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Apna, Dinethya crown men and women’s champion
Sri Lanka Tennis Association Hard courts national 2023
Apna Perera of Ananda College and Dinethya Dharmarathne of Visakha Vidyalaya walked away with men’s and Women’s titles after high voltage Finals at the SLTA Hard courts national 2023 worked off yesterday at SLTA courts.
In the men’s Category, Apna Perera went head to head against top seed Kiran Viravanathan where the latter sweep away his opponent in a thrilling three-setter (6/3, 7/6, 6/4) to bag the Men’s title.
One of the highlights of the day was the women’s match where Dinethya Dharmarathne got the better of top Seed Janali Manamperi in a thrilling two-setter (7-6, 6-1).
It was a heated clash between Dinethya and Janali, where the latter set the tone from the get-go to frustrate her opponent in the early exchanges. She continued to go for
her shots from the outset, in addition to effectively employing the drop shot, which drew repeated errors from her opponent to wrap up the first set 7-6 and maintain her advantage to nudge in front.
In the second set things were much more competitive, and Dinethya’s experience came into play as she out-manoeuvred Janali to win 6-1 against the top seed, whose frustration began to show early in the second set as she was carted all over the place.
Janali put up a great fight but was unable to match Dinethya’s lethal strokes, taking control most of the time.
Janali committed multiple errors to hand Dinethya the advantage throughout the match but showed flashes of brilliance, Janali gave her level best to take things under control but young Dinethya was a step ahead all the time.
Though Janali look to put up a late fight the early damage was too much for her to handle as she went down fighting.
The win also saw Dinethya’s first Major title in the Local tennis arena. One of the brightest prospects for the future of Sri Lanka Tennis, Dinethya Dharmarathne will no doubt be the torchbearer of Sri Lanka tennis in the future.
අප්නා, දිනෙත්යා පිරිමි සහ කාන්තා ශූරිය බවට පත් විය
ශ්රී ලංකා ටෙනිස් සංගමය දෘඪ පිටියේ ජාතික 2023
SLTA හාඩ් කෝට් ජාතික 2023 හි පැවති අධි වෝල්ටීයතා අවසන් මහා තරඟයෙන් පසු ආනන්ද විද්යාලයේ අප්නා පෙරේරා සහ විශාඛා විද්යාලයේ දිනෙත්යා ධර්මරත්න ඊයේ SLTA උසාවියේ දී වැඩ කිරීමෙන් අනතුරුව පිරිමි සහ කාන්තා ශූරතා දිනා ගත්හ.
පිරිමි අංශයේ දී අප්නා පෙරේරා ප්රමුඛ ශ්රේණිගත කිරන් විරවනාදන්ට එරෙහිව මුහුණට මුහුණට මුහුණ දුන් අතර, එහිදී දෙවැන්නා සිය ප්රතිවාදියා ත්රිත්ව ත්රිත්ව පහරකින් (6/3, 7/6, 6/4) පරාජයට පත් කර පිරිමි ශූරතාව දිනා ගැනීමට සමත් විය.
දිනේත්යා ධර්මරත්න කාන්තා තරගයේදී පළමු වටයේ ක්රීඩිකාව වන ජනලී මනම්පේරිට එරෙහිව තියුණු තරගයකින් (7-6, 6-1) ජයග්රහණය ලබා ගැනීමට සමත් වූවාය.
එය දිනෙත්යා සහ ජනාලි අතර උණුසුම් ගැටුමක් වූ අතර, මුල් හුවමාරු වලදී තම ප්රතිවාදියා කලකිරීමට පත් කිරීමට දෙවැන්නා ආරම්භයේ සිටම ස්වරය සකස් කළේය. ඇය දිගටම යන්න ගියා
ආරම්භයේ සිටම ඇගේ පහරවල්, ඩ්රොප් ෂොට් එක ඵලදායී ලෙස යොදා ගැනීමට අමතරව, ඇගේ ප්රතිවාදියාගෙන් නැවත නැවතත් වැරදි සිදු වූ අතර, පළමු වටය 7-6ක් ලෙස අවසන් කර, ඉදිරියෙන් තල්ලු වීමට ඇගේ වාසිය පවත්වා ගෙන ගියේය.
දෙවන වටයේ දේවල් වඩාත් තරඟකාරී වූ අතර, දිනෙත්යාගේ අත්දැකීම් ක්රියාත්මක වූයේ, ඇය ජනාලි අභිබවා ගොස් 6-1ක් ලෙස මුල් වටයට එරෙහිව ජයග්රහණය කළ අතර, දෙවන කට්ටලය ආරම්භයේදීම ඇයව කරත්තය පුරා ගෙන යන විට ඇගේ කලකිරීම පෙන්නුම් කිරීමට පටන් ගත්තේය. .
