the best score returned in the 2018 Championship.
The ever improving Nirekh Tejwani won the Silver division for Boys, by a clear 11 strokes from regular rival in the same division Yannik Kumara, leading the field from start to finish, but sealed the victory with an excellent 3 over par 74 in the final round, having held a slender 2 stroke advantage going in to the final day. Danushan was also not too far behind in 3rd place, as he was just 2 strokes behind the Runner-up and three strokes ahead of Levon Niyarepola in 4th place.
Shanal Binushka ensured victory in the Bronze Division with a final round of 67, to hold on to a 3 stroke win from Reshan Algama, in second place. The top two in the Bronze division drew clear of the rest of the field with Kvahn Tejwani and Kaya Daluwatte securing 3rd & 4th place respectively 15 and 16 strokes adrift of the Runner-up. The Bronze Division played over 14 holes and three rounds comprises future talent and are well accomplished for their age category of 10 – 11+ years.
In the Copper division for juniors aged 9+ and under, played over 9 holes and three rounds C. Dharaniyan of Nuwara Eliya Golf Club maintained the lead from start to finish and won by 4 strokes from Varun Fernando and T Deshan, with just 5 strokes separating the top three.
RESULTS
Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship
Winner Boys: Vinod Weerasinghe
Gold Division (Age 15- 18+ Boys)
Winner: Vinod Weerasinghe 220 (73, 75, 72)
Runner-up: Haroon Aslam (VGCR) 238 (77, 77, 84)
3rd: S. Duwarshan 247 (80, 84, 83)
4th: Dilshan Malinda 260 (88, 84, 88)
Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship
Winner Girls: Taniya Minel Balasuriya
Gold and Silver Division combined – Girls
Winner: Taniya Minel Balasuriya 217 (72, 72, 73)
Runner-up: Kayla Perera 234 (80, 70, 84)
3rd: Sherin Mithara Balasuriya 249 (84, 83, 82)
4th: Arika Wickramasinghe 273 (90, 88, 95)
Silver Division Boys (Age 12-14+)
Winner: Nirekh Tejwani 230 (78, 78, 74)
Runner-up: Yannik Kumara 241 (81, 77, 83)
3rd: K. Danushan 243 (81, 80, 82)
4th: Levon Niyarepola 246 (83, 81, 82)
Bronze Division Boys and Girls (Age 10-11+) 14 Holes per Round
Winner: N.W.G. Shanal Binushka 203 (74, 62, 67)
Runner-up: Reshan Algama 206 (75, 67, 64)
3rd: Kvahn Tejwani 221 (75, 69, 77)
4th: Kaya Daluwatte 222 (75, 70, 77)
Copper Division Boys and Girls (Age 9 and under) 9 Holes per Round
Winner: C. Dharaniyan (NEGC) 127 (43, 41, 43)
Runner-up: Varun Fernando 131 (44, 42, 45)
3rd: T. Deshan 132 (45, 43, 44)
4th: Thejas Rathis Kanth 137 (46, 42, 49)
5th: Keshav Algama 144 (45, 49, 50)