A blunder by Badminton Authorities saw Sri Lanka conceding six matches, without even stepping into the court, at the recently concluded Asian Badminton in New Delhi.
The authorities removed Thilini Jayasinghe and Lekha Shehani from the final squad due to high expenditure of the tour. However, the tournament draw had been done days before which resulted in Sri Lanka conceding six matches without even facing the opponents.
To make matters worse, Sri Lankan badminton authorities have been asked to pay a $ 250 each for every event that they didn't take part.
Sri Lanka had nominated 10 players to its squad but only eight of them took wing to India to take part in the tournament. Yet, only four of them were given food from the Ashok Hotel, New Delhi, and the other four had to take their meals from out side cafeteria.
Achini Ratnasiri and Upuli Samanthika, the only Sri Lankan duo to win a gold medal in an Asian badminton event, lasted only eight minutes in their game against the Macao girls. The under 16 Asian Champs, Ratnasiri and Samanthika battled for eight minutes and proved once again that there is a huge void between junior level and the seniors in the Asian Badminton circuit.
China won three out of the five gold medals in the tournament as Karunaratne brothers, Niluka and Dinuka, were the only Sri Lankans who qualified in to the second round. |
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