Niluka reaches 48th place in BWF rankings

Niluka reaches 48th place in  

BWF rankings

 

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.

(www.dailymirror.lk)

Thilini gets another opportunity in China

Thilini gets another opportunity in China 

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.

(www.dailymirror.lk)