Lankan shuttlers shine in Bangladesh

Sri Lankan shuttlers dominated at the Yonex- Sunrise Bangladesh International Badminton Challenge concluded in Dhaka on Sunday when men’s and mixed doubles pair bagged two gold medals.

Sri Lankan number one men’s double pair Sachin Dias and Buwaneka Gunathilleka emerged champions to take first gold while Dias partnered with Kavidi Sirimannage clinched the gold at the mixed double event in this tournament where most of the high-rank shuttlers from the South Asian Region especially from India participated in this five-day tourney.

Sachin Dias and Buwaneka Gunatilleka made two straight-set wins 21/12, 21/16 at the men’s double quarterfinals defeating Indian pair Ajinkya Patharkar and Pratik Ranade. At the semi-finals, the Sri Lankan pair once again made a two-setter win 21/13, 21/14 over Indian pair Ayush Agarwal and Tushar Gagneja.

At the men’s double final Sachin and Buwaneka played with more confidence against Indian pair Bokka Navaneeth and Srikrishna Podile. Sri Lanka pair won the first set with 21/15 while clinching a comfortable win in the second set 21/9 to take the gold.

Meanwhile, at the mixed double final, Sachin Dias and Kavidi Sirimannage outclassed Indian pair Pratic Ranade and Akshaya Warang 21/15, 21/18 to take the gold medal.

The five-day tournament held in Dhaka gave good exposure for Sri Lankan shuttlers to improve their rankings. Earlier Sri Lankan men’s doubles pair Sachin and Buywaneka also clichéd bronze medal at the Bahrain International Badminton series which held in Bahrain last month.

Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) already gave a good opportunity to local shuttlers to take part in the European Badminton Series earlier and all three players Sachin Dais, Buwaneka Gunatiulleka, and Kavidi Sirimannage were members of the Sri Lanka team. This is a good opportunity for local shuttlers to improve their world rankings. They have two important events Asian Games as well as Commonwealth Games in 2022 and these types of tournaments always give a good experience at International level. Especially local shuttlers missed a few tournaments due to Global Pandemic and they are very keen to get this opportunity to go forward.