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by Chris Dhambarage

Indika Prasad and Deepika Rodrigo put up a fine performance to finish on top at the second TTASL trials worked off at S. Thomas' College indoor Stadium in Mount Lavinia.

This trial was conducted to select the Sri Lanka men's and women's table tennis teams for the Asian Table Tennis championships which will be held from February 22 to 28 in Bangkok, Thailand next year.

Indika Prasad finished with ten victories at the trials but had the embarrassment of being stretched into a four setter on three occasions by I.T. Gunapala, K.S.T. Chalitha and Rohan Sirisena respectively. However he made a clean sweep in the remaining matches defeating Dinesh Deshappriya, B.C. Chaturanga, Tharindu Samaraweera, Nuwan Sampath, Chatura Dushan, B.N.B. Jayasinghe and K.S.T. Lakshan.

Thilina Piyadasa however suffered a shock defeat at the hands of Rohan Sirisena who pulled off the game in style 13-11, 9-11, 14-12, 6-11, 11-9. He won the rest of the games quite convincingly but went through some anxious moments in overcoming young I.T. Gunapala in a marathon five setter 11-8, 11-6, 2-11, 6-11, 11-5. In addition Thilina Piyadasa was stretched to a four setter by another promising player Tharindu Samaraweera who lost 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 11-7.

In the other matches Thilina Piyadasa had the better of Dinesh Deshappriya, the reigning national champion K.S.T. Chalitha, Chatura Dushan, Indika Prasad, K.S.T. Lakshan, B.C. Chaturanga and Nuwan Sampath all in straight sets.

The reigning national champion K.S.T. Chalitha had to be satisfied with the third place in the trials and was also taken into a five setter by I.T. Gunapala and figured in a four setter against Rohan Sirisena. He won the rest of the matches against B.N.B. Jayasinghe, Tharindu Samaraweera, Nuwan Sampath, K.S.T. Lakshan, Chatura Dushan, B.C.Chaturanga and Dinesh Deshappriya.

The runner up at the nationals Rohan Sirisena despite a stunning win over Thilina Piyadasa, was pushed to the fourth place in the trials defeating Tharindu Samaraweera, B.C. Chaturanga, Dinesh Deshappriya, K.S.T. Lakshan, Chatura Dushan and I.T. Gunapala. In another major upset B.N.B. Jayasinghe ousted Thilina Piyadasa in a gruelling five setter 11-6, 13-11, 3-11, 7-11, 11-9.

In the women's competition the reigning national champion Deepika Rodrigo remained unbeaten at the trials for the second time with a one hundred percent record.

She recorded eleven victories and was stretched into a four setter only twice by Dilini Madawala and Rifkha Kameel. Apart from this she simply outplayed the rest of the opponents overcoming M. Kottegoda, Maulie Prajangani, N.K. Udugama, P.Dilrukshi, L. Basnayake, Kalpani Herath, Wasana Sandarekha, Namal Gunasekera and S. de Silva in straight sets.

The runner up at the nationals Kalpani Herath finished second at the trials with impressive victories against N.K. Udugama, Dilini Madawala, M. Prajangani, M. Kottegoda, S. de Silva, Wasana Sandarekha, Rifkha Kameel, L. Basnayake, Namal Gunasekera and P. Dilrukshi.

In fact S. de Silva was placed third in the trials followed by D. Madawala, M. Prajangani, Rifkha Kameel, Namal Gunasekera, M. Kottegoda, P. Dilrukshi, N. K. Udugama, Wasana Sandarekha and L. Basnayake.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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