News

Ashen edged Thehan in a blockbuster men’s finals at the 108th Colombo Tennis Championship

Published

3 years ago

June 26, 2023

Editor

Ashen Silva edged top seed Thehan Wijemanne in a thrilling five-setter (5/7, 6/4, 3/6, 6/2, 6/3) in the finals of the 108th Colombo Tennis Championship (men’s category) which went to the wire at SLTA Clay courts on Sunday.

It was a heated clash between Thehan and Ashen where the latter set the tone from the get-go to frustrate his opponent in the early exchanges. He continued to go for his shots from the outset, in addition to effectively employing the drop shot, which drew repeated errors from his opponent to wrap up the first set 5-7.

In the second set things were much more competitive when Ashen showed his infamous never-say-die spirit to give Thehan some anxious moments as he won the second set 6-4.

With both at 1-1, the third set was a highly intense game where Thehan’s experience came into play as he out-manoeuvred Ashen to win set 3-6 and take a 2-1 lead.

Coming into the fourth set it was all about Ashen who played aggressively to put constant pressure on his opponent whose frustration began to show early in the fourth set as he was carted all over the place. After a ding-dong battle, Ashen walked out with 6-2 to make things level.

Heading into the decider Ashen showed his never give up attitude dominated right from the start of the fifth set to eventually wrap up the match after winning the fifth and deciding set by 6-3.

Meanwhile, in the women’s open category Saajida Razick, a product of Bishops College outplayed Dinara de Silva to lift the Women’s Open title at the 108th Colombo Championships played at Sri Lanka Tennis Association Courts.

Saajida dominated Dinara de Silva in a three-setter (6-4, 3-6., 6-1) to crown as women’s Champion.

108 වැනි කොළඹ ටෙනිස් ශූරතාවලියේ පිරිමි අවසන් මහා තරගයේදී අශේන් තෙහාන් ජය ගනී.

ඉරිදා SLTA Clay courts එකේ පැවති 108 වැනි කොළඹ ටෙනිස් ශූරතාවලියේ (පිරිමි අංශයේ) අවසන් මහා තරගයේදී අශේන් සිල්වා පළමු ශ්‍රේණිගත ක්‍රීඩක තෙහාන් විජේමාන්න ලකුණු 5කින් (5/7, 6/4, 3/6, 6/2, 6/3) අභිබවා ගියේය.

එය තෙහාන් සහ අශේන් අතර උණුසුම් ගැටුමක් වූ අතර එහිදී තෙහාන් මුල් හුවමාරු වලදී තම ප්‍රතිවාදියා තම අණසකට යටත්ව ක්‍රීඩා කිරීමට සකස් කළේය. ඔහු ඩ්‍රොප් ෂොට් එක ඵලදායි ලෙස යොදා ගැනීමට අමතරව, ආරම්භයේ සිටම ඔහුගේ පහරවල් සඳහා දිගටම යොමු වූ අතර, එය ප්‍රතිවාදියාගෙන් නැවත නැවතත් වැරදි සිදු කරමින් පළමු වටය 5-7ක් ලෙස අවසන් කළේය.

දෙවැනි වටයේ දී දේවල් වඩාත් තරගකාරී වූයේ අශේන් දෙවැනි වටය 6-4ක් ලෙස ජයගත් තෙහාන්ට කනස්සල්ලට පත් වූ අවස්ථා කිහිපයක් ලබා දීමටය.

දෙකම 1-1ක් ලෙස තිබියදී, තෙහාන්ගේ අත්දැකීම් ඉතා තියුණු තරගයක් වූ අතර, ඔහු අශේන් අභිබවා ගොස් 3-6ක් ලෙස 3-6ක් ජයගෙන 2-1ක් ලෙස පෙරමුණ ගත්තේය.

සිවුවැනි වටයට පිවිසීමේදී සියල්ලටම වඩා ආක්‍රමණශීලී ලෙස ක්‍රීඩා කළ අශේන් තම ප්‍රතිවාදියාට නිරන්තර පීඩනයක් එල්ල කළ අතර ඔහුගේ කලකිරීම සිවුවැනි වටයේ ආරම්භයේදීම පෙන්නුම් කිරීමට පටන් ගත් අතර ඔහු සෑම තැනකම කරට කර ගෙන ගියේය. තියුණු සටනකින් පසු, අශේන් 6-2 ක් සමඟින් ඉවත්ව ගියේ ජය ලබාගැනීමත් සමඟය.

