Ten shuttlers for Asian Championship

by Anushka WITHANAGE

Sri Lanka will field a formidable eight member team of shuttlers for the Asian Badminton Championship to be held in New Delhi, India from April 12 to 18 left the island yesterday. They are accompanied by two officials.

Around 330 shuttlers from twenty countries are expected to participate this year.

Besides Sri Lanka, the participating countries are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Iraq, Indonesia, India, Japan, Korea, Macau, Maldives, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Thailand, Chinese Taipei, Turkmenistan and Vietnam.

Sri Lanka's best hopes for a medal will be Niluka Karunaratne in the men's category and Chndrika de Silva and Achini Rathnasiri in the women's section.

The championship is an important one for Sri Lanka to further bolster the country's advancement at international level.

The Badminton Federation of Sri Lanka has selected five men and three women shuttlers from the selection trials conducted recently.

The team Men: Niluka Karunarathne, Diluka Karunarathne, Hasitha Chanaka, R.S. Dahanayake and Lasitha Menake.

Women: Chandrika de Silva, Achini Rathnasiri, and Upuli Samanthika.