Badminton Association of Ceylon formed in 1950 and N.M. de Silva pioneered badminton...:

Minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage pioneered construction of Jayatilleke stadium at Nawalapitiya

by S.M. Jiffrey Abdeen, Kandy Sports Corr.

Badminton gets a lift: When the 61st National Badminton Championship was shifted last year to the newly constructed Jayatilleke Sports Complex at Nawalapitiya, it was a sweet sort of lift for the shuttle game.

Many eybrows were raised as this sport was not popular in that little plantation town. The lights are put off around 7 p.m. and people go to sleep.

There was no facilities to play this sport except outdoor just for the fun of it.

But most people may not know that this sport was introduced to this country not far from that area at a town known as Dimbula which is located adjoining Nawalapitiya Plantation District... Dimbula is better known as Radella where the famous Dimbula Athletic and Cricket Club that was founded in 1856 is located right now.

It was in 1909 the expatriate planters based in the Dimbula Plantation District introduced the shuttle game. Perhaps to get away with the foredon or to play the game indoors because the area is famous for its rainy weather condition for better part of the year. Those planters had their weekly club deep and the sports became increasingly popular. Dimbula with a certain amount of pride can claim as the first badminton club in Ceylon as Sri Lanka was then known. The neighbouring Dickoya-Maskeliya Cricket Club was founded in 1869, also took to sport as the tea planters were often transferred from their places of work in the Dimbulla District to Dickoya District and Vice-Versa.

Regular tournaments in badminton were conducted as often the wet weather conduction turned out to be a bonus to popularise this sport. Both clubs had their own badminton court. Dickoya's badminton court has stood the test of time is still there are good conditions wit the wooden floor and the club has a stage.

But unfortunately, Dimbula's original badminton court where this sport took root, is no longer in existence as it was razed to ground in the mid sixties following an electrical short circuit after a rugby match.

But it did not take much time for the badminton court to raise its head again and it was reconstructed with the help of philanthropists from the area with the late Chandra Hemachandra - a leading road hauler leading the way with generous contributions. Then there was the acreage tax from the Estates which also helped to swell the funds.

It is recorded that Dimbula conducted two tournaments annually from 1911 to 1926. The First Mixed Doubled event was introduced in 1923. the tournament 1950 saw the participation of 50 shuttlers. It was in the year 1950 that the Badminton Association of Ceylon was formed and the first Badminton Nationals was conducted in 1952 and that tournament has been held without a break since then.

A name that crops up is N.M. de Silva who pioneered the formation of this National Badminton body to play this sport in an organised manner and was also founder-President. N.M. de Silva did a lot to uplift the sport.

Great push vs Dandeniya

The construction of the Jayatilleke sports complex by the Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage saw the birth of this stadium.

The president President of the SLBA Suraj Dandeniya is making great efforts to give a new dimension to this sport by playing the National Championship out of Colombo and also rewarding the winners with cash awards.