Thomians triumph at All-Island Public Schools Tennis Championships

S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia emerged champions at the recently concluded annual All-Island Public Schools Tennis Championships 2016, leaving a mark in the history of tennis at STC that was 23 years in the making. 

It was way back in 1993 that Isuru Gunasekera led a young side of Thomian tennis players to a public schools victory and since then the school has experienced a drought in tennis excellence that saw several teams come close but fail to clear the final hurdle.

At the start of the event STC was placed in the tougher of the two groups and had to encounter the fancied Colombo International School (CIS) and St. Peter’s College, who were the tournament’s defending champions, to enter the semi-finals. 

Having come second in the group, the Thomians faced last year’s runners-up Ananda College in the semi-finals to keep alive their hopes of a berth in the final. 

The first singles match was played between S. Thomas’ College Vice Captain Viranka Fernando and Ananda’s strongest player, Kavindu Diluka. Fernando’s aggressive play gave his opponent no chance and earned him a straightforward 6-3 6-1 win. 

The first Thomian doubles pair of Thuvaragan Sabesan and Senal Hemakumara faced the formidable Anandian duo of Captain Archana Lokuge and Shivanka Fernando. Despite a valiant effort they went down 6-4 6-4. Avindra Perera of STC was to stay true to his unbeaten run of form at the school level by winning 6-2 6-1. 

Thomian Captain Sebastian Sansoni and Dulitha Ellawala, in the second doubles match, remained focused and clinched a 6-4 6-4 win to book a place in the finals against CIS, who secured their spot by beating Royal College. 

The finals began with a 6-1 6-0 win by Viranka Fernando, whose firepower had been unmatched throughout the tournament. However, CIS immediately levelled the score with a comprehensive 6-2 6-4 win by Aadavan Pushparaj and Akith Gunawardene over Sebastian Sansoni and Dulitha Ellawala in the first doubles clash. 

The second singles match saw young Thomian Vihan Herath continue his unbeaten run as he put former Thomian Sheal Karunaratne to bed, ousting him 6-0 6-2. The second doubles fixture featured the underdog Thomian pair of Thuvaragan Sabesan and Senal Hemakumara who lost in an epic battle to CIS’ Naadir Nazar and Amandha Gunawardene 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. 

The finals were now all tied at two matches apiece. This set up the deciding match between Thomian Perera and the strong Joshua Jayaratne from CIS. 

Perera, who had been rock solid throughout the tournament, showed no signs of relenting and raced to a 6-1 5-2 lead. The Thomians were now one game away from a victory that was 23 years in the making. At match point, Perera stayed unyielding in defence as Joshua ran around to his forehand for an inside-out winner. The ball hit the top of the net and before it could bounce outside the singles line the tennis team of S. Thomas’ College knew that they had clinched a historical victory. 

The public schools tournament of 2016 is another milestone victory that has added to the recent success of Thomian tennis, which is under the guidance of Head Coach Anjuna Anthony and Master-in-Charge Mr. Fonseka. 

Having won the National School Games for the first time in 2014 and again in 2016, it was the Public Schools tournament that had always gone a begging. However, as the past had already proved, commitment and hard work, together with a spirit that lies not in an individual but in a team, granted victory to S. Thomas’ College and Thomian tennis.