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| Sunday, 18 April 2004 |
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Shuttle champ Niluka may not return to KL for 3 months by LAL GUNESEKERA Sri Lanka's reigning men's national champion, 19-year-old Niluka Karunaratne, who was sent to Malaysia's National Badminton Centre in Kuala Lumpur for advanced training for a period of 1 1/2 years, is now back in Colombo after the South Asian Federation (SAF) Games staged in Pakistan earlier this month. Niluka said he is determined to remain in Colombo for three months and train under local coaches before contemplating returning to Kuala Lumpur again. Karunaratne's world ranking has dropped down to 168 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) had not taken into consideration his performance at last year's ABC Championships, but taking into account only the Wales, Scotland and Ireland Opens. This year (2004), he is scheduled to figure in 10 IBF ranking tournaments, but will decide in which to play where he could not only win, but do well and get higher ranking. He is determined to get a ranking under 100. Among the tournaments he is eyeing are the ABC Championships in Kuala Lumpur next week, Thailand Satellite in May, Vietnam Satellite in June, Malaysian Open in June-July, New Zealand Open in July, Australian Open also in July, Singapore Satellite in September, Pakistan Satellite in November and Malaysian Satellite also in November as well as the Wales Open, Scotland Open and Ireland Open later in the year. There is also a possibility of Karunaratne shifting his training base to either South Korea or Denmark and negotiations on this matter is going on at the moment among the authorities concerned. At the NBC in Kuala Lumpur, there are 12 top coaches at the centre, but as usual, first priority is being given to Malaysian nationals. Meanwhile, three shuttlers (two men and one woman) are leaving for Kuala Lumpur today (Sunday) to compete at the Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) Individual Championships to be worked off from April 19 to 24. The two men's players are Niluka Karunaratne and U.D.R.P. Kumara, while the solitary woman player is Nadeesha Gayanthi. They are being accompanied by Lui Karunaratne as manager and Kamal Gamlath as coach. A spokesman for the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA) told the 'Sunday Observer' that they have not yet been successful in appointing a national coach. "At the moment, Kamal Gamlath, is doing the coaching and talks are going on with former national champion and Thomas Cup player Kingsley Nallathamby. There is also a possibility of recruiting a top coach from overseas with the assistance of the ABC, but the main problem is the finances. We (the SLBA) will have to spend at least Rs. 200,000/- a month for his allowance," he said. |
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