Thangaraja Successfully Defends National Title For Second Year

• Golf – 125th Amateur Championship of Sri Lanka

Nadaraja Thangaraja Reigning Sri Lanka Champion successfully defended the Title he Won in 2011 by defeating Md Dulal of Bangladesh 3 & 2 in the 36 hole Final at The ‘Ridgeways’ Royal Colombo Golf Club Course last Sunday.
In the Morning 18 Holes Thangaraja played steady Golf stroking a couple of Birdies to build a 2 up lead going into the afternoon 18 holes. In the Final the fair crowd of Golf enthusiasts were entertained to some exciting Golf where Raja won the 19th to extend his lead to 3 up before Dulal Birdied the 21st to make the score 2 down again.
The 22nd was halved and Raja won the 23rd to be 3 up once more. After a ding-dong battle Raja was 3 up at the turn and Dulal missed the chance of winning the 28th,won the 29th and missed a 10 foot Birdie on the 30th(12th hole) to be 2 down to Raja, playing the 31st(13th hole) which was halved and so was the 32nd hole.  Dulal 2 down playing the 15th(33rd) had it all to do and pulled his Tee shot left while Raja bisected the fairway and emphatically birdied the Par 5 to be 3 up Dormie playing the 16th hole (34th) and safely made Par to halve the hole and seal the Sri Lanka Amateur Champion Title for 2012. The Victory underlined the hard work and rapid improvement in Champion Thangaraja’s Golf and emphasized the process of maturity achieved by the Sri Lankan Golfers with no less than ‘Five’ National Pool Players reaching the last ‘eight’ in the Championship. The Final brought the Defending Champ Raja through to meet Md Dulal a prominent Amateur in the South East Asian Region from Bangladesh for the Final showdown. The two Top Seeds of the tournament reached the Final confirming the accuracy of the form and seedings of the players.
The Minister of Sports Hon.Mahindananda Aluthgamage was the Chief Guest at the Awards ceremony and gave away the Awards.
The ground staff of the Golf Course did a commendable job to ensure the tournament could continue despite the inclement weather and difficult conditions. Several  International Teams  including those from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Afghanistan  participated in the historic 125th Amateur Championship which is the second oldest in the World.