Renu Chandrika: Dominating Women’s Badminton in SL

Sri Lankan cricket saw its most memorable moment when Arjuna Ranatunga led his team to the 1996 World Cup beating Sri Lanka’s ‘old enemy’ Australia in the final in Lahore and, in the same year, a girl left the same sport, cricket, so as to take to another sport. She is Renu Chandrika de Silva who took to badminton after leaving more popular game of cricket.

It is not the time to debate about her choice between badminton and Cricket but it’s time to look at her badminton career so far, which has brought honour to her mother country on several occasions.

Chandrika de Silva has won the national title on 11 occasions including her this year’s win and her record is the highest for a local player.

Beginning of Carrier

"I began my carrier in 1982," said Chandrika when "Sunday Island – Sportstar"interviewed her recently.

"I had my basic education at Swarnapali Maha Vidyalaya, Anuradhapura. When I was studying at grade three or four, I was lucky to have my first experience in the sport of badminton. That was in 1982."

A way back in 1986, Chandrika participated in her first ever top level competition at the North-East Open Badminton Championship. There, she won in Girls Singles.

Chandrika’s victory in Javelin Throw at the All-Island Schools Athletic Championship in 1993 shows that her dominance wasn’t only in badminton those days. She was a fine athlete, cricketer, a volleyball player and a netball player.

Golden moments

The veteran Lankan badminton player then saw her golden moments at various international meets.

In 2005, she became champion in the Singles representing Sri Lanka in the Nepal International Satellite Championship where many of the other well-known Asian countries took part, such as India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

Teaming up with Olympian Thilini Jayasinghe, Chandrika qualified to the top eight in the Asian Badminton Championship in 2005. Asian Championship is one of the toughest championships you could find due to the participation of world No.1 China.

She also qualified to the top sixteen in the Commonwealth Games in 2002 held in Manchester, United Kingdom.

SAG Games

The veteran’s talents have earned a gold, silver and bronze medal for Sri Lanka in the South Asian Championship. She won a SAG gold medal in Mixed Doubles in the 1997 SAG games held at India. She teamed up with Thusara Edrisinghe to win that medal.

In 2004 and 2006, teaming up Diluka Karunaratna, she won a SAG Silver and Bronze respectively.

Apart from these international Championships, Chandrika have brought glory for Sri Lanka on many other occasions.

"Comparing to our early days, the players today have more facilities than us but I think our coaching must improve. If we are thinking about an Asian medal or any other international medal, we must check players weakness personally and treat them individually to see an improvement on Sri Lankan badminton," Chandrika added.

This year’s Nationals –

Chandrika de Silva exhibited her experience and apart from defending her singles title, she bagged two more events as well.

Along with the singles and mixed doubles, Chandrika also won the women’s doubles securing all three titles possible for a single player

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Achini Ratnasiri, heir apparent to the Badminton Crown

At just 15 years Achini Ratnasiri has made a tremendous impact in the local Badminton scene. To say that this Lindsay Girls school student is loaded with immense talent would be to make the greatest understatement ever. Also to this slip of a girl, reputations of her opponents matters very little as she displayed in the semi-finals of the recently concluded National Championship when she outsmarted Tillini Jayasinghe, Sri Lanka’s sole representative at the Beijing Olympics in Badminton.

Achini was first introduced to the Badmintion court by her sister, also a talented player. She was soon to be an integral part of her school's Badminton team right from the under 10 level where she displayed immense dexterity and a wide array of both attacking and defensive shots to help her school become champs in the all-island school's meet. Her amazing talent and court craft can be gauged from the fact that from 2003 to 2008 she has won the Junior Nationals in the U-11, U-13 and U-15 levels singles as well as the doubles titles with her regular partner Upuli Samanthika.

Venturing to the senior Nationals in 2007 Achini then just 14 years of age did creditably well to come to the quarter finals where she lost to the ultimate singles champ Chandrika de Silva. She went one better when she and her doubles partner Upuli Samanthika clinehed the runner-up spot in the women's doubles.

Also in 2007, playing in the Ariyadasa Silva Memorial Meet Achini went on to bag 5 titles winning the U-14 singles and mixed doubles titles with Rakitha Perera. The open singles and women's doubles with Upuli and the mixed doubles with R.S. Dhanayake. 2008 also saw Achini annex the Triple Crown at the Junior Nationals winning the singles, Womens doubles and the mixed doubles titles.

Then in the Nationals Achini after dispatching Olympian Tillini Jayasinghe ended up as runner up to Chandrika de Silva. She also went on to help her school become champions in the U-19 all island schools tournament Achini has also represented Sri Lanka at Junior and Senior level starting with the "Cheers You" tournament in 2006 held in Singapore where she displayed her talents combining with Upuli Samanthika to lift the silver medal in the women's doubles. In 2008 she also represented Sri Lanka at the Junior Commonwealth Youth Games held in India, the world Junior meet also held in India, the U-16 Asian Junior meet at Brunei and the Uber cup Meet in Vietnam.

Achini trains Monday to Saturday with Wednesday off, mostly at the Royal Sports complex and her stupendous talents have been fine turned by 3 coaches namely Sirimal Aponso her first coach and Chintake Fernando, her school coach and also by Pradeep Welagedera the National Coach.

She is extremely grateful to her parents, sister, her Principal, Ms Eroasha de Silva her teacher in charge at school, all other teachers and friends for the extreme support they give her to advance day by day in her chosen sport which has brought her to the limelight. In conclusion she said that given adequate training, she is confident that she would be able to reach Asian Standards in the not too distant future.(http://www.dailymirror.lk)