No changes to SAG Badminton Team Minister reassures

CT Sports: Minister of Sports Dayasiri Jayasekara reassured that no changes will be made to the list of players already selected in the Sri Lanka Badminton Team for the South Asian Games (SAG) which will be held in India next month.
The minister made these comments when he had the opportunity of meeting the parents of the eight-member Sri Lanka men's badminton team at the ministry office in Colombo yesterday.
The Sri Lanka Badminton Federation (SLBA) earlier, named a sixteen-member squad comprising of eight men and eight women following trials conducted last month.

Ceylon Today reliably learns that several attempts have been made to include brothers Niluka and Dinuka Karunaratne in the SAG squad, even though they did not participate in the Selection Trials. As a result the two players were not considered for selection.
One of the parents who participated at the meeting with the Sports Minister said that the minister had given an assurance that no changes will be made to the present SAG Badminton Team.

Minister Jayasekara also confirmed that he had received an appeal to include the Karunaratne brothers in the SAG Badminton Team and that he had forwarded the request to the National Selection Committee to take a final decision.
The SLBF have already conducted a number of training sessions for the current SAG Badminton Team members and have already finalized the players who will be competing in the singles and doubles.
Meanwhile, Director of Sports K.D. Ruwanchandra said that the SAG Badminton Team will be officially announced today.

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Dulanjana and Enuri emerge champions

CT Sports: Maduka Dulanjana from Ananda College Colombo and Enuri Gayara Kuruppu from Visakha College Colombo clinched the Boys' and Girls' Under-19 singles title respectively at the DS Smashes Badminton Championships Organized by the D.S.Senanayake College Oldboys and worked off at the College Indoor Courts on Sunday.
This year, 1,250 students from a total of 125 schools participated in the championship in four age group categories, Under-11, 13, 15, 17 and 19. All matches were conducted on a knock-out basis.
Oshada Thilan de Silva and Rajith Pramod from Dharmasoka College Ambalangoda emerged second and third respectively in the Boys Under-19 Tournament.

In addition, Udari de Alwis from Musaeus College Colombo and Dhakshitha Jayaratne from Holy Cross College Kalutara took the second and third place respectively in the Girl's Under-19 Tournament.
In the Boys Under-19 doubles category, the duo of Rajitha Pamod and Oshada Thilana de Silva won the title while the pair of L. Hettiarachchi and Enuri Gayara Kuruppu won the Girls Under-19 Championship.

The combination of Dinuka Kaluarachchi and Adeesha Kaluarachchi took the second place in the Boys Under-19 doubles tournament while the pair of Dineth Gunathilaka and K. Rajapaksa secured the third place in the Boys Under-19 doubles event.
Sandunika Mullegama and Rajini Balasuriya were placed second in the Girls Under-19 doubles event while Dhakshika Rajaratne and Udari de Alwis were placed third in the Girls Under-19 doubles Tournament.

The tournament was approved by the Ministry of Education and all matches were officiated by the referees from the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA).
President of the SLBA Suraj Dandeniya along with D.S.Senanayake College Principal R.M.M. Ratnayake graced the occasion as Chief Guests during the awards ceremony.

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Cheeky Karunaratnes skipped SAG Trials – SLBA

CT Sports: Sri Lanka's top ranked badminton players, Niluka Karunaratne and Dinuka Karunaratne, have been axed from the Sri Lanka Team for the forthcoming South Asian Games (SAG) as both had not participated in the SAG selection trials.

Nevertheless, according to a reliable source and an expert in the field, it's evident that both Karunaratne's skipped the trials purposely as they are in no position to win a medal in the regional championship though they are pampered by many top officials in the country.

Also, he further said the two players are trying desperately to maintain their ranking positions as the elder Karunaratne (Niluka) is ranked No. 121 in the world which is in complete contrast to his ranking during the last Olympics (2012) which was at No. 47.
Nevertheless, there are eight Indian players who are ranked above Niluka in India including one in the top 10 where a SAG medal is only a dream for the two shuttlers and losing would be a big blow for their World Rankings.
The Selection Trials for the SAG was held on 4, 5 and 6 January that selected eight men and eight women.

The Sri Lanka Badminton Associations (SLBA) Vice-President Palitha Hettiarachchi said that the Association informed all players officially on 30 November and Niluka and his brother Dinuka didn't inform the reason why they did not participate at the trails.
He further said, they have learned that these two players had left to Poland for training but they did not get the approval from the Association prior to the visit. President SLBA Suraj Dandeniya said that, as a team they have failed to win medals at SAG, Commonwealth Games or Olympics.
"The players' ambition should be to perform well for their motherland. If they skip trials like this it's safe to say that they are not doing any good to their motherland".
Yet, Niluka had a completely different story.

"We came to Poland to train for the SAG. We informed the SLBA before we left Sri Lanka on 26 November and they were aware of everything. They just wanted to remove us from the SAG. We will hold a press conference just after we return back on 1 February" said Karunaratne who is now in Poland.
"Suraj Dandeniya just wants to take revenge from us, we have all the evidence", he added.
Despite his poor form Niluka receives the highest International Olympic Committee (IOC) Scholarship award of US$ 1,500 per month until the 2016 Rio Olympics although he has not performed to expectations, where he has not even won a South Asian medal.

Similarly Sri Lanka has only three athletes who have already secured Olympic qualifications but none of them has been granted the said scholarship though Niluka is nowhere near to qualifying for the 2016 Olympics.
The women's team: Thilini Hendahewa, Kavindi Ishadika, Lekha Shehani, Achini Ratnasiri, Oshadi Kuruppu, Nadeesha Gayani, Upuli Samanthika, Chandrika de Silva.
The men's teams: Bhuwanaka Gunathilaka, Sachith Dias, Imesh Hasaranga, Vihavi Madush, Thisara Nimika, Maduka Dulanjala, Thisal Yatawara, and Sumedha Ranaweera. 

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