Inaugural Colombo Club tourney from August 29
Hosted at the Mercantile Badminton Association courts on Malalasekera Mawatha, Colombo 7, the championships will feature a diverse range of events, including competitions across various age groups as well as Open classes.
Top players in the country, from 1 to 10 in the national rankings are deliberately kept out at the championships in the Over-15 Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles to offer an opportunity for those who are not clear favourites.
Over the last few years, the development of badminton throughout the island has gone on apace under the current administration led by Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) President, Rohan de Silva. Coaching, Technical, Regional Development and Competitions have all been very active components with multiple programmes conducted in pre-determined schedules each year. The Ceylon Masters group affiliated to SLB have also run robust tournaments, notably the Asian Masters Championships held recently, which drew the participation of many countries. To top it all, young Viren Nettasinghe represented Sri Lanka at the last Olympics in Paris, keeping the country’s flag flying in the realm of indoor sports.
A major development envisaged by SLB is the transition from a Provincial structure to a District structure that it is intended to increase the Badminton fraternity in the country. That great stride was taken, when the Colombo District Badminton Association (CDBA) was formed in December 2023. At the helm of CDBA is a veteran sports administrator Gamini Jayasuriya, representing the SSC, who has taken the leadership in its inaugural year to promote badminton in the capital of Colombo.
In such a dynamic milieu, it is the SLB competitions that takes center stage with back-to-back provincial tournaments each month. All these tournaments are run to a high standard, assisted and supervised by the SLB Competitions Committee. These are of course the cream of Sri Lanka Badminton.
But what of all other badminton lovers, who play the game day after day, but do not quite relish the opportunity to play in tournaments. Thus, the inaugural Inter-Club Badminton Championships it is hoped, will fulfill that need. It is also designed to develop the club structure and academies, which is where badminton flourishes and brings whole families together in the enjoyment of this popular sport.
The events include Under-15 for the juniors, the Over-15 for the mainstream and the Over-40 and Over-60, for the veterans who form the backbone of any sport.
The 1st Inter-Club Badminton Tournament, as seen often, is sponsored by McLarens Group who will support the event along with other sponsors who actively foster the sport. Veteran administrator Ruwan Fernando is at the helm of the tournament supported by seasoned officials, Caryl Tozer, Adrian De Lima, Lakshmi Punchihewa and Chinthaka Fernando.