National Shuttlers train in Bandarawela ahead of departure to Nepal
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The Sri Lanka Badminton team for the upcoming South Asian Games (SAG) 2019, from December 1-10, in Nepal, is currently taking part in a residential training camp in Bandarawela.
Sri Lanka’s 20-member team includes 8 Men and as many Women Shuttlers, as they look to pose a serious challenge to the strong Indian team. The 13th SAG features 27 sports, with Badminton taking place in Pokhara in central Nepal, about 200 km away from the capital Katmandu and is known as a gateway to the Annapurna Circuit, a popular trail in the Himalayas. Therefore, Sri Lanka Badminton decided that the cold weather in Bandarawela will help the Shuttlers acclimatise to the temperature as well as the high altitude, to a certain extent.
The team, coached by Indonesian Tony Wahyudi and Duminda Jayakodi, will be led by National champion Dinuka Karunaratne and former women’s champion Achini Rathnasiri. The team will miss the services of Olympian and Sri Lanka’s top-ranked player Niluka Karunaratne, elder brother of Dinuka, due to injury.
Niluka’s absence will impact on the team’s hopes, but Dinuka, who defeated his elder brother to win the national championship, will go all out to make up for his brother’s absence. The strong Doubles combination of Buwaneka Goonethilake and Sachin Peiris are expected to better their performance at last year’s Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, where they finished 4th.
Ranthushka Sasindu, Lochana de Silva, Maduka Dulanjana, Krishan Danushka, Thusith Palliyaguru, Chamath Dias and Hasitha Chanaka make up the rest of the team.
Achini Rathnasiri, the Women’s team captain, will have the services of national champion Thilini Hendahewa, Kavindi Sirimannage, Nadeesha Gayanthi, Upuli Weerasinghe, Kavindika de Silva, Hasara Wijeratne, Dilmi Dias, Anurangi Masakorala and Hasini Ambalangodage. Tilak Jayasiri will be the Manager.