Viren, Ranithma clinch Southern Open Badminton titles
Top seeds Viren Nettasinghe and Ranithma Liyanage were crowned Men’s and Women’s Singles champions respectively at the Premasiri Halabage Memorial Southern Open AllIsland Badminton Championships 2022 after recording thrilling victories over their respective counterparts in finals.
Played at the Dharmasoka College Indoor Stadium in Ambalangoda, Nettasinghe of St. Peter’s College, beat second seed Dumindu Abeywickrama 2- 1 with set scores of 18-21, 21-18, 21- 8, to lift the title in a final which saw fitting opponents pitted together. Nettasinghe reached the final after outplaying Saehul Islam in the semi-final while Abeywickrama beat Rasindu Hendahewa to reach the title clash.
Meanwhile, Liyanage of Christ Church Sch o o l
Baddegama, also had to push hard against the second seed and the reigning national champion Dilmi Dias to lift the Women’s Singles crown. The three- set final saw scores of
20-22, 21-17 and 23-21 in favour of the top seed. Liyanage outplayed Dasithma Jayathilaka 21- 14 21- 17 to enter the final while Dias defeated Panchali Adikari, the seeded third, 23-21, 21-15 in the semis.
In the Under-19 age category. Aashinsa Herath of Royal C o l l e g e and Dasithma Jayathilaka of Active Sports emerged the Boy’s and Girls Singles champions respectively. N. Palliyaguru and Sanadhi Dahamsa of Dharmasoka College teamed up to win the Girls’ Doubles title while Jason Homer of Rising Star and Savinaka Weerasekara of D.S. Senanayaka College won the Boy’s Doubles title.
Pulina Wellalage of St. Sebastian’s College and Sithuki Onadee of Active Sports claimed the Boy’s and Girls Singles titles respectively as team mates We l l a l age and Shenuk Samararathne won the Boy’s Doubles title in style. The Girls Doubles was won by Ranumi Suhasnie Manage and Thiseja Dhamnadie Herath of Musaeus College.
E a r l i e r, Buwaneka Goonathilake and Sachin Dias beat Sasindu Ranthuska and Saehul 21-19, 21-16 to emerge as Men’s Doubles champions while Dilmi Dias and Thilini Hendahewa defeated Buthmi Galagamage and Nadeesha Gayanthi 21-10, 21-5 to become Women’s Doubles champions. Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahewa won the Mixed Doubles title after defeating Lochana de Silva and Sasini Hansamali in straight sets (21-8, 21-16).
The championship was organised by the Southern Province Badminton Association (SPBA) under the auspices of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) with over 870 shuttlers vying for honours.