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shuttle champion in the making It is another matter that the demure, petite Thilini lost the final to the vastly more experienced Chandrika de Silva having roused hopes of an upset early on. Incidentally, Chandrika de Silva won the National title for a record seventh time, eclipsing the feat of Chandrika Mallawarachchi (of Bishop's College) who held undisputed sway in the 1970s. Thilini took to the game by sheer accident. As both her parents (Manel and Ajantha) work at the Peradeniya University, she frequented the gymnasium and dabbled in the sport. One day she made up the numbers at a Badminton tournament and ended up by claiming the Silver medal for the Under-11 event. This set her thinking and from that day she became a shuttle addict. Success has continued to come her way since then, and Thilini captured the Junior National titles in Singles and Doubles at Under-13, 15, 17 and 19 levels. She went one better this year, winning a triple crown at the Junior Nationals partnered in the girls event by Madusha Dissanayake and in the boys event by Diluka Karunaratne at the recent Senior Nationals, she was runner-up in both Singles and Doubles - the latter partnered by Visakhian Amali Amerasinghe. Thilini, who is currently ranked number two in Sri Lanka, has won the Kurunegala and Nuwara Eliya open championships. However, her nemesis, Chandrika de Silva stood in her way, winning the Central Province open. Not without a fight though, for Thilini did well to win the second set II-2. This is a rarity, for Chandrika doesn't drop too many sets in local competitions. At 18, she can lay claim to being a much-travelled girl. Her foreign roamings began in 1997 when she took part in India's Krishna Kaithan championships. The Maldives was her next Port of Call, finishing runner-up in the Singles at the Junior SAF tournament. For good measure, Thilini won the Doubles with home-town partner Kanchana Gonawala (of Mahamaya) and was the runner-up together with Diluka Karunaratne in the mixed event. Also in 2000, she participated in the Asian Junior championships in Japan. In 2001 she was part of the Sri Lanka Schools team that figured in the Asian Schools tournament. The next year (2002) it was back to Malaysia, this time as captain of the Sri Lankan team at the Asian Junior championships. Thilini enjoyed success at the international level at the Asian satellite championships held in Bangladesh where she was the runner-up in the Doubles, and lost in the semi-final of the Singles event (2002). Incidentally, Chandrika won the Singles. epresenting Sri Lanka in the second Singles at the Uber Cup in the Netherlands has a special place in her memory. 2003 and Indonesia for the Asian Badminton championships was her last trip. Here, Thilini lost to a Korean girl after leading 7-2. She also lost the Doubles (partnered by Chandrika) to a Malaysian pair. Ninety per cent of her training was done at the University Gymnasium and, for that, she is very grateful to the authorities. Here it was a case of training for four days. However when she became a part of the national squad, it was five days a week (morning and evening) training in Colombo. In Kandy she had to meet the expenses incurred in connection with 'count-hire' (not at the gymnasium) and shuttles. Colombo poses problems of a different sort. Although the outstation poolists are put up at the SLBA headquarters, obtaining meals is a bit of a bother. At the moment, Thilini enjoys Yonex sponsorship, where shoes, racquets etc., are provided. But she would dearly love another sponsor to help out especially when tours come round. Talking of Badminton in Kandy, Thilini feels that much can, and should, be done to improve standards. At the moment she is carrying the flag for Kandy Badminton almost alone. Feather shuttles are not available in Kandy and there is a glaring lack of qualified coaches. |
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