Matheesha does Sri Lanka proud at Singapore Junior Squash Open

Matheesha Wijesekara with his medal.

Sri Lanka’s rising squash talent, Matheesha Wijesekara, clinched his first international medal at the ONCOCARE Singapore Junior Open Squash Championship organized by the Singapore Squash Raquets Association. The event took place from December 13 to 17 at the Kallang SG Active Squash and Tennis Complex in Singapore.

The fifteen-year-old Royal College squash player, competing in the Under-17 age group, secured the seventh position and earned his first international medal among 355 participants from over 20 countries. Matheesha was the sole Sri Lankan honoured at the awards ceremony.

This achievement holds significance for Matheesha personally and for the future of Sri Lanka’s squash in this annual competition. Despite being just over 15 years old, Matheesha will compete in the same Under-17 age group next year with added experience as a senior player.

However, the quarter-final match had a controversial outcome, leading to Matheesha’s defeat and preventing him from entering the semi-finals. Following the unexpected setback, the Tournament Director and Asian Squash Federation Referees’ Director from Singapore praised Matheesha, saying, “You played superb squash; you will be number one in the world in the future.”

Before this accomplishment, Matheesha participated in the REDtone 15th KL Junior Open Squash Championship organized by the Squash Racquets Association of Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia. Last week, he secured the 19th place out of 171 players. In that competition, Matheesha faced challenging matches, including three that went to five sets each.

Notably, in two matches against South Africa and Singapore, he overcame initial setbacks by losing the first two sets, demonstrating resilience by winning the next three sets and securing victories against both opponents.

The post Matheesha does Sri Lanka proud at Singapore Junior Squash Open appeared first on DailyNews.