ShenukSamararatne and VidaraSuhasniVidanage clinched the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles of the Summer Season All-Island Open Badminton Championship, which concluded at the Municipal Council Indoor Courts in NuwaraEliya.
ShenukSamararatne overcame ThenukaSathsara de Silva 2-1 in a closely contested Men’s Singles final, as both competitors eagerly battled to claim the plum of the Open category main event. After claiming the first set 21-11, Shenuk was forced to delay his victory march as Thenuka bounced back to claim the second set 21-13. This left to an interesting battle in the crucial third set, where both shuttlersplayed their hearts out, but eventually Shenuk emerged victorious 22-20, as he walked out the winner after a grueling battle.
VidaraSuhasniVidanage, on the other hand, faced an early scare in the Women’s Singles final against Jananuwani Amanda de Silva, but she managed to claim a straight 2-0 win. After an early setback, Vidarabouned back to claim both sets by 21-10 and 21-11, sealing a comfortable victory in the main event for women in the Open category.
ThenukaSathsara de Silva, who lost the vital Men’s Singles final, paired up with TharushaMadhubhanu to claim the Men’s Doubles title, after the duo displayed a commanding style of play to emerge victorious 2-0. After a close first set, where Thenuka and Tharusha overcame their opponents, Hansa de Silva and YohanBandara 21-18, the victors marched forward with an easy 21-10 win in the second set to claim the win.
Jananuwani Amanda de Silva, who faced a setback in the Women’s Singles final, paired up with NilasiBalasuriya to annex the Women’s Doubles final in straight sets against the pair of ButhmiGalagamage and NadeeshaGayathri. They easily claimed the first set 21-12, but were given a good fight-back by the losers before the victorious pair sealed the final with a 21-17 win in the second set.
Marcello Mainaky and ButhmiGalagamage teamed up to claim the Mixed Doubles title of the Open category, as they marched towards an easy 2-0 straight win against ThenukaSathsara de Silva and SamidiOnelSathnara in the final. The winning pair had very little trouble in sealing the win, with 21-10 and 21-14 wins in both sets.
In addition to claiming the Open Men’s Singles title, ShenukSamararatne claimed a double title when he overcame ThesathSemikaRajapakse 2-1 in the Under-19 Boys’ Singles final. Shenuk made an early inroad towards his victory path by claiming the first set 21-19 after a close battle, but he conceded the second set 19-21 as the game was leveled at 1-all with a crucial set to come. Shenuk put out his full energy in the final crucial set and thrashed his opponent 21-9 to seal a much deserved victory and a double crown.
KomuthuKethnaraKumarapperuma too had to put her full energy at work before she claimed a well deserving 2-1 win against RukshikaBaskaran in the Under-19 Girls’ Singles final. After a close first set, which ended in favour of Komuthu by 21-19, Rukshika bounced back to claim the second set 21-18 and level the sets. But the determined youngster Komuthu bounced back to trounce her opponent 21-10 in the final setter and claim the win in style.
AchinthaImesha and PasinduMihirangaPeiris recorded a straight 2-0 win against SehanduThewmikaPeiris and ThesathSemikaRajapakse in the Under-19 Boys’ Doubles final. The winners marched towards victory after claiming both sets 21-12 and 21-17.
The annual event conducted by the Central Province Badminton Association, in collaboration with Sri Lanka Badminton, saw leading local shuttlers of all age groups competing in Open, Junior, Senior and Combined Age categories. The Summer Season All-Island Open Badminton Championship was sponsored by McFoil, Mobil, LiNing, 3M and GAC.