Ajith Wijayasinghe receives Asian Badminton Meritorious Award

Badminton Asia General Manager Kenny Goh (right) presenting the Meritorious Service Award to Ajith Wijayasinghe at an event in Indonesia

Ajith Wijayasinghe was honored by Badminton Asia as the recipient of the prestigious Meritorious Award in the Technical Category in recognition of his immense contribution to developing technical officials, both local and international, over the years.

He recalls the journey with pride and recounts the ups and downs he endured during this period with his traditional humility.

A product of Richmond and Wesley, he was introduced to the game at the age of 11 by the father of Badminton in this country, the late Ariyadasa Silva, who was Master-in-Charge of Badminton at Richmond College. But as fate had designed, at the age of 14 his parents decided to migrate to Colombo and Ajith was admitted to Wesley College in 1966.

Badminton, which had flourished at Wesley in the late ’50s and early ’60s, had declined to non-active status, and the revival of the game took place in 1967 when an enthusiastic group led by Shanthi Macleland, Ranil Senevirathne, Kingsly Nallathamby and a couple of others brought it back as a recognised sport in the school. Ajith, being a player from Richmond, was automatically in the Squad.

This group had regular training in the College Hall and by the late ’60s and early ’70s was a formidable team. They brought honors to the school at Inter School Tournaments and National Level Events. By early 1970 they had already planned the succession in training juniors, among whom players of the caliber of Malik Jahn and Sarath Basnayaka, who later became national champions, were groomed.

In 1972 Ajith became Junior National Champion in Sri Lanka.

Ajith, along with Kingsly Nallathamby, who was already National Champion of Sri Lanka, continued to coach the youngsters. Ajith had chosen Badminton Coaching as his vocation and strove to develop in this field. He underwent a Badminton Coaches Training Program conducted by a Chinese Expert, Tang Xehua, in 1979 while still a player in the National Badminton Squad.

He was appointed to the Executive Committee of Sri Lanka Badminton in 1979 as Assistant Treasurer, a position he held till 1980, when he was appointed General Secretary of Sri Lanka Badminton under the Presidency of the late P. Sivalingum.

The period 1980–1982 was a remarkable one for Sri Lanka Badminton, as the proposed construction of a dedicated Stadium for Badminton was pursued very positively under the dedicated commitment of the late Dr. R. Vigneshwaran. This dream became a reality in 1982 when the Buildings Department finally completed the construction and the present Stadium at Maitland Place was declared open.

The SLBA immediately started training players at National Level and the National Junior Squad, and commenced a Coaching School for beginners, making use of the stadium facility to its full potential. Ajith pursued his Coaching Ambitions and was among the first batch of coaches in the SLBA Coaching School while also serving as a backup coach for the National Senior and Junior Squads.

In 1986 Ajith was nominated to attend a Coaches Training Program conducted by the International Badminton Federation in Thailand.

He also realised the importance of activating the Mercantile Sector, which possessed tremendous resources that could help the game and its top players in the future. He pursued this ambition with the assistance of a dedicated team which included Eraj Wijesinghe, the late Ananda Alahakoon, the late Raja Molligoda, the late S.J. Weerasena and the late Themuth Jayathunga, and in 1982 the Mercantile Badminton Association was inaugurated and officially recognised as a Sectoral Affiliate of Sri Lanka Badminton.

Ajith received his first International Award in 1997, when the International Badminton Federation conferred on him the IBF Meritorious Award. Up to this point in his career, Ajith had no intention of becoming a Technical Official.

However, as destiny designed it, the 1983 Civil Unrest, which had been a major setback for every activity in the country, affected Sports as well. Against this background, there was a general appeal from the Ministry of Sports to invite foreign teams to visit Sri Lanka. The MBA, which was headed by Eraj Wijesinghe, embarked on conducting an International Badminton Event in Sri Lanka, and this was the turning point for Ajith to take on a new role in the area of technical and event organisation.

In 1985 a steering committee comprising Eraj Wijesinghe, Raja Molligoda, Major S.J. Weerasena, Ananda Alahakoon, Vijitha Perera, T.P. Jayathunga and the late Eva Kodithuwakku took over this herculean task. Most countries politely declined the invitation, as Sri Lanka was listed as an unsafe destination for tourists. However, confirmations were obtained from 05 countries, mainly through personal contact and persuasion. This was a major success, and the team was energised to go forward.

With this success in hand, a suitable location had to be developed to conduct such an event, as there was no Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium at that time. Under the determined leadership of Major S.J. Weerasena, Vijitha Perera, Raja Molligoda and Ajith, the structure, which was the trolley bus garage and popularly known as the Indoor Stadium, was upgraded to a suitable standard to host an International Badminton Event. 

The next major hurdle was the Technical Officials, as Sri Lanka did not have anyone qualified. With the help of the late Dr. A.R.L. Wijesekara, 8 former National Badminton Players were groomed as Umpires and Service Judges for the Tournament. The rest of the technical requirements were handled by Ajith in his capacity as Organising Secretary. 

The event was titled the John Player International Badminton Championships Sri Lanka, and Ceylon Tobacco Company along with the Maharaja Organisation were sponsors for the event.

It was after 16 years that an International Badminton Event was held in Sri Lanka, and it was a tremendous success by all standards.

Ajith was immediately recognised for his capacity as an Event Organiser and Technical Official. This began his journey in the technical arena, and he started conducting regular training of potential technical officials, many of whom are today Internationally Accredited. He was appointed as a Trainee Referee of the IBF, and his first International Assignment was the Iran Fajr Championships in 1987.

Ajith was conferred the status of International Referee in Badminton in 1997 after an evaluation conducted by BWF officials. His major role was to develop Sri Lanka’s Technical Officials, which he undertook with great commitment over the years.

As an International Referee, Ajith has officiated in over 50 countries at events at all levels. His wide experience was rewarded with appointments such as Chief Referee of the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Chief Referee of the All-Africa Games in Nigeria and Competition Manager at the Asian Games in Doha.

Ajith retired from Refereeing in 2019 after serving over 30 years as an Active Referee and today functions as a Referee Assessor for Asia. He continues to serve Sri Lanka Badminton in every way possible.