ජනාලි විශිෂ්ට සටනක් කළ නමුත් දිනෙත්යාගේ මාරාන්තික පහරවල් සමඟ සම කිරීමට නොහැකි වූයේ බොහෝ විට පාලනය කර ගනිමින්.
තරගය පුරා දිනෙත්යාට වාසිය ලබා දීමට ජනාලි විවිධ වැරදි සිදු කළ නමුත් දීප්තිය පෙන්නුම් කළ අතර, දේවල් පාලනය කර ගැනීමට ජනාලි ඇගේ උපරිමය ලබා දුන් නමුත් තරුණ දිනෙත්ය සෑම විටම පියවරක් ඉදිරියෙන් සිටියේය.
ජනාලි ප්රමාද වී සටනක් කිරීමට බලා සිටියද, ඇය සටනට බැස ගිය නිසා මුල් හානිය ඇයට දරාගත නොහැකි විය.
දිනෙත්යා දේශීය ටෙනිස් පිටියේ පළමු ප්රධාන ශූරතාව ද මෙම ජයග්රහණයෙන් දුටුවේය. ශ්රී ලංකා ටෙනිස් ක්රීඩාවේ අනාගතය සඳහා දීප්තිමත්ම අපේක්ෂාවන්ගෙන් එකක් වන දිනෙත්ය ධර්මරත්න අනාගතයේ ශ්රී ලංකා ටෙනිස් පන්දු දරන්නා වනු නොඅනුමානය.
அப்னா, தினேத்யா ஆண்கள் மற்றும் பெண்கள் பிரிவில் சாம்பியன் பட்டம் வென்றனர்
இலங்கை டென்னிஸ் சங்கம் ஹார்ட் கோர்ட்ஸ் தேசிய 2023
SLTA ஹார்ட் கோர்ட்ஸ் நேஷனல் 2023 இல் உயர் மின்னழுத்த இறுதிப் போட்டிகளுக்குப் பிறகு, ஆனந்தா கல்லூரியின் அப்னா பெரேரா மற்றும் விசாகா வித்தியாலயத்தைச் சேர்ந்த தினேத்யா தர்மரத்னே ஆகியோர் ஆண்கள் மற்றும் பெண்கள் பட்டங்களை வென்றனர்.
ஆடவர் பிரிவில், அப்னா பெரேரா முதல் நிலை வீரரான கிரண் விரவநாதனை எதிர்கொண்டார், அங்கு அவர் தனது எதிராளியை பரபரப்பான மூன்று-செட்டர்களில் (6/3, 7/6, 6/4) துடைத்து ஆடவர் பட்டத்தை வென்றார்.
தினேத்திய தர்மரத்னே, பெண்களுக்கான ஆட்டத்தில் முதலிடம் பெற்ற ஜனலி மனம்பேரியை (7-6, 6-1) விறுவிறுப்பான ஆட்டத்தில் வென்றார்.
இது தினேத்யாவிற்கும் ஜனாலிக்கும் இடையே ஒரு சூடான மோதலாக இருந்தது, அங்கு பிந்தையவர் ஆரம்ப பரிமாற்றங்களில் தனது எதிரியை விரக்தியடையச் செய்ததில் இருந்தே தொனியை அமைத்தார். அவள் தொடர்ந்து சென்றாள்
ஆரம்பத்திலிருந்தே அவரது ஷாட்கள், டிராப் ஷாட்டை திறம்பட பயன்படுத்தியதுடன், இது அவரது எதிராளியிடமிருந்து மீண்டும் மீண்டும் பிழைகளை ஈர்த்தது, முதல் செட்டை 7-6 என்ற கணக்கில் முடித்து, தனது சாதகத்தை முன்னிலையில் தள்ளியது.
இரண்டாவது செட்டில் விஷயங்கள் மிகவும் போட்டித்தன்மையுடன் இருந்தன, மேலும் அவர் ஜானலியை 6-1 என்ற கணக்கில் முதலிடத்திற்கு எதிராக வென்றதால் தினேத்யாவின் அனுபவம் செயல்பட்டது, இரண்டாவது செட்டின் ஆரம்பத்தில் அவரது விரக்தி வெளிப்படத் தொடங்கியது. .
ஜனாலி ஒரு சிறந்த சண்டையை நடத்தினார், ஆனால் தினேத்யாவின் கொடிய தாக்குதலுக்கு ஈடுகொடுக்க முடியவில்லை, பெரும்பாலான நேரங்களில் கட்டுப்பாட்டை எடுத்துக்கொண்டார்.
போட்டி முழுவதும் தினேத்யாவுக்கு சாதகமாக கைகொடுக்க ஜனாலி பல தவறுகளைச் செய்தார், ஆனால் புத்திசாலித்தனத்தை வெளிப்படுத்தினார், விஷயங்களைக் கட்டுக்குள் கொண்டு வர ஜனாலி தனது நிலையைச் சிறப்பாகக் கொடுத்தார், ஆனால் இளம் தினேத்யா எல்லா நேரத்திலும் ஒரு படி மேலே இருந்தார்.
