From left: Niloo Jayatilake (Sri Lanka Golf – Chairperson Junior Development), Lawrence Chan (Group General Manager – Prima Group Sri Lanka) and Shun Tien Shing (General Manager – Ceylon Agro Industries – Prima Group Sri Lanka) (Pic by Ranjith Asanka)
Sri Lanka Golf (SLG) is to resume the Junior Open Golf Championship with the intention of producing a talented golfer who could win a medal at the 2026 Asian Games.
The last time a Sri Lankan golfer won a medal at the Asian Games was Nandasena Perera almost 26 years ago and it is about time Sri Lanka produced another medal winner. This was revealed by Niloo Jayathilake the Chairperson of the Junior development program.
Prima Sunrise Bread has come forward to sponsor the prestigious Junior Open Golf for an unbroken 13th year after a break of one year due to the pandemic.
This event is scheduled to be played from December 15 to 17 at the Ridgeways course at Model Farm Road in Colombo. This will also test the talents of these juniors who are required to make it through the gruelling Regional Junior Opens that will be followed throughout the year.
Junior golfers will also be ranked as they can also participate in club level tournaments.
The winner of the Sri Lanka Junior Open will be crowned the national Junior Champion in both boys and girls categories. This event will once again be conducted according to four age groups. Gold division for those between 15 and 18 years, Silver division for 12 to 14 years, Bronze division for 10 to 11 years and Copper division for nine years and under.
They are hopeful to attract foreign entries this year and are expected to provide stiff competition to the Sri Lankans. The golfing talents in the likes of Yannik Kumara, Reshan Algama, Haroon Aslam and Nirekh Tejwani from the boys division and sisters Tanya and Sherin Balasuriya, Kayla Perera and Kaya Daluwatta are billed to compete in the girls division. “The popularity of the sport seems to be growing mainly due to the outreach programs carried out by Sri Lanka Golf to propagate at grass root level. This initiative was the brainchild of the Junior Sub Committee of SLG to identify the young golf talent with a view to nurturing and developing them for future national and international representation.