Druvinka Perera achieved the best result among the Sri Lankans at the 25th Asian Junior Individual Squash Tournament that was held in Chennai, India recently.
He finished in 12th place in the under-19 age category for boys. Mohamed Rilwan was also placed 12th among the boys under-13 years. Ranuliya Wood was placed 10th in the under-13 for girls. Sameera Deen also did well to be placed 12th in the under-17 event for girls.
These achievements would not have been possible if the players were trapped into believing that there was security fears in Chennai. The fear psychosis that was created by the Sri Lanka Squash proved to be a big hoax. The team returned without a scratch, on Sunday September 30.
This was a great opportunity for the young squash players to obtain exposure at international level. This was not to be missed out due to some false security fears mentioned by some SLS officials to prevent the tour being a reality. The tournament was dominated by the Pakistani players who won three out of four boys titles. The Malaysian and Hong Kong teams also came out strongly.
Sri Lankan players scored much of their success against Macau who seem to be entering the game in large numbers now.
Officials of the Indian and Asian Squash fraternity said that they had requested the SLS to send three referees to officiate at the matches. They would have been provided free accommodation and paid a fee as well. Most importantly they would be exposed to the international standards of refereeing which Sri Lanka referees are lacking in.
Results: (Girls:)
U-13: Chitrangda Goel (Ind) beat Irundithi Wood (Sri) 11-5, 11-5, 11-5. Nandini Jain (Ind) beat Dinethri Kulathunga (Sri) 11-0, 11-9, 11-1.
M.D. Samaranayake (Sri) beat Miyuni Weerasinghe (Sri) 24-22, 7-11, 11-3, 11-2.
U-15: Chen Yu Jie (Mal) beat Veera S. C. Sinaly (Sri) 11-1, 11-4, 8-11, 11-5.
Jun Ain (Kor) beat Yeheni Kuruppu (Sri) 11-2, 11-4, 11-6.
Leong Ieng Lam (Macau) beat Ovishka Perera (Sri) 13-11, 11-8, 8-11, 11-1.
Dinethri Siriwardena (Sri) beat Lin Yu-Chun (Taipei) Retired
U-17: Chole Chieng Shiao Shuen beat Sameera Deen 11-8, 11-1, 11-3.
Megha Bhatia (Ind) beat Devmini Gallage (Sri) 11-5, 11-9, 11-7.
Himandi Abeysundera (Sri) beat Shaveetha Kolombage (Sri)
Retired
Chan Sin Yuk (HK) beat Jessica Keng (Mal) 11-4, 12-10, 11-9.
U-19: K.M. Gunawardane (Sri) beat Kiara Guruge (Sri) 11-4, 11-1, 6-11, 11-5.
Wang Yuan (Taipei) beat M.M. Rajapaksha (Sri) 7-11, 11-5, 11-6, 11-3.
(Boys):
U-13: Avalokit Singh (Ind) beat Mohamed Rilwan (Sri) 11-1, 11-3, 11-1.
Abdul Fahmi Bin Basir (Mal) beat Chareen Liyanaarachchi (Sri) 11-3, 11-2, 11-4.
Hiruna Coralage (Sri) beat Mohamed Tareq Alemadi (Indo) 11-9, 9-11, 11-8, 5-11, 11-7.
U-15
D. Randima (Sri) beat Yi Raon (Kor) 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-5.
A.N. Lakmal (Sri) beat Yousuf Al-Malki (Qatar) 11-5,11-8, 11-9.
Seniya Jayatilleke (Sri) beat Akila Viran Atapattu 11-6, 11-5, 6-11,11-5.
U-17
Lee Minwoo (Kor) beat Maas Ilham Asmone (Sri) 11-8, 11-6, 12-10.
Hasvin Perera (Sri) beat Pasan Rochana (Sri) 11-7, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10.
Nandun Phalawattage (Sri) beat Ahmed Khamis (Indo) 6-11, 11-6, 11-7, 11-8.
U-19: Pheshant Sri Nagesh (Mal) beat Druvinka Perera (Sri) 7-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-3, 11-1.
Methmal Wood (Sri) beat Inderjit Singh (Ind) Retired
M.T.O. Nilakshana (Sri) beat Chu Ching-Hsuan (Taipei) 10-12, 11-7, 11-8, 11-4.