Viren, Ranithma clinch Southern Open badminton titles

All catogory winners

By Susil Premalal   

Top seeds Viren Nettasinghe and Ranithma Liyanage were crowned men’s and women’s champions respectively at the Premasiri Halabage Memorial Southern Open All Island Badminton Championships 2022 at the Dharmasoka College Indoor Stadium, Ambalangoda  

Nettasinghe beat No.2 seed Dumindu Abeywickrama 18-21, 21-18, 21-8 to lift the title in a final which saw fitting opponents pitted together.   

Nettasinghe had reached the final after outplaying Saehul Islam in the semi-final while Abeywickrama beat Rasindu Hendahewa to reach the title clash.  

Meanwhile, Liyanage also had to push hard against the second seed and the reigning national champion Dilmi Dias to own the singles crown. The three-set final saw scores of 20-22, 21-17 and 23-21 in favour of the top seed.  
Liyanage outplayed Dasithma Jayathilaka 21-14 21-17 on her way to the final while Dias defeated Panchali Adikari, seeded third, 23-21, 21-15 in the semis.  

Earlier, Buwaneka Goonathilake and Dias Sachin beat Sasindu Ranthuska and Saehul 21-19, 21-16 to emerge as men’s doubles champions while Dilmi Dias and Thilini Hendahewa defeated Buthmi Galagamage and Nadeesha Gayanthi 21-10, 21-5 to become women’s doubles champions.  

Sachin Dias and Thilini Hendahewa won the mixed doubles title by defeating Lochana de Silva and Sasini Hansamali in straight sets (21-8, 21-16).  

The Championships were organised by the Southern Province Badminton Association (SPBA) under the auspices of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) where over 870 shuttlers vied for honours.