By Chris Dhambarage The dream of every badminton player is to win the national crown and to repeat that feat for ten successive years is a rare and unique achievement indeed.
This is what Niluka Karunaratne performed last week where he retained the men’s singles title for the tenth successive year by overcoming his younger brother Dinuka Karunaratne in straight sets in the final.
“I played against my other younger brother four years ago, but this is the first time I met my second younger brother in a final. I have won the triple crown for two years, doubles for four years and the singles event for ten years,” said Niluka soon after his success.
However the 26-year-old shuttler believes that winning the national men’s singles title for the first time as a schoolboy was one of the most memorable achievements in his career.
“I won my first national singles title in 2001 when I was 16 years old. I beat Manjula Fernando in the finals. Winning for the first time is the most memorable one for me. I was the youngest to win the men’s national championship in Sri Lankan badminton.”
Niluka attributed his success to sheer hard work, commitment and discipline where he spends a lot of time preparing ahead of a major ranking tournament.
“It was always a tough task to maintain my form and consistency throughout. I always felt that there are so many players following behind to beat me and win the nationals.
“I really worked hard to maintain that standard and keep the momentum going for the past ten years. I believe that winning the men’s national title is the most important thing in my life.
“I wanted to defend the national title every time I started a fresh tournament. So I have been working hard for this tournament more than any other event in the Sri Lanka badminton calendar.
“I prepare for the nationals at least two to three months prior to the tournament. I start my training very early and that has helped me to overcome the pressure from the other players.
“I have been playing against the same players now for more than three to four years and I know their style of play well, also their strengths and weaknesses on the court.”
Niluka further stated that he is proud of his achievements as a badminton player and will continue to play hard in an attempt to improve on his world rankings.
“I am the only player in the history of Sri Lankan badminton to be unbeaten for ten years in any men’s singles open tournament. I have sacrificed many things for the love of the game and will continue to strive for success in the coming years.
“I have been representing Sri Lanka in badminton from the age of 15. Since then I have played in several major events including the Asian Games, Asian Championships, Commonwealth Games, World Championships and World team championships.”
Niluka also stated that coming into the final 16 in the Asian Championships and reaching the pre-quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Games were some of the major highlights in his career.
“I have played against some of the best in the World and came into the pre quarterfinals in the Asian Championships in 2003 held in Indonesia when I was 19 years old.
“That was a very big achievement in my life and once again I came into the quarterfinals of the Commonwealth Games tournament held in Melbourne, Australia in 2006.
“This is the highest achievement ever by a Sri Lankan badminton player in a Commonwealth Games tournament. Then I came into the pre-quarterfinals of the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi, India.
“I was the runner-up in the Australian open tournament in 2005, Wales open final in 2003 and Iran open championship series finals in 2007. My best world ranking was 71 in the men’s singles in the year 2006/07.”
However Niluka is still disappointed that he could not make it to the last Olympic Games due to an illness and is determined to make his mark in the rest of the tournaments lined up for this year.
“Last year I was ranked 81 and came close to playing in the Olympic Games. However I was down with fever and missed out a couple of tournaments and because of that I could not make it.
“Next month I will be going for the Puerto Rico International Challenge, then to Miami, from there to England for three other international tournaments and thereafter to Italy for another international open event,” concluded Niluka Karunaratne.
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