Battle begins for top honours at Badminton Nationals 2020

Thursday, 18 February 2021 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Rohan De Silva SLB

Institute of Sports Medicine Director General Dr. Lal Ekanayake

Niluka Karunarathne

Over 795 shuttlers began their quests for top honours when the much-awaited National Badminton Championships 2020 served off on Wednesday.

The five-day event is being held at three venues in Colombo, namely the Mercantile Badminton Association courts, Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB) Headquarters and Otter Aquatic Club where a total of 763 matches will be played.

The National Championships also kicked off Sri Lanka Badminton’s (SLB) program for the year 2021.

A feisty contest is expected in the feature categories as well as the age group events during the prestigious event.Apart from the open events, matches are being conducted under age groups for boys and girls U-15, U-17, U-19 singles, and doubles; men’s U-35 singles; men’s and women’s U-40, 45 and 50 singles and doubles; men’s U-55, 60 singles and doubles; men’s U-55, 60 and over 65 doubles.

While gearing up for the ‘improved Nationals’ SLB added four more events due to popular demand, the Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles – over 50 years, and the Women’s Singles and Women’s Doubles – Over 60 years.

The 2020 Championships was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and later the surge of entries and several requests from badminton enthusiasts compelled SLB to postpone the landmark 2020 event again by one week, from 10-14 to the third week of this month.

The tournament is being conducted according to the health guidelines imposed by the Ministry of Health.

The matches are broadcast live on Youtube and Facebook via SLB’s official channels.

The matches are broadcast live on https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=722053628679835

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=722053628679835

https://youtu.be/d9Jd71FbSFc https://youtu.be/0v4OxNhyz4A