Sri Lanka’s Top woman shuttler Thilini Jayasinghe, who competed at the Last Olympic Game in Beijing, has a glimpse of hope in making her way to the London Olympics this year. According to the selections, done by the world governing body for Badminton, she has been included in the stand bye list at third position.

Though the selections were made by the governing body, it is left for the respective governing bodies of participating countries to make the final decision on players representing the Olympic Games.

In the event of any three competitors failed to confirm their participation, it is the stand byes who fill these slots. It is left to be seen whether Thilini will stand a chance to present herself for a second time in Olympics.

Respective governing bodies have to confirm their athletics on or before May 10.

(By Sajeeka Jasinghe)

Sri Lanka’s Shuttle star Niluka Karunaratne’ participation at the forth coming London Olympic is confirmed by the Governing Body for the based in Malaysia. According to the ranking of the participants Niluka is placed in the 30th slot out of 38 in the men’s category thereby assuring him to compete in the Men’ Singles.

The Governing body has already finalized 172 men and women competitors for Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles events. These shyutlers are selected from 50 countries will represent their own country in respective categories. According to the world rankings conducted by the World Body Niluka who was earlier is in the 50th position now has come to the 47 position after he won five international tournaments in the recent past.

The only Badminton star from Sri Lanka battle in Olympics was Niroshan Wijekoon when he received a wild card for same. He is due to leave Spain to compete in an international championship and will move to Poland for a training stint before returning to the island.

- By Sajeeka Jayasinghe

Sri Lanka's number one badminton player, Niluka Karaunaratne has climbed to the 48^th position in World rankings. The latest rankings were issued on Thursday. Karunaratne, placed 26^th slot among the 38 badminton players already qualified for London Olympics, skipped the recently held Asian championships in order to keep himself fit for the pinnacle event.

"In Sri Lanka, there's no one to give me a tough match. Because of that, I decided to play international tournaments and came this far. As I won in many tournaments, McLerances Limited helped me a lot" "I believe at-least now, the badminton officials in Sri Lanka would give me a proper recognition, putting aside their personnel agendas" Karunaratne said. Karunaratne is planning for three months intense training prior to London Olympics.

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

Former national champion, Thilini Jayasinghe will have yet another opportunity to book her ticket to London Olympics, provided she appears in the major segment in the Asian Badminton Championships to be held in Shandong, China.

The tournament is to be held from 17 to 22 at Qingdao Sports Centre Conson Stadium, China.

Jayasinghe, currently ranked at 107^th among world's women's badminton players, has 13,583 rating points. She is the highest ranked Sri Lankan women's player as veteran Chandrika de Silva at 141 and current national champion, Achini Ratnasiri at 155 in the world rankings.

Only 38 men and women players will be selected to the Olympic Games to be held in London and it's only Jayasinghe has more opportunity according to the current situation. However, the challenge remains as most of the top level badminton players coming from the South East Asian countries.

Defending national champion Niluka Karunaratne, who has already been selected to represent Sri Lanka in the London Olympics, too takes part in the Asian Championships. Karunaratne is currently ranked 49^th among world badminton players.

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

The under 13 girls’ and boys’ badminton tournament organized by the Gateway College, Colombo was held recently at Gateway College Sports Complex, Colombo. The boys’ team of Lyceum International School Wattala emerged champions and the girl’s team were the runners up.

The under 15 boys and girls badminton tournament was organized by Stafford International School Colombo was held from February 8 to 10, 2012 at the SSC Indoor Courts Colombo. LyceumWattala boys’ team won the championship while the Girls’ team became the runners up in this category.

Sri Lanka beat Kazakhstan by 5-0 in the Thomas Cup badminton tournament in Macau, China, on Wednesday. Despite beating Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka had lost to Japan and Thailand on Tuesday and crashed out of the tournament. In the Uber cup competition, Renu Chandrika and Thilini Pramodika excelled to beat Kazakhstan by 5-0 but Sri Lanka lasses faced the same fate as Niluka and his men. Sri Lanka women's lost to Thailand and Indonesia on Tuesday and will be out of the tournament.

