Sachin and Hasini shock Niluka and Thilini

Li Ning – Lanka Shuttle Challenge

by Reemus Fernando

Southern Stars were given a rousing start to Li Ning – Lanka Shuttle Challenge 2020 by Sachin Dias and Hasini Ambalangoda as they secured two wins for their team to record 6-1 in the tie against Northern Knights captained by Olympic hopeful Niluka Karunaratne on the opening day of the tourney in Colombo.

Sachin and Hasini won their men’s and women’s singles encounters respectively before combining to beat Karunaratne and Thilini Hendahewa 2-0 in the mixed doubles. Fancied Karunaratne and Hendahewa were beaten 21-9 in the first set and later fought hard in the second set but were beaten 21-19.

The Northern Knights’ solitary victory was recorded by Karunaratne who joined K. Madhubanu to record 21-17, 21-18 in the men’s doubles tie.

In two closely contested ties, Eastern Eagles beat Island Titans 4-3 and Central Crusaders beat Western Warriors 4-3 while the results of remaining ties were not available at the time this edition went to press.

The ties were played at the Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) and Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) courts.

The tournament was declared open by Chairman of the National Sports Council, former Sri Lanka cricket captain, Mahela Jayawardene who graced the occasion as the chief guest. Secretary, Ministry of Sports, Anuradha Wijesekera and Director-General of the Department of Sports Development, Amal Edirisuriya, were also present at yesterday’s opening ceremony.

Organized by SLB, the five-day event will witness six teams of 12 players each vying for honours as well as handsome prizes. SLB has adopted a franchise model to add glamour and set the precedents for an annual event each year that will complement the Senior and Junior Nationals.

The competing teams are, Eastern Eagles, Southern Stars, Western Warriors, Northern Knights, Central Crusaders and Island Titans.

Each team includes three men, three women and a boy and a girl under the age of 17. Teams are led by senior champion players, namely the Karunaratne brothers, Niluka and Dinuka, Sachin Dias, Buwaneka Gunetileke, Kavidi Sirimanage and Dilmi Dias with the national pool players evenly distributed to create a fine balance of talent.