Sports
Viren, Panchali clinch singles crowns
WPBA Open Championships 2021
Viren Nettasinghe and Panchali Adhikari clinched the men’s and women’s singles crowns at the Western Province Badminton Association (WPBA) – organised Open Ranking Championships which marked the return of competitive badminton action at the MBA and Otters Courts over the weekend.
Nettasinghe beat Dumindu Abeywickrama 21-14, 22-20 in the men’s singles final while Adhikari overcame her counterpart Ranithma Liyanage in a thrilling final which was stretched to three sets (19-21, 21-14, 21-12).
Earlier, Nettasingle also won the men’s doubles title with his partner Rasindu Hendahewa when the talented duo overcame Resintha de Silva and Shamika de Silva in straight sets (21-12, 21-11).
Meanwhile, Adhikari and her doubles partner Manudi Mithara had to satisfy with the runner-up position after losing to Buthmi Galagamage and Nadeesha Gayanthi (16-21, 21-18, 21-17) in the final.
The mixed doubles title was won by Thulith Palliyaguru and Buthmi Galagamage who beat Lochana de Silva and Raini Abeysingha (21-16, 21-16) in the final.
Sachen Fernando (U-17) and Siyath Senaratne (U-19) emerged victorious in the boys’ singles finals while Varangana Jayawardana (U-17) and Suhasni Vidanage (U-19) clinched girls’ singles titles.
Sunil Jayasiri, Rohan Fernando, George Karunanayake, Mahinda Jayaweera, Subash Janaka, Gihan Ranasinghe and RuviniRathnasiri also won singles titles in their respective age groups.
The tournament was the first open ranking event to take place following a long break due to the COVID-19 pandemic which disrupted the country’s badminton competition schedule.
The tournament was conducted under the supervision of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) with all measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 being followed.
SLT Mobitel was the main sponsor of the event which saw over 300 shuttlers in action.
Results of Western Province Open Badminton Championships 2021
Men’s Doubles 65
Winners: E M Chandratilaka/A Karunagaran
Runners-up: L G Amaratunga/Gamini Jayawardana
Men’s Singles 65
Winner: Sunil Jayasiri
Runner-up: Gamini Jayawardana
Men’s Singles 55 / 60
Winner: Rohan Fernando
Runner-up: ArunaKrishantha
Men’s Singles 50
Winner: George Karunanayake
Runner-up: Mangala Gamage
Men’s Doubles 45
Winner: Clarence Homer/Duminda Jayakody
Runner-up: Mahinda Jayaweera/Ranga Randunu
Mne’s Singles 45
Winner: Mahinda Jayaweera
Runner-up: W A Ruwankumara
Mixed Doubles 40
Winners: Jeffer Rosobin / Chandrika De Silva
Runners-up: Upendra Jayawardena / Priyanka Abeyrathna
Women’s Doubles 40 / 50
Winners: Priyanka Abeyrathna/ Umanga Rathnayake
Runners-up: Thushari Brahamanage / Sadamali Senanayake
Men’s Doubles 40
Winners: Randika Peiris / I.D Samaranayaka
Runners-up: Upendra Jayawardena / Sahan Pradeep
Men’s Singles 40
Winner: Subash Janaka
Runner-up: Conrad de Silva
Men’s Singles 35
Winner: Gihan Ranasinghe
Runner-up: Saseiharan Veerasingham
Girls Doubles U19
Winners: Panchali Adhikari / Manudi Mithara
Runners-up: ThisuniLiyanarachchi/SenujiUmagiliyage
Boys Doubles U19
Winners: Jason Homer / Savinaka Weerasekara
Runners-up: Chaniru Manmitha / Manuth Pelawatta
Girls Singles U19
Winner: Suhasni Vidanage
Runner-up: Ashini Fernando
Boys Singles U19
Winner: Siyath Senaratne
Runner-up: Thenuka de Silva
Girls Doubles U17
Winners: Maneesha Jayawardhana / Samindi Onel
Runner-up: Isuri de Alwis / Natasha Gunasekara
Boys Doubles U17
Winners: Aashinsa Herath / Saajid Majeed
Runners-up: Shenuk Samararatne / Pulina Wellalage
Girls Singles U17
Winner: Varangana Jayawardana
Runner-up: Pravina Wijesundara
Boys Singles U17
Winner: Sachen Fernando
Runners-up: Pulina Wellalage
Mixed Doubles
Winners: Thulith Palliyaguru / Buthmi Galagamage
Runners-up: Lochana de Silva / Raini Abeysingha
Women’s Doubles
Winners: Buthmi Galagamage / Nadeesha Gayanthi
Runner-up: Panchali Adhikari / Manudi Mithara
Men’s Doubles 30
Winners: Hasitha Chanaka / Rajitha Dahanayake
Runners-up: Roshan Kumara / Tony Wahydi
Men’s Doubles
Winners: Rasindu Hendahewa / Viren Nettasinghe
Runners-up: Resintha de Silva / Shamika de Silva
Women’s Singles 30
Winner: Ruvini Rathnasiri
Runner-up: Malathi Kumari
Women’s Singles
Winner: Panchali Adhikari
Runner-up: Ranithma Liyanage
Men’s Singles 30
Winner: Hasitha Chanaka
Runner-up: Roshan Kumara
Men’s Singles
Winner: Viren Nettasinghe
Runner-up: Dumindu Abeywickrama
A Sri Lankan innings that never really got going eventually parked itself at middling total of 219, as they were bowled out in 49.3 overs in the second ODI in Colombo. It’s a total England will fancy themselves to chase down as they look to level this three-match series.
