Junior and senior TT nationals from today

S.M. Jiffrey ABDEEN- Kandy Sports corr

The Junior and Senior Table Tennis Nationals organized by the Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association with the assistance of the Kandy District Table Tennis Association will be worked off at the Jagath Rajapakse International Table Tennis Stadium at Ganegoda off Peradeniya from today till January 22.

The Tournament Secretary of the Sri Lanka Table Tennis Association Chandana Perera said that the Junior National Championship will be worked off today and tomorrow. The senior National Championship on January 21 and 22.

The junior championship will feature mostly school girls and school boys from all parts of the island.

In the senior championship for men top ranked players like Rohan Sirisena, Dinesh Deshapriya, B. Nirmal Jayasinghe, Indika Prasad, K.S.P.Chalitha, Udaya Ranasinghe, Sukkitha Wickremanayake, S.Kavinda are expected to vie for honours.

At the Kandy District all island open ranking championship, Nirmala Jayasinghe of MAS Intimates created a major sensation in winning the mens singles after defeating the No 2 ranked Dinesh Deshapriya. The top ranked Rohan Sirisena lost in the league stages. But he made amends in the Ashok Melwani Memorial championships by winning it to remain on top.

Ishara Madurangi of SLAF who is the top seed in the women's ranking appears to be having her own way in the local championships. She won the Kandy District open championship and followed up by annexing the Ashok Melvani championship for women.