Shenuk and Vidara claim Summer Season shuttle titles

By Susil Premalal

Shenuk Samararatne and Vidara Vidanage clinched the Men’s and Women’s Singles titles of the Summer Season All-Island Open Badminton Championship, which concluded at the Municipal Council Indoor Courts in Nuwara Eliya.
Shenuk overcame Thenuka de Silva 2-1 in a closely contested Men’s Singles final.
After claiming the first set 21-11, Shenuk was forced to delay his victory march as Thenuka bounced back to claim the second set 21-13.
This led to an interesting battle in the crucial third set, where both shuttlers played their hearts out, but eventually Shenuk emerged victorious, 22-20.
Vidara, on the other hand, faced an early scare in the Women’s Singles final against Jananuwani de Silva but managed to claim a straight 2-0 win.
After an early setback, Vidara bounced back to claim both sets 21-10 and 21-11, sealing a comfortable victory in the Women’s Open category.
Meanwhile, Thenuka, who lost the Men’s Singles final, paired up with Tharusha Madhubhanu to claim the Men’s Doubles title.
After a close first set, where Thenuka and Tharusha overcame their opponents, Hansa de Silva and Yohan Bandara, 21-18, the victors marched forward with an easy 21-10 win in the second set to claim the win.
Jananuwani, who faced a setback in the Women’s Singles final, paired up with Nilasi Balasuriya to annex the Women’s Doubles final in straight sets against the pair of Buthmi Galagamage and Nadeesha Gayathri.
They easily claimed the first set 21-12, but were given a good fightback by the losers before the victorious pair sealed the final with a 21-17 win in the second set.
Marcello Mainaky and Buthmi Galagamage teamed up to claim the Mixed Doubles title in the Open category as they marched towards an easy 2-0 straight win against Thenuka and Samidi Sathnara in the final.
The winning pair had very little trouble sealing the win, with 21-10 and 21-14 wins in both sets.
In addition to claiming the Open Men’s Singles title, Shenuk claimed a double title when he overcame Thesath Rajapakse 2-1 in the Under-19 Boys’ Singles final.
Komuthu Kumarapperuma too had to put her full energy to work before she claimed a well-deserving 2-1 win against Rukshika Baskaran in the Under-19 Girls’ Singles final.
Achintha Imesha and Pasindu Peiris recorded a straight 2-0 win against Sehandu Peiris and Thesath Rajapakse in the Under-19 Boys’ Doubles final.