Sam Chandrasena and Ranjit de Silva show prowess in badminton

BADMINTON: Past national badminton singles champions Sam Chandrasena and Professor Ranjit de Silva showed that they still had their former touch when they both secured medals at the famous Morning Cup Verterans' International which concluded in Taiwan in April 2012.

The Morning Cup drawing thousands of entries has been played in Taiwan for 40 years and is one of the few veterans' tournaments in the Badminton World Federation calendar. It caters to players from 25 to 100 years categorized into 5-year segments.

Sam and Ranjit were invited by the Badminton Association of Taiwan to participate in the men's singles Grade A. Sam won the Silver medal in the over 75-year group while Ranjit won the Bronze medal in the Over 70-year group.

Large contingents from China, Japan, Korea, Hong-Kong and Taiwan participated while Malaysia, Thailand, USA and many other countries were also represented.

Both Sam and Ranjit felt that with proper preparation their performance could be considerably improved. Most of their opponents were well trained and dedicated while we were casual about these events.