Sri Lanka beat Armenia and Hungary to finish 20th

Sri Lanka Junior Badminton team secured 20th place out of 37 countries at the World Junior Badminton Championship which concluded in Spain yesterday. Sri Lanka juniors were able to beat Armenia at the group stage and then they beat Hungary 3-1 to decide their place in this event.

Sri Lanka junior shuttlers had to play in ‘G’ group along with USA, Czech Republic, Armenia and Turkey but last moment Turkey withdrew their team and only four teams competed in this group. Sri Lankan juniors were able to beat Armenia 5-0 while losing all other games. USA beat Sri Lanka 4-1 and Sri Lanka made a hard fought game against Czech Republic in their opening game but finally Czech Republic won the game 3-2.

However with this group match results Sri Lanka had to compete for the places between 17-24. Sri Lanka beat Hungary 3-1 in this opening game and they had to compete for the 17 to 20 place. However at this stage Sri Lanka lost to Thailand 0-3 and finally they had to compete for the 19 and 20 places. Sri Lanka juniors once again made a good fight against Australia but finally Australia won 3-2 to finish 19th while Sri Lanka had to finish at 20th place.

The tournament was conducted by the World Badminton Federation and this event has been a good exposure for the Sri Lanka juniors.

Sri Lanka junior team comprised ten players four girls and six boys. Three officials accompanied the team. However one boy couldn’t participate this tour due to visa refusal at the last minute.

Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) has organized this tour and Sri Lanka Schools Badminton Association officials accompanied the team. The tour party had to find their own sponsors for this tournament.

Sri Lankan junior Badminton team for world junior Badminton championship:

Boys: Sethum Perera, Savinaka Weerasekara, Jason Hormer, Pulina Wellalage, Thilina Rajakaruna, Senuk Samararatne.

Girls: Ranithma Liyanage, Panchali Adhikari, Manudhi Mithara and Warangana Jayawardena.

Officials: Yukthi Rangana (coach), Sumith de Silva (Manager), Gayani Hinidumage (Lady Chaperon).