Sajith Gunaratne – Deputy General Manger Ceylon Agro Industries promoters of Sunrise Bread, Taniya Minel Balasuriya Girls Winner of the Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship 2018, Kayla Perera – Runner up girls.
The 11th consecutive Prima Sunrise Bread Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship concluded at the Royal Colombo Golf Club on Friday, crowning Vinod Weerasinghe and Taniya Minel Balasuriyathe Junior Open Golf Champions respectively for 2018 in the Boys and Girls categories respectively.
“It is great to see so many talented young golfers coming through the Junior Open Golf Championship and the high standard of Golf showcased especially by the two Champions Vinod and Taniya Minel”, said Mr. Tan Beng Chuan, the Chief Guest and the General Manager of the Prima Group, the proud Sponsor of the event for the 11th consecutive year, since 2008.
Vinod captured the Junior Boys Championship for the 3rd consecutive year and will be eligible to defend his title once again next year. Vinod carded a 72 (one over par) final round, his best score in the 2018 championship to seal a comfortable victory by 18 strokes from Runner-up - Haroon Aslam of the Victoria Golf & Country Resort. Haroon ensured his Runner-up position nine strokes clear of Dhuwarshan the representative from the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, who was the winner of the 2017 Junior Open Silver Division.
Taniya Mine lBalasuriya continued her consistent form carding a 72 (one over par) in the final round to become the Sri Lanka Junior Open Girls champion for the second consecutive year, followed by an outstanding 17 strokes from Kayla Perera who returned a 2 under par second round score, which was the best score returned in the 2018 Championship.
The ever improving Nirekh Tejwani won the Silver division in the Boys category by a clear 11 strokes, despite his regular rival in the same division Yannik Kumara leading the field from start to finish, but Nirekh sealed the victory with an excellent 3 over par 74 in the final round, having held a slender 2 stroke advantage going in to the final day. Danushan was also not too far behind in 3rd place, as he was just 2 strokes behind the Runner-up and three strokes ahead of Levon Niyarepola who secured 4th place.
President Sri Lanka Golf Union Rtd Air Vice Marshall Harsha Abeywickrama, Chief Guest & Principal Sponsor Mr. Tan Beng Chuan, Prima Group General Manager, Shanal Binushka winner Bronze Division Boys & Girls (Age 10 -11+), C. Dharaniyan winner Copper Division Boys & Girls (Age 09 & under), Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship Winner Boys –Vinod Weerasinghe, Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship Winner Girls – Taniya Minel Balasuriya
Shanal Binushka ensured victory in the Bronze Division with a final round of 67, to hold on to a 3 stroke win from Reshan Algama, who came in second place. The top two in the Bronze division drew clear of the rest of the field with KvahnTejwani and Kaya Daluwatte securing 3rd and 4th place respectively, 15 and 16 strokes adrift of the Runner-up. The Bronze Division played over 14 holes and three rounds comprised of promising future talent from youngsters, who are well accomplished for their age category of 10 – 11+ years.
In the Copper division for juniors aged 9+ and under, played over 9 holes and three rounds, C. Dharaniyan of the NuwaraEliya Golf Club maintained the lead from start to finish and won by 4 strokes from Varun Fernando and T. Deshan, with just 5 strokes separating the top three.
An excellent turn-out of juniors with over 75 participants in the five different age category segments, displaying immense talent and potential to become stars for the future of Sri Lankan Golf. The PRIMA Group has supported and sponsored the Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship for the past 11 consecutive years, and has added the sponsorship of a new event named the Hambantota Regional Junior Open Golf Championship to be played at the Shangri La Hambantota Golf Course in early March 2019.
“The development of Junior Golf is the platform to produce the top Sri Lankan stars for the future, and the Golf Union could not have conducted the Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship so successfully for 11 years consecutively without our sponsor- the Prima Group, the promoters of Prima Sunrise Bread” said Ms. Niloo Jayatilake, the Chairperson of the Junior Sub-Committee Sri Lanka Golf.
The enthusiastic prize giving followed the morning Golf and the Chief Guest and Principal Sponsor, Mr. Tan BengChuan, the General Manager of the Prima Group, Mr. Sajith Gunaratne, the Deputy General Manager of Ceylon Agro Industries, accompanied by the President Sri Lanka Golf Union, Rtd Air Vice Marshall Harsha Abeywickrama gave away the Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship Trophy to Vinod and Taniya Minel the winners of the Boys and Girls categories respectively. Hon. Secretary of the SLGU, Mr. Nishan Navaratne and Mr. John Scarth, a committee member of the SLGU Junior Golf also gave away the Prizes.
PRIMA SUNRISE BREAD the generous sponsor, promoting Junior Golf also presented gift packs to all participants and tournament officials who ensured a highly successful Junior Open Golf Championship 2018. The Junior Golf Sub - Committee, headed by the Chairperson - Ms. Niloo Jayatilake, supported by Mr. Chandana Weerasinghe and Mr. John Scarth, deserve much credit for the time and effort contributed towards promoting Junior Golf in Sri Lanka.
2018 SRI LANKA JUNIOR OPEN GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS AT A GLANCE
SPONSORED BY PRIMA SUNRISE BREAD
Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship Winner Boys –Vinod Weerasinghe
Sri Lanka Junior Open Golf Championship Winner Girls – Taniya MinelBalasuriya
Gold Division (Age 15- 18+ Boys)
Winner- Vinod Weerasinghe 220 (73, 75, 72)
Runner-up – Haroon Aslam (VGCR) 238 (77, 77, 84)
3rd – S. Duwarshan 247 (80, 84, 83)
4th – Dilshan Malinda 260 (88, 84, 88)
Gold & Silver Division combined – Girls
Winner – Taniya MinelBalasuriya 217 (72, 72, 73)
Runner-up – Kayla Perera 234 (80, 70, 84)
3rd – SherinMitharaBalasuriya 249 (84, 83, 82)
4th – ArikaWickramasinghe 273 (90, 88, 95)
Silver Division Boys (Age 12-14+)
Winner- NirekhTejwani 230 (78, 78, 74)
Runner-up – Yannik Kumara 241 (81, 77, 83)
3rd – K. Danushan 243 (81, 80, 82)
4th – LevonNiyarepola 246 (83, 81, 82)
Bronze Division Boys & Girls (Age 10 -11+) 14 Holes per Round
Winner – N. W. G. ShanalBinushka 203 (74, 62, 67)
Runner-up – ReshanAlgama 206 (75, 67, 64)
3rd – KvahnTejwani 221 (75, 69, 77)
4th – Kaya Daluwatte 222 (75, 70, 77)
Copper Division Boys & Girls (Age 09 & under) 09 Holes per Round
Winner – C. Dharaniyan (NEGC) 127 (43, 41, 43)
Runner-up – Varun Fernando 131 (44, 42, 45)
3rd – T. Deshan 132 (45, 43, 44)
4th – ThejasRathisKanth 137 (46, 42, 49)
5th – KeshavAlgama 144 (45, 49, 50)
