Two Royalist in the Three Member Team

Virunaka Hendahewa and Nimesh Ranchagoda of Royal College had the fortune of representing the Sri Lanka Junior Table Tennis team selected for the South Asian Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championships 2015 which was conducted from the 16th of June 2015 to the 19th of June 2015 at the Talkatora stadium, New Delhi, India. The duo managed to receive Silver Medals in the team category while Hendahewa also received a bronze in the singles category. The team qualified from the South Asian region to represent Sri Lanka in the upcoming Asian Table Tennis Championship which is scheduled to be held in Malaysia from the 22nd of July 2015 to the 26th of July 2015.

The Boys Cadet (Under 15) team comprised of three members and, Royal College was privileged as two out of the three slots were secured by talented Royalists in the current Sri Lankan table tennis arena. They were selected after a rigorous selection criterion. The six best ranked players in the age category had to face each other in a league basis trial twice in two different days and the best performing trio was selected to represent the Nation.

The Sri Lankan Cadet Boys team managed to receive the Silver medal after the league tournament where they only lost to the mighty Indians. The team comprised of Virunaka Hendahewa, Nimesh Ranchagoda of Royal College and, Dissanka Thennakoon of Dharmaraja College, Kandy. Even though no significant difference with regard to the talent between the two countries was noticed, it came down to the rigorous practice, technology and the international exposure gained by players of these two countries. This was very much evident when Hendahewa played the boys’ singles semi-final with the Indian ranked number two where he lost the match after a heated five setter. Ultimately, Hendahewa had to settle with a bronze in the singles category.

All in all, this proved to be yet another valuable outing for the youngsters of Royal College, with a much promising future for Table Tennis here at Royal.