Reshan Algama to defend title

More than 80 Junior Golfers will tee at the colourful annual Prima Sunrise Junior Regional Open Golf Tournament 2024, which will take place at the Victoria Golf Resort (VGR), one of Sri Lanka’s most picturesque courses from 14 to 16 September at Rajawella in Central Region.

The Regional Junior Opens started in 2013 with the objective of taking golf to the regions, sponsored by Prima Sunrise supporting junior golf in the country for over a decade.

First tee off is expected to be at 8 a.m.

This Regional Junior Open Tournaments introduced by Prima Sunrise, gives opportunities to junior golfers from different parts of Sri Lanka like Anuradhapura, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Colombo to compete. Further it encourages the juniors by way of testing skills at regional levels and thereafter stepping to national level. Many youngsters in places such as Kandy, Nuwara Eliya and Anuradapura have taken up the game at a very young age. This is part of the junior development program introduced by Sri Lanka Golf (SLG) junior sub-committee to build pipeline of golfers for the country.

Reshan Algama, a top class junior golfer from Colombo International School, who recently made some top class performances at the Asia Pacific Junior Championship in Manila will be playing. His impressive performance last year, when he won the 2023 Kandy Regional Junior Open with a brilliant one-over-par, was remarkable. This year, however, he faces fierce competition from Yannik Kumara, who is competing in his final year of eligibility, and Jacob Norton, both of whom are strong contenders for the title. Jevahn Sathasivam too will miss out due to his academics at school. All these leading juniors will be playing for WAGA points for their individual stats.

Absence of defending champion, Sherin Balasuriya in the Gold Division (12 - 18+ Yrs, 18 Holes) will give Anumi Karunarathilake a very good opportunity to make a mark in this group, playing in her home course at VGR. It’s likely that Gold and Silver will be combined for this segment due to less number of entries among the girls.

The Silver Division (12 - 14+ Yrs, 18 Holes) last year was dominated by Anuradhapura’s young golfers, with Adithya Weerasinghe and Thejas Rathis Kanth standing a good chance to come on top. Adithya, who is part of HSBC’s Future Lions program began taking up the sport in 2018. We are likely to see impressive performance in this age group.

In the Bronze Division (10 - 11+ Yrs, 14 Holes) for boys, Revaan Amarasinghe who exhibited exceptional skills, securing the top position will lead this group with stiff competition expected from Lavindu Premarathna from Anuradhapura, while in the girls, Vihara Herath will be top contender. Genuli Weerakoon too is a tough competitor.

Copper Division (9+ and under years, 9 Holes) will see Jaeden Sathasivam defending his title with stiff competition from Yuvan Rathis Kanth, who might pose a few threats to the defending champion. In the girls, we are likely to see Ananya Kishanthan and Animan Abeywardhana shine. (SJ)