Dinara powers into Girls’ Under 16 semi final

Promising Dinara de Silva powered her way into the Girls’ Under-16 Singles semi-finals with a convincing victory at the National Tennis Championships continued at the SLTA Courts in Green Path yesterday.

The favourite rallied around through her experience to beat Arushi Thomas in straight sets 6-1, 6-3 and set up a semi-final clash with Oneli Samarawickrama, who was stretched to a three-setter during her quarterfinal against Nelani Jayasuriya. Meanwhile, Ruvi Lewkebandara and Nesangi Hemakumara also made it to the last four stages of the Girls’ Under-16 Singles Tournament while recording victories over Senulya Wijayawardene and Anithra Dharmaratne respectively.

The results

Girls’ Under-16 (quarter-finals): Oneli Samarawickrama beat Nelani Jayasuriya 7-5, 2-6, 10-5. Dinara de Silva beat Arushi Thomas 6-1, 6-3. Ruvi Lewkebandara beat Senulya Wijayawardene 6-3, 6-0. Nesangi Hemakumara beat Anithra Dharmarathne 3-6, 7-6, 10-7.