Sri Lanka v Kazakhstan match results (Thomas Cup)

1st Singles Event

Niluka Karunaratne beat Artur Niyazov (21-13, 21-6)

2nd Single Event

Lasitha Menaka Karunathilaka beat Yerzhakanov Samat (21/19,21/17)

3rd  Singles Event

Rajitha Dhanayaka beat Klyam Anton (21/13,21/11)

1st Doubles Event

Rajitha Dhanayaka and Hasitha Chanaka beat Artur Niyazov and Askar Ormanov(21/15,21/5)

2nd  Doubles Event

Lasitha Menaka Karunathilaka and Sankalpa Gunawardena beat Yerzhakanov Samat and Klyam Anton(21/10,21/14)

Sri Lanka v Kazakhstan match results (Uber Cup)

1st Singles Event

Renu Chandrika Hettiarachchige beat Veronika Sorokina(21/14, 21/17)

2nd Singles Event

Thilini Pramodika beat  Karina Suleyeva (21/9, 21/13)

3rd Singles Event

Lekha Shehani  beat  Elizaveta Yakovleva (21/11,22/20)

1st Doubles Event

Renu Chandrika Hettiarachchige and Nadeesha Gayanthi  beat  Veronika Sorokina and Karina Suleyeva(21-18 21-13)

2nd Doubles Event

Thilini Pramodika and Kavindi Ishandika beat  Ilyana Filipchuk and Elizaveta Yakovleva (21-10 22-20)

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

Sri Lanka crashed out of the Asian circuit of Thomas & Uber Cup competition as the islanders were beaten 5-0 by Japan and Thailand in Macau, China, on Tuesday. Sri Lanka, playing in Group 'C' had to meet Japan, Thailand and Kazakhstan in the Thomas cup.

Niluka Karunaratne, ranked number 62 in the world, met Sho Sasaki of Japan who is ranked at number 6 according to the International Badminton Federation.

In the Uber cup competition, which is confined for female athletes, Sri Lanka was badly beaten 5-0 by Thailand and Indonesia.

Sri Lanka is scheduled to play Kazakhstan on Wednesday.

Sri Lanka v Japan match results

 1st Singles Event 

Sho Sasaki beat Niluka Karunaratne (21/18, 21/8)

 2nd Singles Even t 

Kenichi Tago beat Lasitha Menaka Karunathilaka (21-8, 21-9)

3rd Singles Event

Takuma Ueda beat Hasitha Chanaka (21-6, 21-13)]

1st Doubles Event

Shoji Sato And Naoki Kawamae beat Lasitha Menaka Karunathilaka And Amila Chamin Fernando  (21-11, 21-15)

2nd Doubles Event

Noriyasu Hirata And Hirokatsu Hashshimoto beat Rajitha Sandeepana Dhanayaka and Hasitha Chanaka (21-6, 21-4)

Sri Lanka v Thailand match results

1st  Singles Event

Inthanon Ratchanok beat Thilini Jayasinghe (21-9 , 21-5)

2nd  Singles Event

Porntip Buranaprasertsuk beat Renu Chandrika Hettiarachchige (21-12,21-11)

3rd  Singles Event

Nichaon Jindapon beat Thilini Pramodika Hendahewa (21-7,21-4)

1st   Doubles Event

Duanganong Aroonkesorn  And  Kunchala Voravichitchaikul beat  Renu Chandrika HettiarachchigeAnd  Lekha Shehani (21-4, 21-10)

2nd Doubles Event

Savitree Amitrapai and Sapsiree Taerattanachai beat Thilini Pramodika Hendahewa and Kavindi Ishandika Sirimannage (21-5 21-4)

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

Sri Lanka's badminton star, Niluka Karunaratne, reached the semi-final men's singles event in the Uganda International Badminton Championship, in Uganda on Saturday. Niluka beat Jacob Malek of South Africa by 21/13 and 21/08 to reach quarter finals.  He then defeated Misa Silberman of Israel  by 21/18 and 21/16 to book his place in the semi-final.

Niluka, the third seeded player in the tournament, will meet Pedro Martins of Portugal in the semi-final.

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

Sri Lanka's badminton star, Niluka Karunaratne, has been given a walk-over in the first round of the Uganda International Badminton Championship, in Uganda on Friday. Niluka was given a walk-over from Ali Shahhasseini of Iran. Niluka, the third seeded player in the tournament, will meet Jacob Malienka of South Africa in the second round on Friday. Niluka stands at 69^th position according to BWF rankings while Jacob is ranked at 119^th slot.

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

The 16th Travel Trade Sports Club men’s and women’s Badminton Championships 2011 will be held on Sunday, January 29 at St. Thomas’ College, Mt. Lavinia Indoor Stadium from 8.00 .a.m. to 8.00 p.m.

Sri Lanka’s badminton whiz-kid Achini Ratnasiri is the country’s undisputed number one women’s player but Sri Lanka’s badminton officials have put a spoke in the wheel of her ambitions to secure an Olympic Games slot, cleverly disguising their vile attempts behind “national interest”, sources told “Daily Mirror”.

