Udesh Perera and Rebecca Dalrene clinched the Under-19 boys and girls singles titles respectively at the Inaugural Junior Masters’ Carrom Championship which is being played at the Sri Lanka Carrom Federation (SLCF) headquarters in Maharagama.
Perera beat Anas Ahmed by two straight sets in the boys’ final as Mohammad Shaeed beat Dilusha Dilrujith by two straight sets in the third place playoff.
In the girls’ Under-19 final Rebecca Dalrene underwent tremendous pressure before sealing the final by two sets to one after Maduwanthi Gunadasa bounced back to equalise in the second set.
The first set was won by Dalrene by 25-7 but Maduwanthi came back strongly to outplay her opponent without conceding a point in the second set.
The third set was well contested between the finalists.
Eventually the final was won by Dalrene.
The third place playoff of the Under-19 girls’ singles was also as tensed as the final but Gayani Ranasinghe returned to claim the final two sets to register a 2-1 win.
Ranasinghe’s opponent Hashani Dilrukshi won the first set by 20-12 but lost her composure in the remaining sets.
The Under-15 boys’ singles title was won by Mohamed Mufees who beat I. Kalansuriya by 2-nil while Sashrika Muthunayake beat H.P. Kumar by 2-nil to win the third place playoff.
Tharushi Himahansika staged a dramatic comeback to clinch the Under-15 girls’ singles title beating Detuni Nomaya by 2-1.
In the third place playoff Dewni Pabasari comfortably beat Suchini Sachikala by two straight sets.
This tournament which comes to an end today was inaugurated by the SLCF in order to bring forth more talented youngsters into the limelight.
The tournament was structured on the lines of the Grand Slam tournament conducted only for senior ranking players to give the youngsters the opportunity of competing with other top class youngsters.