තීරකයට පිවිසි අශේන් පස්වැනි කට්ටලය ආරම්භයේ සිටම ආධිපත්‍යය දැරූ කිසිවිටෙකත් අත් නොහරින ආකල්පය පෙන්නුම් කළේ අවසානයේ පස්වැනි තරගය ජයගෙන 6-3කින් වටය තීරණය කිරීමෙන් පසුව තරගය අවසන් කිරීමටය.

මේ අතර, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ටෙනිස් සංගම් පිටියේ පැවැති 108 වැනි කොළඹ ශූරතාවලියේ විවෘත කාන්තා අංශයේ කාන්තා අංශයේ සජිදා රාසික්, දිනාරා ද සිල්වා අභිබවා කාන්තා විවෘත ශූරතාව දිනා ගැනීමට සමත් වූවාය.

කාන්තා ශූරිය ලෙස කිරුළ හිමිකර ගැනීමට සාජිදා දිනාරා ද සිල්වාට එරෙහිව තරග තුනකින් (6-4, 3-6., 6-1) ආධිපත්‍යය දැරීය.

Cricket

ICC Team to Visit Sri Lanka Amid Cricket Administration Shake-Up

Published

6 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Editor

A delegation from the International Cricket Council (ICC), including a senior representative linked to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is scheduled to arrive in Sri Lanka this weekend as attention grows over recent changes to the country’s cricket administration.

According to India’s Press Trust of India (PTI), ICC Deputy Chairman Imran Khwaja is expected in Colombo on Friday night, with another top ICC official who also serves in a leading capacity within the BCCI due to arrive on Saturday.

The visit comes in the wake of the Sri Lankan government’s decision to appoint an interim committee to manage the affairs of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) following the resignation of its leadership.

Sports Minister Sunil Kumara Gamage confirmed during a televised interview that discussions with ICC representatives are expected to take place in the coming days regarding the future direction of cricket administration in the country.

The newly appointed nine-member interim body was established on April 29 after SLC President Shammi Silva and members of the Executive Committee stepped down from office.
Government officials say the temporary panel will be responsible for overseeing day-to-day cricket operations, introducing administrative reforms, and preparing the groundwork for fresh elections within Sri Lanka Cricket.

The ICC visit is expected to focus on governance issues, the transition process, and the stability of cricket administration during the interim period.

Cricket

LPL 2026 Opening Game between Jaffna and Galle

Published

6 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Editor

The inaugural game of the Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played between the Jaffna and Galle teams, who emerged as the Champions and Runners-up respectively in the 2024 season.

The opening game is scheduled to be played on 17th July at the SSC Grounds, commencing at
7.30 p.m.

Prior to the start of the tournament opener, a spectacular opening ceremony will be held at the SSC Grounds in Colombo.
The Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played from 17th July to 8th August across four venues: SSC, Colombo; RDICS, Dambulla; PICS, Pallekele; and RPICS, Colombo.

The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the owner of the LPL, in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder.

Cricket

RCB Bring in Gleeson After Thushara Exit; CSK Add Kuldip as Injury Cover

Published

6 hours ago

May 15, 2026

Editor

Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have roped in experienced England pacer Richard Gleeson as a replacement for Sri Lankan fast bowler Nuwan Thushara ahead of the IPL 2026 Knockouts.

Thushara was unable to join the Bengaluru franchise after failing to secure a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from Sri Lanka Cricket. The board reportedly withheld approval because the pacer did not meet the required fitness benchmarks set by the national setup.

RCB have signed Gleeson for INR 1.6 crore. The 38-year-old seamer brings previous IPL experience, having represented both Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians in recent seasons. Gleeson featured in two matches for Chennai in 2024 and made a single appearance for Mumbai in the 2025 campaign. He has also represented England in nine T20 Internationals.

Thushara, who was bought by RCB for the same amount in 2025, played one game during the franchise’s championship-winning run last season. Despite being retained for IPL 2026, his participation was blocked after the NOC issue emerged.

The Sri Lankan quick had initially taken legal action against the cricket board regarding the matter, but later withdrew the case and issued a written apology. Court documents reportedly indicated that Thushara had considered stepping away from international cricket, although no final decision on his future has yet been confirmed.

Meanwhile, Chennai Super Kings have announced Indian pacer Kuldip Yadav as a replacement for injured left-arm fast bowler Khaleel Ahmed.

Khaleel’s season was cut short after he suffered a right quadricep injury during Chennai’s clash against Kolkata Knight Riders. Before the setback, he had claimed two wickets in five appearances while maintaining an economy rate of 8.67.

Kuldip, a right-arm pacer, previously represented Rajasthan Royals in the IPL, making three appearances across the 2021 and 2023 seasons. Chennai have secured his services for INR 30 lakh.

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