Niluka's pull out a setback for Lanka

Chris Dhambarage

BADMINTON: The absence of the reigning national champion and number one ranked player Niluka Karunaratne will be the biggest drawback for Sri Lanka as their men's badminton team make their final preparations ahead of the South Asian Games which gets under way on August 18.

Sri Lanka's World ranked shuttler Niluka Karunaratne pulled out from the national squad with an injury just a couple of days ago and is unlikely that he will be able to participate in this important competition.

Karunaratne himself will be really disappointed having recently attended a two year training programme at an International Badminton Federation Centre in Germany.

With the absence of Niluka Karunaratne, Sri Lanka will now depend heavily on two of their longstanding players Duminda Jayakody and Thushara Edirisinghe. Both these players have represented the country for more than a decade in several major international events here and abroad.

The Sri Lanka squad is currently training at a residential coaching camp at the Sri Lanka Badminton Association headquarters at Maitland Place under the guidance of consultant coach K. D. Nallathamby and head coach K. S. Pushpakumara both former national champions.

The team will also have a series of training sessions at the Sugathadasa indoor stadium in an attempt to get accustomed to the newly laid rubber mat. With Niluka Karunaratne pulling out from the competition the pressure no doubt will be on the duo of Duminda Jayakody and Thushara Edirisinghe.

Both players are tipped to play in the doubles where they have specialized and mastered the art for more than a decade. In fact they are Sri Lanka's number one ranked players in the doubles event will be quite determined to make an impact once again.

Jayakody won the national doubles title from 1996 to 2004 and clinched the national singles title from 1993 to 1996. He also represented the country at the Thomas Cup badminton championships from 1987 to 2004 and reached the finals of the men's doubles event at the Nepal Satallite championships last year.

Thushara Edirisinghe too has an equally good track record having represented the country in a number of major international since 1990. He won the national singles title in 1994 and 1995 and again from 1997 to 2000.

He also won the national doubles title from 1996 to 2004. In addition he won the mixed doubles title and reached the final of the men's doubles event at the Sri Lanka Satellite championships in 2004.

With the absence of Niluka Karunaratne his two brothers Diluka and Dinuka will be determined to make amends with a good performance at the South Asian Games. Both players are in tremendous form having participated in a couple of international ranking tournaments this year.

The Sri Lanka men's badminton team: Duminda Jayakody, Thushara Edirisinghe, Diluka Karunaratne, Dinuka Karunaratne, C. N. J. John, R. S. Dahanayake and Chameera Kumarapperuma.