Jealousy must stop if sport is to prosper - Badminton 'ace' Niluka
by Lal Gunesekera
BADMINTON: Jealousy is something that has to be stopped if a
sportsman/woman is to succeed in any sport. This is very evident in Sri
Lanka and I have been at the "butt end" of jealousy ever since I started
doing well. I hope this will end as it hinders one's career. I feel that
I have played enough in my country.
Another two years is the maximum. After that, I will concentrate on
the Asian and European Circuits and somehow or another get into the top
50 of the world rankings. I am ranked No, 80 at present by the
International Badminton Federation (IBF).
The above candid statements were made by Sri Lanka's shuttle
champion, Niluka Karunaratne (22 years) in an exclusive interview with
the Sunday Observer soon after he won the Men's Singles title at the
55th National Championships for the seventh consecutive year (2001 to
2007) which broke the earlier record of Ravi Kuruppu who held the title
for six consecutive years (1976 to 1981).
Niluka has also won the national Men's Doubles title on four
occasions and the national Mixed Doubles title twice. He won the coveted
Triple Crown in 2006.
Hailing from Balapitiya in the Southern Province, Niluka, was first
educated at Dharmasoka College in Ambalangoda where he took to the sport
in 1993 at the age of eight years.
He was taken for practices etc by his mother Mithra Mendis and later
by his father Lui Karunaratne (a former Bloomfield cricketer) who still
"goes around" with young Niluka. He joined Royal College in 1999 and has
been in the senior national pool since 2000. He was coached initially by
his father Lui, and then he came under Vijitha de Silva, Niroshan
Wijekoon and Kingsley Nallathamby.
Proud record
Niluka holds a proud record even at the Junior National Championship
where he has won every age group (under-11 to 19, except for under-15)
and has even won the coveted Triple Crown thrice in the Under-19 age
group. He was only 15 years when he represented the country at the Asian
Championships in Jakartha, Indonesia in 2000 and has been playing in the
Thomas Cup regularly since 2002.
Niluka received a scholarship to Germany by the IBF last year (2006)
for two years, but an ankle injury put paid to his training and was
forced to return to Sri Lanka. In Germany, he felt that the "white
skins" received better treatment. He has also attended the Prakash
Padukone Academy on several occasions.
His best performance was at the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne,
Australia last year (2006) where he reached the pre-quarter-finals. He
has played in over 20 countries both in the Asian and European Circuits
when at the age of 18 years was runner-up at the Welsh Open in 2003,
runner-up at the Australian Open in 2004 and runner-up again at the Iran
International last year.
Due to his ankle injury last year (2006), Niluka, could not train for
about six months and this put paid to him taking part at international
tournaments and improve on his world rankings, which he is determined to
do now.
Still No.1
Niluka is yet ranked No. 1 in Sri Lanka and what is significant is
that his two younger brothers Diluka (21) and Dinuka (20) are the
country's No. 2 and No. 3 ranked players respectively. This is a rare
feat which may never be seen again. Both Diluka and Dinuka are also
ranked No. 55 in the IBF world rankings in the Doubles. His youngest
brother, Chanika (11) too plays badminton and is a student at Royal
College.
He says that he enjoys all assistance from the Sri Lanka Badminton
Association (SLBA) and encouragement to reach the top and that he trains
for about seven hours a day. Presently he is under an Indonesian coach,
who is coaching in Sri Lanka till the end of this month (December).
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