தாமதமாக சண்டை போட ஜனலி தோற்றமளித்தாலும், சண்டையில் இறங்கியதால் ஆரம்பகால சேதம் அவளால் சமாளிக்க முடியாத அளவுக்கு அதிகமாக இருந்தது.
இந்த வெற்றியானது உள்ளூர் டென்னிஸ் அரங்கில் தினேத்யாவின் முதல் மேஜர் பட்டத்தையும் கண்டது. இலங்கை டென்னிஸின் எதிர்காலத்திற்கான பிரகாசமான வாய்ப்புகளில் ஒருவரான தினேத்ய தர்மரத்னே, எதிர்காலத்தில் இலங்கை டென்னிஸின் ஜோதியாக இருப்பார் என்பதில் சந்தேகமில்லை.
Cricket
Sri Lanka Cricket Appoints New National Coaches for High Performance Centre
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) has announced two key appointments to its National High Performance Centre as part of efforts to strengthen the country’s coaching structure across all formats and levels.
Former Netherlands coach Ryan van Niekerk has been named the National Bowling Coach, while Jordan Gregory will take on the role of National Fielding and Spin Bowling Coach. Both appointments will come into effect from April 15, 2026, with each coach set to serve a two-year tenure.
In his new role, van Niekerk will oversee fast bowling development across all national teams, including the senior men’s side. He brings valuable international experience, having served as the bowling coach and interim head coach of the Netherlands national team from 2023 to 2026. Prior to that, he worked as the assistant coach and bowling coach of the Netherlands men’s team.
During his time with the Dutch side, van Niekerk played a role in their participation in major global tournaments, including the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2023 and the ICC Men’s T20 World Cups in 2024 and 2026.
Meanwhile, Gregory will be responsible for managing fielding standards and spin bowling development across all national squads. He previously worked as a fielding consultant with Netherlands Cricket and contributed to several international assignments, including the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2023.
Cricket
Nuwan Thushara Moves Court Over IPL 2026 NOC Dispute
Sri Lanka fast bowler Nuwan Thushara has initiated legal action against Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), seeking court intervention to secure a No Objection Certificate (NOC) that would allow him to participate in the 2026 Indian Premier League (IPL).
The matter was taken up before the Colombo District Court, which has scheduled the next hearing for April 9. Thushara has named several top SLC officials as defendants, including President Shammi Silva, Secretary Bandula Dissanayake, Treasurer Sujeewa Godaliyadda, and CEO Ashley de Silva.
According to court filings, Thushara was picked by Royal Challengers for the 2026 IPL season, having previously featured in the tournament in both 2024 and 2025 after receiving the necessary clearance from SLC. However, the board has declined to issue the NOC this year, citing his failure to meet required fitness standards.
Thushara, in his petition, has challenged this decision, stating that his contract with SLC expired on March 31, 2026, and that he had already informed the board of his intention not to renew it. He further claims he had been made aware that he was not in contention for national selection, making the fitness-based refusal unreasonable.
The pacer has also argued that his current fitness levels are consistent with those maintained during previous seasons when he was granted NOCs. He warns that the denial could cost him his IPL contract, resulting in significant financial loss and missed career opportunities.
Through the case, Thushara is seeking legal recognition of his right to obtain the NOC, along with court orders compelling SLC to grant him clearance to play in the IPL and other overseas leagues.
News
‘Super Fighters’ Chess Big Match Set to Bring Three Schools Together
The annual ‘Super Fighters’ Chess Big Match, a unique triangular chess tournament featuring
C.W.W. Kannangara Central College – Matugama,
Taxila Central College – Horana, and
Ananda Sastralaya National School – Matugama,
is set to take place in the coming days.
The official media briefing for the tournament was held under the patronage of the Matugama Zonal Deputy Director of Education, Chandima Priyadarshani, along with the principals of the three participating schools and the Secretary of the Kalutara District Chess Association, Sameera Dissanayake.
Having already secured the title on the previous two occasions, Taxila Central College, Horana, will enter the competition as the defending champions. Meanwhile, this year’s tournament will be hosted by C.W.W. Kannangara Central College, Matugama.
All three schools are expected to field highly competitive teams, featuring internationally rated players as well as several athletes who have represented Sri Lanka at international chess tournaments.

The primary objectives of the tournament are to popularize the “Big Match” concept in school chess, identify emerging talent, and strengthen the spirit of camaraderie among the three institutions.













With growing interest in school-level chess, the ‘Super Fighters’ tournament is expected to be a thrilling and high-quality contest, showcasing the next generation of Sri Lanka’s chess talent.
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