Nethmi Waduge picked for ITF Asia tennis championship
Nethmi Waduge of Visaka Vidyalaya, Bambalapitiya, the Sri Lanka’s under 14 champion has been selected to Interna- tional Tennis Federation touring team to contest in the forthcoming ITF Asia under 14 Division one Tennis championship 2012 scheduled to be held from March 4 to 17 in Manila, Philippines.
Nethmi Waduge of Visaka Vidyalaya, Bambalapitiya, the Sri Lanka’s under 14 champion has been selected to International Tennis Federation touring team to contest in the forthcoming ITF Asia under 14 Division one Tennis championship 2012 scheduled to be held from March 4 to 17 in Manila, Philippines.
Out of the six Sri Lanka participants (three boys and three girls) Nethmi Waduge excelled to collect 410 points and earned the overall second position in the girls’ segment of the ITF, Asia under 14 division two Tennis Championship 2012, which consisted of two rounds and held at Hoang Thien Tennis Club in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam from January 5 to 16. She bagged three silvers and a bronze in the tournament. She finished runner-up in both singles and doubles in the first round to win two silvers and won the third silver in the second round doubles event. In the first round singles final Nethmi lost to Yusri Yus Syazlin (Malaysia) 0-6, 4-6 and in the doubles Nethmi and her Sri Lanka Partner Fathoum Issadeen lost to Yusri Yus Syazlin and Roslan Nuri Nabila of Malaysia 0-6, 4-6
In the second round Nethmi partnered by Maheen Dada of Pakistan lost to Yusri Yus Syazlin and Roslan Nuri Nabila of Malaysia in the doubles. She won a bronze for reaching second round singles semi final beating Shi Pei Loo of Malaysia 6-3, 6-4
Nethmi who achieved the Overall 12th and 5th places in the same tournament in the two previous years, is a student of SLTA Coaching Programme under Coaches Jayendra Wijesekara and Upul Priyantha.
The other members of the Sri Lanka team were Hasintha Lokuge, Fathoum Issadeen (Girls) and Joshua Jayaratne, Nabeel Sabri and Anthony De Silva from boys.
Girl’s final position
1. Yusri Yus Syazlin (Malaysia) 650 points, 2. Nethmi Waduge (Sri Lanka 410 points, 3. Roslan Nuri Nabila (Malaysia) 400 points
Nethmi Waduge will attend a coaching camp in Malaysia prior to the Championship in Manila, Philppines from March to 3.