Lankan shuttlers and paddlers to the fore in 2009

Sampath Bandara

The year 2009 was a promising year for Sri Lankan Junior Table Tennis Players and a golden year for our Junior Badminton Players with their outstanding performance in the international events.

The remarkable fact is that two schoolgirls rewrote Sri Lankan Badminton history. Our Junior TT players bagged several silver and bronze medals in the South Asian Junior TT Championship.

Tharindra Weerakoon and Dinusha Manoji won a silver Medal each in the Under 18 Girls Doubles event at South Asian Junior Table Tennis Championship which was held in India while Chatura Wiskam bagged the bronze medal in the Under 18 Boys Singles.

Tharindra Weerakoon and Dinusha Manoji clinched the bronze Medals in a Under 18 girls singles events. Hasitha Sashiranga and Erandi Warusawithana bagged bronze medals in the Under 15 boys singles.

Sri Lankan Paddlers also participated in the Asian Youth Games in Singapore and Lusofonia Games in Portugal. They need more foreign exposure with opportunities to take part in overseas tournaments in the future.

Achini Ratnasiri, the 15-year-old girl from Visakha Vidyalaya and Upuli Samanthika of Lindsay Girls School clinched a gold medal each in the girls doubles at the Asian Junior Badminton Championship held in Sri Lanka last August.

Other Sri Lankan schoolgirls also won Silver Medals. (Oshadhi Kuruppu of Visakha Vidyalaya and Susmitha Ilangakoon of Musaeus College). It was the first time in Sri Lankan Badminton History that a duo bagged gold and silver medals in the same tournament.

Achini also got the bronze medal in the Mixed Doubles event with Omal Vishvanath. Finally Sri Lanka bagged one gold, one silver and one Bronze Medal.