Chance to catch the shuttlers coach
China’s decade long Thomas Cup reign was brought to a halt by Japan when they scored a 3-0 victory in the semi-finals of the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup International badminton championships concluded at New Delhi in India recently. Japan continued their winning trend ended up as champions beating Malaysia 3-2 in the men’s Thomas Cup finals.
The upcoming Yonex Sunrise International will give Sri Lankan shuttlers a chance to showcase their skills at top level - File pic
Two notable incidents took place in the tournament, first being the Olympic Champion and Chinese ace Lin Dan who was deprived playing in the third singles due to a slip in the world rankings as 19 year-old- Momota of Japan scored the vital win over Du to clinch the match 3-0 to enter finals. The second being world number two Chen Long of China losing to Japan’s Kenchi Tago.
Seeing how the Nations like South Korea, Denmark and Germany fared in the tournament every Sri Lankan badminton fan would have felt sorry for not seeing Sri Lanka in action due to their failure to qualify. Sri Lanka possessing a wealth of talent with players headed by Niluka Karunaratne, Chandrika De Silva, and Achini Ratnasiri who could would have brought some honour to Sri Lanka if they took part in this tourney.
At the last Olympic Games Niluka Karunaratne beat Kenchi Tago who incidentally beat the world number two ranked Chinese player. In the 1998 SAARC Games Sri Lanka was in par with India on performance as every match against India went on to decide on the third set. Since then Sri Lanka had not shown any improvement in international badminton except for Niluka’s first round win at the Olympics.
However it is interesting to find out that other Asian countries including India have gone past Sri Lanka in the international badminton arena, the reason for us to stagnate is anybody’s guess. Though the Lankans are rich in talent which they have failed to expose and that may be the main reason for veteran Chandrika de Silva to win the national championship for many years as there seems no youngster to match her when it comes to a final. It is the same story in the men’s segment where the Karunaratne brothers dominate as there is no other to dethrone them.
Speaking further a reputed badminton coach and a member of a badminton association said they both agreed that there are no significant signs of improvement in Sri Lankan badminton and stressed the urgent need for a well drawn-up plan in spotting talent from under 13 upwards and to groom them under different age groups to be guided by experienced coaches. They also spotlighted the lack of international exposure of our players which will boost their chances in gaining international recognition and world ranking. They also emphasised the importance of a coach accompanying a player or a team on tour which was highly exposed at the last Olympic games when Niluka Karunaratne playing in the pre-quarter-finals found that there was nobody to guide him at the all important second round match against the Indian, a game which he would have won after defeating him in the first set.
It will be a great opportunity for the Sri Lankan men and women shuttlers to exhibit their talent and credibility when they set foot on the floor of the badminton court at the Sugathadasa Indoor stadium to face tough international opposition in the coming Yonex Sunrise International Badminton Championships from June 4.