Oneli, Hasali advance to U18 semis

Top seed Oneli Perera and Hasali Gajaba advanced to the girls’ Under 18 Singles semi- final of the 105th Colombo Tennis Championship and came out victorious at the SLTA tennis courts in Greenpath, Colombo on Tuesday (16).

The pair coasted to easy two sets to nil wins with Perera defeating Dinethya Dharmaratne while Gajaba overcame third seed Sethmi Sumanaweera.

In the boys’ Under 18 event top seed Thehan Wijemanne along with Chathurya Nilaweera, Zaidh Zihar, Wenuka Kithnula, Rakesh Ratnasingham and Nithila Goonetileke won their pre-quarter-final matches to book their berth to the quarter-finals.

Meanwhile the pair of Aleesha Silva and Movini Fernando clinched the girls’ Under 14 doubles title when they outclassed the pair of Nimasha Shehara and Brinda Fernando by two sets to nil.

Sandaru Guruge and Lisal Goonetileke came out on top against Ganuka Fernando and Methvan Wijemanne in the boys’ Under 14 semi-finals. The championship will be continued today.

Final:
Doubles: Girls’ Under 14 – Aleesha Silva/Movini Fernando beat Nimasha Shehara/Brinda Fernando 6-1, 6-1
Quarter-Finals: Boys’ Under 12 – Lithium Jayabandu beat Abdul Cader 6-2, 6-3; Gehash Tissera beat Aahil Kafeel 6-7, 6-1, 10-5; Mathika Wickramasinghe beat Jayin de Saram 7-5, 6-4
Girls’ Under18 – Oneli Perera beat Dinethya Dharmaratne 6-3, 6-3, 6-2; Hasali Gajaba beat Sethmi Sumanaweera 6-2, 6-2
Semi-Finals: Boys’ Under 14 – Sandaru Guruge beat Ganuka Fernando 6-2, 6-4; Lisal Goonetileke beat Methvan Wijemanne 7-6, 7-5
Girls’ Under 14 – Ruvi Lewkebandara beat Melesha Randinin 6-2, 6-4
Pre-Quarter-Finals: Boys’ Under 18 – Kavisha Ratnayake beat Hasal Ahangama 4-6, 7-5, 10-5, Chathurya Nilaweera beat Anujaya Abeywickrama 6-0, 6-1, Thehan Wijemanne beat Vichinthya Nilaweera 6-0, 6-3, Zaidh Zihar beat Janith Munasinghe 6-0, 6-0, Wenuka Kithnula beat Nisal Hemakumara 6-1, 6-0, Rakesh Ratnasingham beat Raveen de Alwis 6-2, 6-4, Nithila Goonetileke beat Virana Ramanayake 2-6, 7-5, 11-9

Photo: Oneli Perera qualified for the Under 18 girls' Singles final (Nimalsiri Edirisinghe)