Niluka set for BWF World Championships challenge

Sri Lanka’s top badminton star Niluka Karunaratne will be looking to make his presence felt when he takes part in the BWF World Championships in St. Jakobshalle, Basel, Switzerland from 19 to 25 August. 

Karunaratne, who has been selected for the showpiece event by the Badminton World Federation (BWF), will be the only Sri Lankan shuttler at the championships and will be one of Asia’s top 28 men’s singles players in the six-day event.

Karunaratne, currently ranked 124th in the BWF computer, is targeting his third appearance in the Olympic Games and his success at the international events of this calibre will highly beneficial in terms of gaining valuable ranking points.

The qualification period for the Tokyo Olympic ends on April 26 next year while the world ranking lists as of April 28, 2020 will be used to allocate 34 individuals for singles events, taking into consideration the maximum quota allocation per each of the National Olympic Committees. 

The 34-year-old star, who won his 9th international singles title at the Benin International Tournament in June, also won a bronze medal at the Côte d’Ivoire International Tournament in Ivory Coast few weeks ago. Sri Lanka Badminton, under the leadership of its new President Rohan de Silva, has made arrangements to provide maximum exposure to the Lankan shuttlers within the qualification period ahead of the global sports extravaganza which will take place in Tokyo next year. 

As part of SLB’s plan, Niluka, who achieved a career-high ranking of 37 just after the London Olympics, will also compete in the Hellas International (8-11 August) and the Bulgarian Open Championship (12-15 August).

The Tokyo Olympic Games will take place from 24 July to 9 August2020.