Nearly 1,300 shuttlers will compete for honours at the 72nd National Badminton Championships, set to be worked off between 1-8 December at three key venues in Colombo.
Organised and lead by Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB), the country’s core domestic badminton event will take place at the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) Indoor Courts, Otter Aquatic Club Courts, and SLB Indoor Courts at Maitland Place, where shuttlers in contention will compete under different categories.
SLB officials detailed that they were overwhelmed by the extraordinary enthusiasm among local shuttlers as the number of entries this year reached 1,254, surpassing last year’s total number of 1,140 by the time entries closed on Tuesday (19).
The record number of admissions will prompt SLB officials to assign approximately 60 officials for the eight-day competition, in which Buwaneka Goonethilleka and Ranithma Liyanage will defend their titles.
The main draw seeding and SLB ranking was due to be determined on Friday (22) as SLB intended to publish the sowing report on the same day upon its completion.
Competitors were allowed to remove without penalty before 6 p.m. yesterday (23) as SLB will be conducting the main draw at 11 a.m. today (24) at Cambridge Terrace in Colombo 7.
The championships will feature a wide range of events from Under 11 to Under 19 in the Junior category and Over 30 to Over 70 in the Senior category, as well as the combined age categories of 100+, 110+, and 120+.
Though, the Open events comprising Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles, and Mixed Doubles will take centre stage at this grand annual event.
The opening ceremony will take place on 1 December and will be followed by the preliminary rounds, leading up to the climax on 6 December with the Round of 16 and quarter-finals.
The enthusiasm will continue on 7 December, with the highly anticipated semi-finals and additional quarter-final and final matches.
The grand finale is set for 8 December, where all the selected finals will be held, closing with the closing ceremony to mark the culmination of this prestigious badminton championship.
At the 71st National Badminton Championship in 2023, Goonethilleka clinched a triple crown, winning the Open Men’s Singles, Open Men’s Doubles (partnered with the losing finalist Viren Nettasinghe), and the Open Mixed Doubles (partnered with Natasha Gunasekera).
Top-seed shuttler Liyanage, who bagged the Women’s Singles Silver medal at last week’s Bahrain International Series 2024, won the Open Women’s Singles last season in addition to winning the Under 19 Girls’ Singles title.
Jananuwani Amanda de Alwis and Hasara Wijayarathne are the defending Open Women’s Doubles title holders.
A grand prize money of Rs. 2 million for all events based on the number of entries will be on offer, in addition to trophies, medals, and certificates guaranteed for winners, runners-up, and semi-finalists of each event of the tournament.
Junior winners will obtain appropriate gifts instead of prize money, according to a decision taken by the tournament organisers.
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