LNP – Krishan, Muthumali win men’s and women’s titles

Mahiepala Herath All Island Table Tennis Tournament

Old Vidyartha’s Krishan Wickramarthna and Navy’s Muthumali Priyadarshani won the men’s and women’s singles titles respectively of the annual Mahiepala Herath All Island Table Tennis Tournament concluded at the Municipal Council Indoor Stadium, Kegalle on Sunday.

Wickramarthna beat Ananda College player Senura Silva 12-10, 11-6, 6-11, 11-9 in a tense final to win the title as the Table Tennis fraternity ended the competition drought over the weekend.

Silva who recently received a scholarship from Crysbro through a National Olympic Committee initiative reached the final by ousting University of Sri Jayewardenepura champion Chameera Ginige (11-5, 11-6, 12-10) in the semi-final.

Eventual champion Wickramarthna edged out Milinda Lakshitha (OMBC Solutions Private Ltd) 11-8, 11-9, 14-16, 17-15 in the semis.

In the women’s final, Priyadarshani beat Ladies College player Jithara Warnakulasooriya in a five set thriller scoring 8-11, 11-8, 7-11, 11-9, 11-2. The women’s singles were played on Saturday.

While Priyadarshani beat Ishara Madurangi (Sri Lanka Ports Authority) 7-11, 11-9, 11-6, 9-11, 12-10 for her final berth, Warnakulasooriya beat Bimandhi Bandara (Hillwood College, Kandy) 11-9, 11-9, 11-6 in her semi-final.

Only the singles events were conducted at this championship with some 103 players competing for the men’s title.

Kanaka Herath, president of the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka was the chief guest at the finals and distributed certificates and challenge trophies to the winners.

Issuing a statement, the Table Tennis Association of Sri Lanka said that it has launched an ambitious program to conduct all the 2020 tournaments which could not be held due to the Covid 19 pandemic.