Amritha first Lankan to win Asian u.14 title

Amritha Muttiah (14) of Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya became the first Sri Lankan to win an Asian under-14 tennis title when she won her event at an International Tennis Federation (ITF) Junior International in Jordan, beating India's Ankita Raina (3-6, 7-5, 6-4). She won the doubles title too, with the Indian lass.

Then in another ITF tournament in Syria, Amritha was placed third and was runner-up in the doubles with Deanna of India losing to an Indian combination.

Earlier in the year, Amritha, won a zone II tournament in Myanmar.

Mohamed Shaakir (13) of Royal College who also toured West Asia for the ITF Asian under-14 tournaments, too performed quite well, being runner-up in the doubles in Jordan with Malaysia's Juan Santos and was sixth in the singles. He was a semi-finalist in the doubles in Syria and was eighth in the singles.

Dineshkanthan Thangaraja (15) of St. Peter's, who was playing in the under-18 age group, reached the pre quarter-finals of the singles in Syria earlier beating Jordan's No. 1 Mohamed Al Issawi (4-6, 6-4, 6-1).

L.G.