'Lankan badminton will reach Asian standard in the near future'

Sanjaya Ariyaratne

BADMINTON: Sri Lanka Badminton will reach Asian Standard in the near future, said Kinsley Deva Manoharan, the National Coach of Sri Lanka Badminton team from 2002-2005. Even at present he is working towards the progress of the sport, he said.

Niluka Karunaratne who participated at the last Commonwealth Games 2006 has been trained under his guidance and Niluka performed well he said.

But he wasn't the chief coach for the team which participated at the commonwealth Games. Unfortunately he missed that tourney in Melbourne he said.

He further said, when we talk about the International Standard for the Sri Lankan Badminton we are at a very low level even among Asian countries. India, Malaysia, Singapore, Korea, Indonesia and China are of a higher standard than Sri Lanka.

The reason for this is our players do not have enough facilities and there is no one to sponsor them. We need a permanent sponsor and the players should practise hard regularly.

Then we can go for higher achievements he added.