Chanaka shines while Wijekoon, Homer win three titles at Ceylon Masters Badminton Tournament

Wednesday, 3 July 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Group Champions of the recently concluded Sudirman Cup Badminton Tournament held in China, Sri Lanka players and officials pose for a photograph during a felicitation event held at the 80 Club in Colombo on Sunday. From left: Thilini Hendahewa, Dilmi Dias, Sachin Dias, Buwaneka Gunathilake, Dinuka Karunaratna, Kavidi Sirimannage and Tony Wayudi (Coach)

Sri Lanka Badminton Association President Rohan de Silva presenting a memento to veteran coach and World Badminton Association Match Referee Ajith Wijesinghe, in recognition of his service to the sport, during the awards ceremony of the Ceylon Masters Badminton

Former national men’s doubles champion and South Asian Games silver and bronze medallist, Hasitha Chanaka clinched a double while veteran players Niroshan Wijekoon and Clarence Homer won three titles each at the Ceylon Masters Badminton Championships 2019 which concluded on Sunday.

At the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium, Chanaka, a regular finalist in the national tournaments over the past few years, won his over 35 men’s singles title when he defeated Amila Kumara Yatapana in the final. The two finalists then teamed up to overcome Nihan Ranasinghe and Randika Peiris in the over 35 men’s doubles showdown to win the title.

Homer won both over 40 and 45 men’s doubles titles with same partner, Upendra Jayawardena. In the over 40 final, they defeated Roshan Fernando and Seevali Wickramasinghe before outplaying Kanchana Ekanayake and Vishvajith Saparamadu in the over 45 class.

In the combined age of 100 category, Homer and his men’s doubles partner Nihal Amarasena were too good for Manjula Fernando and Janath Rohan Fernando in the final.

Niroshan Wijekoon and Ranil Pathirana won the over 50 men’s doubles final by outplaying B Ramesh Wannakuwatte and Sumith De Silva before clinching the combined age of 110 years, men’s doubles title with Mohan Wijesinghe. They beat Louie Karunarathna and Mangala Gamage in the final. Wijekoon bagged his third title in the tournament, teaming up with Rohan de Silva in the combined age of 120 event, outplaying Suresh Thavarajah and Nandana Premachandra in the final yesterday.

Veteran player Rohan de Silva’s second win of the day came when he and his men’s doubles team-mate Sunil Galabogade won the over 65 title when they beat A Karunagaran and Thissa Hettiarachchi.

Rohan Fernando also excelled by winning a double. He clinched the Over 55 men’s singles title when he downed Senaka Wickramasinghe in the final. In the men’s doubles final of the same age group,

Niranjan Wijesekera teamed up with Fernando to defeat Suresh Thavarajah and Nandana Premachandra.

Former national champion Chandrika De Silva and her partner Ranjani Malkanthi Senevirathna won the over 45 women’s doubles, overcoming Vipuli Abeysekera and Kaushlya Dissanayake.

Despite finishing second in the over 45 category, Abeysekera and Dissanayake managed to win the over 50 women’s doubles by beating Ranjani Malkanthi Senevirathna and Yasintha Liyanage in the final. Abeysekera was successful once again in the over 50 singles when she defeated Mercy Nirmala Hariharan in her third final of the day.

The two day event which was organised by the Ceylon Masters Badminton Association (CMBA), saw 180 shuttlers competing in 38 events.

The colourful Masters Tournament culminated with a farewell banquet hosted by the CMBA, on Sunday at the 80 Club, Colombo 7, where the Awards Ceremony also take place. This Senior Championship offered a total prize-bag of Rs. 1 million and the event was sponsored for the second year running, by Mobil, 3M and McFoil.