Anika Seneviratne bags second championship title, Knese wins men’s title

By M. Shamil Amit

Anika Seneviratne, who clinched the women’s singles title at the 105th Colombo Tennis Championship, bagged her second title of the championship when she partnered sister Alana Seneviratne and coasted to a convincing win over reigning national doubles champion pair Janali Manamperi and Savini Jayasuriya, at the SLTA tennis courts in Greenpath, Colombo.

It was sweet revenge for the sisters who suffered defeat at the 105th National Tennis Championship two weeks ago as they coasted to a convincing two sets to nil in the final played on Sunday.

In another final that was played concurrently, which was the men’s open singles, Knese won his first major tennis title when he overcame Vibuda Wijebandara. Wijebandara having conceded the first set to Knese was leading in the second set but his hopes were dashed as he was forced to retire due to an injury paving the way for Knese to win the title.

Meanwhile Sandun Guruge along with Ganuka Fernando and Methvan Wijemanne won their quarter-final encounters in the Under 14 age group to book a berth to the semi-finals. The championship will be continued today.

Results:

Finals:

Women’s Doubles: Anika Seneviratne/Alana Seneviratne beat Janali Manamperi/Savini Jayasuriya 2-0 (6/3, 6/0)
Men’s Singles: Luca Knese beat Vibuda Wijebandara 6/3, 2/6 ret.

Quarter Finals:

Boys Under 14 – Sandun Guruge beat Tharuk Marasinghe 6/3, 6/1, Ganuka Fernando beat Thisanda Bellanaarachchi 2-0 6/2, 6/4, Methva Wijemanne beat Manesh Kajan 2-0 6/4, 6/0.