Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) has made arrangements to conduct regional development programmes, which have proven to be successful, said Badminton Regional Development in charge and senior Vice President Roshan Gunawardena. This marks the first time that such Regional Development Pools have been established by Sri Lanka Badminton, stemming from the concept introduced by Vice President Roshan Gunawardena to foster the sport nationwide.
The regional development programmes covered all districts to promote the sport, providing a valuable pathway for junior shuttlers, added Roshan.
Currently, 26 district regional pools are highly active, with juniors undergoing training overseen by Sri Lanka Badminton, led by President Rohan de Silva.
Last week, the Colombo district regional badminton pool was formed by the Sri Lanka Badminton Regional Development Committee headed by Roshan Gunawardena, Due to the increased numbers of shuttlers, four badminton pools: Colombo South, Colombo North, Colombo West and Colombo East, were formed last Monday.
Juniors selected from the Junior National Badminton Championship and Zonal Badminton tournaments conducted by the Sri Lanka Schools Badminton Association were chosen based on their performance, including champions, runners-up, semi-finalists, quarter-finalists and pre-quarter finalists, said Vice President Roshan Gunawardena.
Additionally, the top eight players from Colombo under-13 junior boys and girls also earned a spot in the pools.
Coaches and coordinators for this pool were also selected, and players received Badminton gear to take part in this programme, marking a crucial step in developing the sport.
The regional badminton pools have been successfully conducted not only in Colombo but also in outstation areas. The goal is to talent search from these pools, especially in outstation areas where players lack qualified coaches, equipment, and proper infrastructure facilities, said Gunawardena.
Badminton is an Olympic sport, and Sri Lanka has already produced Olympians such as Niroshan Wijekoon, Niluka Karunaratne, and Thilini Jayasinghe. Our aim is to produce badminton Olympians, and this is the beginning of this project, Gunawardena said. Dilith Jayaweera, Chairman of Derana Media and Tri Adds, was the Chief Guest at the Colombo launch.
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