Cricketer Chamika returns to badminton as National Championship commences

by Reemus Fernando

The Karunaratne brothers, Olympian Niluka and Test cricketer Chamika who tested positive for Covid 19 last month marked their return to competition with victories in their first round encounters in the men’s singles of the Badminton Nationals 2020 which commenced on Wednesday.

Chamika, who is a cricketer tested positive for Covid-19 and subsequently his brother, Olympian Niluka too tested positive for the virus.Badminton is a family affair for the Karunaratnes and all brothers compete at the top level. Chamika, who is yet to return to cricket, warmed up with a 21-12, 22-20 win over Viran Perera in a first round match as he returned to Badminton Nationals after a while.

While Chamika competed in the first round, Niluka, who received a bye in the first round, made his return with a 21-12, 21-11 win over Rinesh Dilshan to advance to the third round.

Meanwhile top seed Lochana de Silva beat Udayanga Arskin 21-10, 21-7 to advance to the third round,

Top players Sachin Dias and Ranthushka Karunathilake also advanced to the next round with victories. Karunathilake (number five seed) beat Kanishkar Yoganathan 21-4, 21-4, while Sachin Dias beat Kushan Gomis 21-4, 21-2.

The National Championship which commenced at the Mercantile Badminton Association courts will witness a total of 763 matches being played at three venues. Other two venues are the Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) headquarters and Otter Aquatic Club.

The five-day event is the first competition of Sri Lanka Badminton for the year 2021.