Sri Lanka’s innings was headlined by Charith Asalanka’s 45 off 64 and Dhananjaya de Silva’s 40 off 59, but at strike rates of 67.79 and 70.31 it tells you all you need to know about how well England kept a lid on the innings.
For the visitors the wickets were spread out, with Adil Rashid, Jamie Overton and Joe Root picking up two apiece, the latter with the final two balls of the innings. There were also wickets for Liam Dawson, Rehan Ahmed and the returning Will Jacks.
And much like in the first ODI, England’s varied attack – no less than eight options were used across the innings – sought to give little away. “Keeping the stumps in play,” was Harry Brook’s refrain, speaking after losing the toss, and on an uber-dry surface with boundaries square and behind mostly protected, the onus was on the Lankan batters to use their feet in order to access the boundaries at extra cover and deep midwicket.
That sort of strokeplay however proved detrimental to the Lankan cause with four of their top five falling in their attempts to access the boundaries in front of square. Kamil Mishara sought to bring some impetus to the innings after a miserly early burst from the England seamers, but his attempted lashing cover drive could not clear Ben Duckett in the circle, who held on at the second attempt.
Pathum Nissanka, who had patiently waded through the opening powerplay when the scoring rate sat below four an over, then sought to capitalise on his added time in the middle, but only managed to loft an inside-out drive to long-off.
Later on in the innings Dhananjaya whacked one low to Root at midwicket, before the set Asalanka found deep midwicket with a slog sweep.
And arguably Sri Lanka’s best batter at accessing those regions, Kusal Mendis, ran himself out for a ground-out 26, when he cut one straight to point and absentmindedly set off for the single. The throw from the fit-again Jacks was pinpoint and found Mendis easily short as he sought in vain to fling himself back to safety.
There were promising stands between, notably a 42-run effort between Nissanka and Mendis and 66 between Dhananjaya and Asalanka, but none of the batters involved were able to push on and up the rate of scoring over any concerted period of time.
Pavan Rathnayake’s 29 off 34 had also shown promise, but he fell foul looking to clear the straight boundary as he sliced one to long-off, and in the process silenced an energetic Khettarama crowd.
The frustrating nature of Sri Lanka’s innings was illustrated by the fact that five batters scored at least 25 and faced at least 30 deliveries, but the highest score remained Asalanka’s 45.
England, to their credit, stuck to and executed their plans well. The use of eight bowlers – six of them spinners – meant Sri Lanka’s batters were ever really able to get a measure of any one bowler. And while the lengths were consistent, the pace of the deliveries was varied. It meant that even when a set batter such as Nissanka sought to take on the attack, Rashid was able to successfully deceive him in the flight.
Dunith Wellalage once more looked enterprising during a late cameo, but despite finding two boundaries in his brief stay, his 20 off 19 was far less damaging to England’s cause than had been in the first ODI.
England bowled 40.3 overs of spin across their innings, breaking their previous record of 36. That came in Sharjah in 1984-85, when Norman Gifford captained England at the age of 44, and took four wickets. The team wore black armbands during the first ODI after his death last week.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka 219 in 49.3 overs (Charith Asalanka 45, Dhananjaya De Silva 40; Joe Root 2-12, Jamie Overton 2-21, Adil Rashid 2-34) vs England
(Cricinfo)
(Cricbuzz)
Sri Lanka elected to bat first in the second ODI against England at the R Premadasa International Stadium
Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Rathnayake, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando
England: Rehan Ahmed, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, 4Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt), Jos Buttler (wk), Will Jacks, Sam Curran, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid
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