Sri Lanka’s national women’s champion Ranithma Liyanage produced one of the finest performances of her young career after finishing as the runner-up at the Welsh International Open 2025 in Cardiff.
The world No.113 shuttler, who is sponsored by McLarens Group, put together four straight wins before narrowly missing out on the title in a gripping three-game final.
Ranithma opened her campaign with a commanding 21-8, 21-11 triumph over Natalia Slobodova.
She followed up with a hard-earned win in the round of 16, rallying from a game down to beat Cecilia Wang 21-23, 21-13, 21-19.
She stayed in control during the quarterfinal, beating England’s Freya Redfearn 24–22, 21–15 after holding firm in a tight first game.
Ranithma then booked her place in the final with another composed performance, overcoming Denmark’s Athene Lyduch Thornild 21-17, 21-15 in the semifinals.
The final saw her face Austria’s Wei Xu in a closely contested battle. Ranithma lost the opening game 16-21 but responded strongly with a dominant 21-10 win to force a decider.
The third game went point for point before Xu edged ahead late to claim the title 21-19, leaving Ranithma as the women’s singles runner-up.
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