Badminton Federation expects Niluka to be fit for postponed Nationals

by Reemus Fernando

The Badminton Federation of Sri Lanka is expecting Olympian Niluka Karunaratne to be fit to compete at the Badminton Nationals 2020 which has been postponed by one week to February 17.

A senior official of the Sri Lanka Badminton Federation said that Karunaratne who was found Covid 19 positive was doing his part to keep fit while in quarantine.

“He is doing his best to keep himself fit. We are expecting him to be fit to compete at the Badminton Nationals 2020,” said Trevor Reckerman, the CEO of Sri Lanka Badminton.

He said that the Nationals would be vital to Karunaratne’s preparations for Olympic qualification as he is expected to take part in an International event in mid March.

“We expect all top players to compete at the Nationals. We are glad that players who were sent for PCR tests after Karunaratne being found positive have all returned negative results,” he said.

The Badminton Nationals 2020 was earlier scheduled for a February 10 start.

The CEO of the Federation said that the surge of entries and several requests from badminton enthusiasts had compelled them to postpone the event by one week.

The authorities have now included four more events for veteran players.

Lal Ekanayake, the Director General of the Sports Medicine Institute said that all athletes including badminton players who were using Sports Ministry’s Torrington facility for fitness training were directed for PCR tests following Niluka’s Covid 19 positive result.

“Of them, we have not received any positive results so far. Niluka had not trained there after he had developed signs of fever,” Ekanayake told The Island yesterday.

Niluka Karunaratne who is seeking qualification for the postponed Tokyo Olympics this year made his Olympic debut at the 2012 London Olympics where he beat then world number eight Kenichi Tago of Japan to enter the last 16 round.

(RF)