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| Sunday, 4 December 2005 |
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Badminton Nationals - trial for South Asian Games and Thomas' Cup by Ranjan Anandappa The 53rd Badminton National Championships scheduled to be held from December 9 to 12 at the Royal College Sports Complex badminton courts will be of significant importance for participants. A premier bank in Sri Lanka - the National Savings Bank will sponsor the event and the total prize money is Rs. 100,000. The tournament will serve as a trial in selecting the team for the coming South Asian Games and Thomas Cup to be held in Sri Lanka next year, and for some players it will help to regain their lost prestige. Sri Lanka's top seed Niluka Karunaratne, who is ranked 84th in the world has been the undisputed national champion for the fourth successive year. He will, no doubt, try to keep his title for another year, while some promising players of the calibre of U. D. R. P. Kumara, Diluka Karunaratne (the younger brother of Niluka), C. N. J. John and Thushara Edirisinghe, are expected to provide stiff opposition in the men's category. Ranked 84th in the world, Niluka Karunaratne is a great prospect for Lanka's badminton. Never before has a Lankan player reached such heights in World badminton and this will no doubt inspire other players. Mohan Wijesinghe, a vice-president of the SLBA who was present at a press briefing, in connection with the championship held at the SLBA Auditorium, said that badminton is an extremely popular sport in the country and more encouragement to the players through sponsorships would do wonders to the players. He regretted the inability to have a live television coverage of the nationals due to lack of funds. A live coverage would have taken the game into the interior of the country and encouraged more youngsters to take up the game. In the women's category, seven times singles title holder Chandrika de Silva who lost to Thilini Jayasinghe last year, is determined to regain her title this year and hope to come back with a vengeance. Nadeesha Gayaththri and Sulochana Ariyadasa are also in the running. The following events will be worked out: Open events - Men's and women's singles, Women's and men's doubles, Mixed doubles, Veterans over 40 singles and doubles. Senior veterans over 45 singles and doubles, Masters over 50 singles and doubles. Mr. Manilal Fernando, Chairman, Holcim (Lanka) Ltd., Vice-President of NOC will be the chief guest and Jagath Gamanayake, Assistant General Manager (Marketing) National Savings Bank is the guest of honour. |
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