Ritzbury Junior National Squash C’ships from October 5
The 24th Annual Junior National Squash Championship conducted by the Sri Lanka Squash Federation (SLSF) and sponsored by Ritzbury for the sixth consecutive year is scheduled to be held from October 5 to 12 at the Tami Union Sports Complex.
The organisers have received approximately 300 entries for the eightday tournament with 18 events scheduled to be conducted in the age group of under 9, 11, 13, 15, 17 and 19 in both the boys’ and girls’ categories. The novices tournament for boys’ and girls’ will be conducted in the under 11, 15 and 19 age groups.
Commodore Palitha Weerasinghe, the President of the SLSF, expressed his gratitude to the sponsors Ritzbury who he said accepted the invitation to sponsor the tournament without hesitation, to come forward for the sixth time. He further said the encouragement given by them has been the key factor in popularizing the game in the schools.
Nilupul de Silva. Marketing Manager of CBL Foods International (Pvt) Ltd emphasized that Ritzbury being the market leader and one of the top local corporates, is proud to be associated with Junior National Squash Championship. “We look forward to having a long term and fruitful partnership with the SLSF.” he concluded.
The Junior National Squash Cham- pionship is the stepping stone for budding Sri Lankan squash players as the federation considers their performances in this tournament when they select players to represent Sri Lanka at foreign tournaments. While the novices category will feature the knockout draw system, the non - novice category will feature the circuit draw system thus ensuring fair participation.
The top seeds in the boys’ and girls under 19 are Ravindu Laksiri and Mihiliya Methsarani respectively. Ravindu and Mihiliya are currently ranked number one in the Island, with Mihiliya ranked three in Asia in the under 17 category, commented Cpt. Lasantha de Silva, Vice President SLSF.
The winner of the Boys under 19 will be awarded the 'Navin Piyathissa' challenge trophy, whilst the Girls under 19 winner will receive the 'Nirasha Guruge' challenge trophy. In addition, two special awards will be awarded to the 'Most Improved Player’ in the boys’ and girls’ over 13 categories.