Eighth seeded Avindra Perera and unseeded Aadavan Pushparaj advanced to the final of U18 boys’ Junior Nationals Championship with hard fought wins over fancied players in the semi-final encounters played at the SLTA courts in Greenpath, Colombo.
Avindra won a keenly contested affair, eventually prevailing over the number three seeded Chehan Fernando who was the only top five players to remain in contention and in fact was the favourite among the last four players that were left behind.
Avindra who conceded the first set struck back to win the second and third set in a cliff hanger to book a berth to the final.
In the other semi-final encounter Aadavan who pulled off stunning wins over the seeded players continued his good form when he got the better of Savit Weerasinghe. This was almost a repeat of the other match as Aadvan having conceded the first set came back to pull a thrilling win.
The two finals of the U18 boys’ and girls’ are scheduled to be played from 9.00 a.m. onwards. In the girls’ singles Nethmie Waduge will meet Thisuri Molligoda while Avindra Perera and unseeded Aadavan Pushparaj will clash in the boys’ final.
Results:
U18 Boys Semi Finals:
Avindra Perera beat Chehan Fernando 2-1 (3/6, 7/6(4), 7/6(4), Aadavan Pushparaj beat Savith Weerasinghe 2-1 (2/6, 7/5, 6/4)
(MSA)
Pictures from the first semi-final between Aadavan Pushparaj (in blue) and Savith Weerasinghe (in yellow)
Pictures from the second semi-final between Avindra Perera (player with cap) and Chehan Fernando (player without cap)
Pictures by Dinushki Ranasinghe
