Covid positive Thilini Handehewa misses Europe series of tours
Ranthushka Karunathilaka (C) with officials of NOC, SLB and Sports Ministry at the sponsorship presentation
Sri Lanka badminton squad will embark on a month-long tour to Europe, from the island today with four members set to leave Colombo. The four members flying out today are Buwaneka Goonathilleka, Sachin Dias, Ranthushka Karunathilaka and Kavidi Sirimannage while the Karunaratne siblings — Niluka and Dinuka — are expected to join them midway.
Originally the contingent had five members, but one half of the Women’s Doubles pair, Thilini Handehewa had to pull out of the tour in the eleventh hour after contacting COVID-19. It was reported that Handehewa’s father was tested positive for COVID-19 initially, and after performing a PCR test on her, she too was tested positive.
The former national women’s Singles title holder, had voluntarily pulled out of the European expedition, which includes a series of top international events beginning from October 13. The competitions include the Yonex Dutch Open, LiNing Czech Open, Yonex Belgian International and the 46th Victor FZ Forza Hungarian International Championship.
In her absence Sirimannage will compete in the Women’s Singles category, in which Handehewa too would have been a competitor. The pairing of Handehewa and Sirimannage in the Women’s Doubles have earned Sri Lanka two gold medals from the South Asian Games of 2019 and Lagos International of 2017 and two silver medals from Maldives Future Series of 2019 and Nepal International of 2018. She also won a silver medal from the South Asian Games 2019 in Mixed Doubles partnering with Sachin Dias.
In addition to her participation in the solo event, Sirimannage is likely to pair up with Dias or Goonathilleka in the Mixed Doubles event. Dias and Goonathileka will appear in the Men’s Doubles event, the segment they are strong in as a unit. Sri Lanka may enter two Men’s Doubles teams with the Karunaratne brothers in. Niluka Karunaratne, Ranthushka Karunathilaka and Dinuka Karunaratne are pitted to compete in the Men’s Singles event.
Through the tour of four top European events, sanctioned by BWF as top-ranked competitions with players set to earn points,
Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) hopes to provide the much needed exposure to their ‘elite’ group of shuttlers, who are drafted recently. SLB intends to provide the shuttlers the platform to perform and better their current rankings in the world stage.
“Presently our best ranking is at 106th. They (players) need to step up and make proper use of this opportunity. If they earn better rankings, SLB will be able to provide them better opportunities in the future,” an high-ranked SLB official stated.
For the whole tour, which covers four countries, SLB has invested around Rs. 10million. The Ministry of Sports too has pumped in a portion of the expenditure.
The first competition the Lankan shuttlers will take part is the Yonex Dutch Open, which will be held from October 13 to 17 at Topsport Centre, Almere. They will then move to the LiNing Czech Open, which takes place from October 21 to 24 in Brno, the capital of South Moravia. The Yonex Belgian International takes place from October 27 to 30 at Sportoase in Leuven. The last outing for the Lankans will be the 46th Victor FZ Forza Hungarian International Championship, scheduled from November 3 to 6 in Budaors.
The team will return soon after the final event while Niluka Karunaratne will directly move to Spain to take part in the BWF World Senior Championships in Huelva taking place from November 24 to December 4.
Meanwhile last Thursday, SLB, with the assistance of the Ministry of Sports and National Olympic Committee (NOC), made the initiative to secure lucrative sponsorships to its elite shuttlers Thilini Handehewa and Ranthushka Karunathilaka. Sun Match (Ceylon) Ltd., with their ‘Sooriya’ brand of safety matches takes on the welfare of Handehewa while CIC Vetcare picked Karunathilaka, both meticulously selected after careful evaluation by NOC marketing consultant, Dr. Rohantha Athukorala.
Gowri Rajan, the marketing head of Sooriya and Ajith Weerasinghe the MD of Vetcare could not be present due to personal commitments, but NOC Chief Suresh Subramaniam and SLB Treasurer Mangala Gamage did the honours by signing the two agreements on behalf of the athletes, moderated by Dr. Athukorala. Handehewa was indisposed and was not present but Karunathilaka carried the programme for the athletes, heralding a new paradigm for badminton in Sri Lanka.
Earlier this year, in February, the Ministry of Sports provided a Tier 1 sponsorship package for Buwaneka Goonathilleka and Sachin Dias, the top Men’s Doubles combination in Sri Lanka.