Apna Perera faced stiff opposition from Ashen Silva in the final before emerging winner of the Open men’s singles title at the SLTA/YETI tennis nationals played at the SLTA courts Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha in Colombo yesterday.
Top seed Apna Perera lost the first set in a hard fought contest 6-7, but came back in the next set to win 7-5. However, the third and final set saw Apna once again come back strongly and win narrowly on 6/4.
The scores in all three sets told the story of how fiercely the final was fought out and Apna prevailed through steady psychological fitness.
In the semi-finals Apna Perera beat Luca Knese 7-5, 7-5 and the second semi-final saw Ashen Silva beat Methwan Wijemanne 6-4, 6-3.
In the women’s Open singles event one semi-final encounter was concluded yesterday in which Rukshika Wijesuriya registered an easy win in straight sets over Tuvini de Alwis 6-3, 6-0.
The other semi-final that was to be played in the afternoon between Dinara de Silva and Oneli Samarawickrama could not take place due to heavy rain in the afternoon. It will be played this morning.
Results:
Girls under-16 (quarter-finals)
Yuhanasa Peiris beat Siyace Devappriyan 6-0, 6-1. Sandithi Usgodaarachchi beat Sahansa Damsiluni 6-2, 6-0. Veenuli Jayasinghe beat Lihini Jayakodi 6-3, 6-3. Akesha Silva beat Gehansa Methnadi 6-7(7), 6-0, 4-1 rtd.
