Record number of 670 paddlers for Junior Table Tennis Nationals

Chris Dhambarage

The 62nd junior national and the senior national table tennis championships conducted by the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka and sponsored for the first time by Serendib Medicals Limited will be worked off from November 7 to 10 at S. Thomas› College indoor stadium in Mount Lavinia .

The junior nationals have attracted a record number of 670 competitors who will be vying for honours in eleven different age group tournaments. The events that will be worked off are the boys and girls singles under 18, 15, 12, 10 in addition to boys and girls doubles under 18 and the mixed doubles for under 18.

Hashintha Shashiranga of Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda and Ishara Madurangi from Sri Devananda College Ambalangoda are the top seeds in the boys and girls under 18 singles respectively. Shashiranga is the top seed in the boys under 15 singles and also in the under 18 doubles event along with his partner Samitha Abeyratne.

Ishara Madurangi is the top seed in the girls under 18 doubles together with her partner Dinusha Manoji and is also the number one in the under 18 mixed doubles event where she will partner Chatura Viskam.

Meanwhile Nuwani Navodya of Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda is the number one ranked player in the girls under 15 singles and Umaya Tharakie is the top seed in the girls under 12 singles event. In addition Nuwantha Niroshan from Dharmasoka College is the top seed in the boys under 12 singles and Udaya Ranasinghe from Vidyartha College Kandy is the top seed in the boys under 10 singles event.

The junior under 18 boys and girls champions will receive a cash award of Rs. 5000 each and the runners of these two events will receive a cash award of Rs. 3000 each.

Meanwhile K. S. T. Chalitha from Seylan Bank and Ishara Madurangi of Sri Devananda College Ambalangoda are the top seeds in the men›s and women›s singles events for the senior national championships. A total of 226 competitors will participate in this tournament in eleven different events.

The events that will be worked off are the men›s and women›s singles, doubles and mixed doubles, masters men›s and women›s singles, veterans men›s and women›s singles, disabled men›s seating and standing.

Chalitha is also the top seed in the men›s doubles together with his partner Rohan Sirisena while Madurangi is ranked number one in the women›s doubles with her partner Chandi Hansa. The husband and wife combination of Indika Prasad and Deepika Rodrigo are the top seeds in the mixed doubles.

The men›s and women›s singles champions will receive a cash award of Rs. 15,000 each and the men›s and women›s doubles champions and the mixed doubles champions will receive a cash award of Rs. 5000 each.