Kenura and Senaya claim major honours at WP Ranking TT Championship
View(s):Aspiring young paddlers Kenura Silva and Senaya Hulangamuwa emerged the Men’s and Women’s champions at the Western Province Ranking Table Tennis Championship held at the Indoor Sports Complex in Bandaragama last week. Kenura, 12, of Nalanda College, Colombo, while claiming the Men’s Open title, went on to Boy’s Under-12 Singles championship, while Senaya of Visakha Vidyalaya claimed the Girl’s Under-15 title on her way to clinch the Women’s Open crown.
Kenura, the younger sibling of former Sri Lanka national table tennis champion, Senura Silva, is coached by her parents, both former national champions Indika Prasad and Deepika Rodrigo. In the Kenura recorded a straight win of 11/5 and 14/12 against Dewmith Weerasena of Sri Lanka Foundation Institute in the Men’s Open final, while he recorded a straightforward win of 11/6 and 11/3 against Binara Dharmapriya of Horizon College, Malabe in the Boy’s Under-13 Singles final. Kenura also reached the final of the Boy’s Under-15 Singles, but lost to Yenul Abeywickrama of Ananda College by 2-1 in which the set scores were 11/8, 8/11 and 11/6, thus emerging as the runner-up.
Senaya, 14, reached three finals, and pocketed two titles in contrasting battles. She faced stiff competition in the Women’s Open final by her opponent and schoolmate Ranuki Senaratne in a game that went to the wire. Senaya won the first set 14/12 after a close battle, only to be challenged by Ranuki, who levelled the game by winning the second set 11/9. But she maintained her composure to annex the final set by 11/6 and claim the Women’s Open title after a thriller game.
She had earlier won the Girl’s Under-15 Singles title with ease against Ovini Ratnapala of Lyceum International School, Gampaha with set wins of 11/8 and 11/2, but lost the final against Naduni Anupriya of Viharamaha Devi Girls’ School, Kiribathgoda by 2-1 after a hard fought battle with set scores of 11/9, 6/11 and 11/9 in the Girl’s Under-17 Singles final.
Meanwhile Danuk Lamasuriya of Ananda College won the Boy’s Under-19 Singles title against Pasindu Bhashitha of Loyala College in straight sets with scores of 11/3 and 11/8. Yenuli Basnayake of Ladies’ College defeated Pramukshi Fernando of Bishop’s College by 2-1 where the three-steer read as 11/6, 9/11 and 11/6 to clinch the Girls’ Under-19 Singles title. L.R.D Methmika of Malabe Boys’ School claimed the Boy’s Under-17 title after overcoming Yenul Abeywickrama of Ananda College by 2-1 where he lost the first set by 6/11, and bounced back to win the two remaining sets by 11/7 and 11-7. Vihara Herath of Bishop’s College overcame Nelara Wickramasinghe of Musaeus College by 2-1 with set scores of 11/7, 7/11 and 11/5 to win the Girl’s Under-13 Singles final.
The tournament was conducted by the Western Province Table Tennis Association in partnership with Nugegoda Table Tennis Club, where national-level paddlers competed, setting exciting games throughout the competition.