Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Saturday Nov 16, 2024
Wednesday, 13 September 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
Vinod Weerasinghe of British School, who is currently in sparkling form, took the Nuwara Eliya Regional Junior 
Open title easily, following on from his Kandy Regional Junior Open Title last month.
The 16-year-old, who is showing great skill, played with maturity and controlled shot-making in gloomy weather conditions of mist and a steady drizzle to secure the win over the two days of medal play. Armand Flamer Caldera once again promised much early but fell away at crucial moments and had to be satisfied yet again with being a runner-up. They were closely followed by S.D.S Dilshan and Januka Dilshan.
In the girls’ division young Taniya Balasuriya virtually ran away with remarkable stroke play to win the title by 15 shots over Kayla Perera of Ladies’ College. Encouragingly however two new young female golfers H.M. Daliya of Kandy and Madumitha of Nuwara Eliya were placed third and fourth in the girls’ division.
The presence of outstation golfers in the list of winners in particular as well as the large field of junior competitors is no doubt an encouraging sign for the development of the sport in the country and an endorsement of the efforts of the Junior Subcommittee of the Sri Lanka Golf Union, which has been instrumental in introducing a number of regional junior opens as well as the Sri Lanka Junior Open for the young golfers. .
In the Silver Division (age group category 12-14 years), the experienced S. Dhuwarshan of the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club had a comfortable win playing consistent golf over the two days with an aggregate score of 146. Haroon Aslam from Ecole International School showing great maturity to finish as runner-up with Dilshan Malindaclose on his heels. Levon Nireyapola, who hits a long ball, came in 4th, just edging out K. Danushan with a better second round score.
Nirekh Tejwani of Colombo International School stole the limelight at the Nuwara Eliya Regional Open, winning the Bronze Division (age group category 10-11 years) by eight shots, with a very creditable gross score of 100 over the two days. The youngster showed great potential to be a future prospect for the country, displaying a composed temperament in addition to having a long ball striking ability. Moreover, he has shown consistency as well, having won the Kandy Regional Junior Open just recently. Others in the division who came in second, third and fourthwere Yannik Kumara, Shanal Binuksha and Sherin Mithara respectively.
In the Copper Division (Age Group 9 & under) played over nine holes there was an exciting finish with C. Dharaniyan and Reshan Algama tied after the second round. This led to a sudden-death playoff in keeping with the tournament rules. Amidst much tension C. Dharaniyan of Nuwara Eliya edged out little Reshan Algama, who was unfortunate to double bogey the first playoff hole. In this, the most junior division, the gritty Jacob Norton came in with the third best score and was followed closely by Kvahn Tejwani. As further testimony to the interest in the sport, this division was keenly contested and showed encouraging signs of future talent. The event was sponsored by Prima Sunrise Bread and conducted by the Sri Lanka Golf Union.
