Scene moves away to Nawalapitiya
The 61st National Badminton Championship will make its way out from Colombo, the commercial capital of Sri Lanka, to Nawalapitiya, the hometown of the Minister of Sports Mahindananda Aluthgamage. The competitions which will be held under nine different categories will begin on October 1 and finish on October 6, setting two new records in the history of badminton, according to Suraj Dandeniya, the President of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB).
“We have two valid reasons to move out from Colombo to Nawalapitiya. If we take, most of our former national champions come from outstations and in addition the intended venue, the Jayatilleke Indoor Complex in Nawalapitiya can be termed as the second best available indoor facility in Sri Lanka for badminton, next to the Sugathadasa Indoor Complex. Technically the Nawalapitiya complex is the best in town at the moment for a few reasons,” Dandeniya explained.
11-time national champion, Niluka Karunaratne will be eyeing his 12th title this year under new conditions in Nawalapitiya. - Pic by Amila Gamage
Further, the 61st edition of the elite domestic badminton competition will be held on a synthetic surface, which is an internationally accepted and practiced norm. In addition this year’s competition has attracted over 380 competitors with the decision of SLB to offer handsome cash awards to the winners.
“For the first time in history we are offering a total of cash prizes worth Rs. 1.1million. Earlier we made arrangements to grant Rs. 500,000 for the well renowned Ariyadasa Tournament held in Ambalangoda last month, but the Nationals is a special event. Players need to be injected with motivation and this is the initiative,” Dandeniya, who says that he, has a broader vision for badminton.
The main categories, the Open Men’s Singles and Open Women’s Singles winners will walk away with a cash reward of Rs. 130,000 each while the runners-up are entitled for a cash award of Rs. 70,000. The Doubles events in Open Men, Open Women and Mixed will offer a cash prize of Rs. 100,000 for the winners while the runners-up will receive Rs. 50,000 each.
In addition to the main categories, the competition will unfold in Under-24, Under-19, Under-17 and Under-15 categories for boys and girls. Men and women will also compete in the Over-35, Over-40, Over 50 and Over-55 categories. The preliminary round competitions of the Under-17 and Under-15 categories are being at the Royal College Sports Complex and the SLB Headquarters at Maitland Place from September 27 to 30 before the aligning them with the main competition from the second round.
Top seed Niluka Karunaratne is the current title holder in the Men’s segment and he will be eyeing for his 12th National title this time around. Eight-time champion Chandrika de Silva is the present is the top seed player in the Women’s category.
The players will be housed at the official dormitories of the Jayatilleke Sports Complex and each of them will be charged with a nominal fee of Rs. 200 per day according to SLB officials. Most of the players, including the top ranked, said they were thrilled to compete at a different set up with international standards, despite the Nationals being held far away from the accustomed Colombo.
“We were told that the competition will be held under new standards with internationally acclaimed conditions. We have not seen anything yet. But we are eager to test our skills in those conditions. Let’s see how things move on,” said some of the participants.
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