The 17-year old schoolgirl who has won the national singles crown for three consecutive years is Sri Lanka’s obvious best-bet for future or present inter national glory, but Badminton officials have not only stopped her from returning to an inter national tour nament where she won a gold medal last year but have issued her a letter demanding explanation why disciplinary action should not be taken against her for skipping a national assignment.

Ratnasiri has taken a realistic view of her chances and refused to take part in a useless Uber Cup qualifying tournament as it is obvious that Sri Lanka would not stand the remotest chance of securing a qualifying berth.

Only three teams would qualify from Asia for the main Uber Cup and Korea have already secured one slot as defending champs, with China also securing a slot as hosts of the tournament. Therefore only one slot will be open and countries like Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, India, Indonesia would also be taking part in the qualifying tournament to be played in Macau in two weeks.

It takes no expert to understand that Sri Lanka will not stand even a semblance of a chance to qualify and Ratnasiri did not wish to waste her energy chasing a mirage. Instead she decided to pursue a more realistic dream – the dream of every sportsman on this earth – to qualify for the Olympics.

Grade III inter national tour naments may not be the most competitive on earth but they offer the best opportunity for players of Sri Lankan standard to gain ranking points required to qualify for Olympics as Niluka Karunaratne recently proved by winning three tournament in a row.

Sri Lankan Niluka Karunaratne qualified for the second in the men's singles of the Scotland open Badminton championships as he beat German Reuter Marshall by 2-0. Marshall, who ranked 90th in world, lost to Niluka by 21/17 &  21/17.

Niluka has won two international badminton tournaments held in America, is ranked 98th among world badminton players. Niluka's brother, Dinuka, is also playing in the same tournament. The tournament will be going on till Sunday.

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

Former National Badminton champion L.R. Ariyananda who is now an official fighting for a cleaner sport says the mystery of the missing audited accounts of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association for the year 2010 could open the lid on a multi-million Rupee racket of corrupt officials exploiting innocent youth players.

However his repeated pleas to the Sports Minister to investigate the matter has mysteriously fallen on deaf ears paving way for the culprits with powerful political connections to go scot free.

Ariyananda who is now the President of the Western province Badminton Association has raised the question about the annual accounts when the Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA) was held on July 8 this year.

Sports Ministry Assistant Director Abeysinghe who chaired the AGM agreed to the point as elections could not be held without previous year’s accounts according to the Sports Law. Abeysinghe had ordered the officials who were elected to present the accounts within a month of assuming office.

At a meeting the Sports Minister had been informed by the SLBA Affiliates that the audit of the SLBA had been done by the same firm which did their accounts and the Minister ordered a fresh audit.

Sri Lanka's national badminton champion Niluka Karunaratne won a gold medal in the Bill Graham Miami International tournament held in Miami, USA. He beat Pachco Rodrigo of Peru in the men's singles final winning in straight sets 21/12, 21/14.

This is the second gold medal for Niluka who is on a long tour across the North and South America. Before coming to Miami, he won the men's singles title at the Puerto Rico Open which lifted his World Badminton ranking to 112.

Following his win over 64th ranked Rodrigo in Miami, Niluka has a great opportunity to be ranked among the first 100 players in the world. The rankings after the Miami event have not been updated yet. 

In the meantime, Chandrika de Silva teamed up with Lasitha Maneka to grab a silver medal in the mixed double event at the Bill Graham Open. They were beaten by Paul Obanan and Philip Waach of USA in the final.

Chandrika reached the semi-finals of the women's singles event before losing.

Players from Puerto Rico, USA, Slovakia, Israel, Austria, Italy, Brazil, Peru and Mexico took part in the Bill Graham Open which concluded on Saturday.

(By Sajeeka Jayasinghe)

Kasun D. Amarasena of Richmond College, Galle clinched a double at the recent Junior National Badminton Championships when he claimed both the singles and doubles titles in the under 13 age group. Amarasena defeated Thihan Hewagama of Ananda College in the final of the singles event and then partnered fellow Richmond player Tilina Hansa Pethum to win the doubles event. 

Achini Ratnasiri and Upuli Samanthika won the bronze medal in the women's badminton doubles at at the Youth Commonwealth Games which is currently in progress in Isle of Man, United Kingdom. The Sri Lankan pair beat Australia in the consolation finals by 2-1. The scores were recorded as 12/21, 21/19 and 16/21

Achini Ratnasiri and Upuli Samanthika qualified to the semi-finals of the women's badminton doubles. However, they were unfortunate to lose to the Malaysian pair of S. Cheah and L. Yang 2-0 in the semi-final. The scores were (21/16 and 22/20).

-MSA