Ace shuttler Niluka made Brand Ambassador for McLarens

McLarens Group of Companies has appointed Sri Lanka’s best shuttler Niluka Kaunaratne as its Brand Ambassador. This is a decision taken by the Group’s Directorate headed by its Chairman. McLarens Group is a company highly engaged in promoting the game of Badminton in the country.

t has taken this decision as the sport does not receive much support from organisations and also from its followers. The Group is to help the sport in raising the standard of the game for a better future. With this kind of promotion coming from the private sector the players could be kept in the game for a longer period while brining in new talent for Badminton. The McLarens Group has come forward to support the sport in addition to their high involvement with the motor racing for which it spends a colossal sum. The new Brand Ambassador Niluka Karunaratne who started his career as an eight year old at Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda is the present national champion. He went on to win the All Island Championship schools championship at the age of nine and continued to dominate in this field for many years as a school boy.

Niluka won the All Island School Championship in all age categories. While doing so he also achieved a rare feat when he won the National Championship at the age of 16 years as a student of the school he represented to become the first school boy to do so. There onwards there was no stopping for him and captured the National title continuously for ten long years without a break. At the moment he is under hard training with the hope of representing the country at the Olympic Games in London this year. Presently ranked as the 85th in the world Niluka’s main ambition is to make his way to London to bring glory to his motherland. Niluka recently had a highly successful tour of Europe competing in four tournaments held in Pueto Rico (South America) from 2 to 5 November, Miami America from 9 to 12 November, Scotland from 24 to 27 November and Ireland from 30 November to 2 December. During these tournaments he came up with brilliant performances. He was ranked 88th before this tour and two good victories in Peuto Rico and Miami saw rise up to 77th position in the world rankings. Niluka during his tour of South America won the Peuto Rico International Challenge. This Championship was competed by 25 countries and he came up with a blistering performance to be on top.

Then he moved to Miami for the next competition International Series where the same number of countries participating. Here too Niluka was outstanding and became the champion continuing from his winning form. The next move was to Wales where he faced a stiff opposition from various countries. Tired after the American tour, he could not proceed beyond quarter finals. He admitted that he was too tired after the first stage in America. Soon after, he was in action in Ireland for the Ireland International Series with the participation of many well known Shuttlers from all parts of the world. Ireland was not a happy hunting place for Niluka, as the climatic conditions there was not conducive for him to continue with the good form displayed in the previous three tournaments. Niluka says that he will be flying to Europe again next week to participate in two more international events to be held in Estonia and Sweden. He hopes to better his rankings through these two tournaments with the intention of reaching a higher ranking to qualify for the London Games.