Nishantha Fernando wins men's singles title at German Open men's carrom tourney

Sri Lanka Ambassador in Germany, Sarath Kongahage was the guest of honour at the 2012 German Open Carrom Championship worked off in Berlin last week. The event was organised by the German Carrom Federation. In his speech at the inauguration of the Carrom Championship, Ambassador Kongahage mentioned that in the final of the Sixth World Carrom Championship, Sri Lanka's Nishantha Fernando won the Men's Singles by beating the reigning Indian players, which is a remarkable achievement, because India has been winning the Men's Singles continuously since the inauguration of Carrom World Championships.

The Ambassador further suggested a visit of the Sri Lankan national team with Nishantha Fernando to Germany in order to foster the growing interest in Carrom in Germany. Joerg Kijanski, President of the German Carrom Federation, mentioned that there is a growing interest in Carrom throughout Germany and German Carrom players take a very active role in international tournaments. He further stated that the German Carrom Federation would welcome the Sri Lankan team to Germany.

Jagath Wickramasinghe, staff member of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Germany, was one of the 38 players participating in the Singles and Doubles Championships. In the singles event, Tobias Krueger from Dortmund emerged champion. He also paired together with his greatest rival from the singles event, Joerg Johannes from Cologne, to win the doubles title as well.

Getting ready for the carrom matches to start.	Group picture of the winners at German Open Carrom Championship worked off in Berlin.