Sri Lanka’s national badminton champion and Olympic representative Niluka Karunaratne will be flying to Canada to participate in the 2016 Yonex Canada Open Grand Prix ahead of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The 31-year-old champion who hails from Royal College will be looking to get some exposure in line with the 2016 Olympic Games that is set to kick off at Rio de Janeiro on the 5th of August this year. Karunaratne is expected to compete at the Canada open that begins on the 28th of June and later travel to the United States for the US Open. Both these tournaments are signature tournaments under the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which is the international governing body for the sport and it will have a direct impact on the rankings.
Currently placed 104 in the world ranking table in the Men’s singles which is the highest ever ranking reached by any Sri Lankan, Niluka has always played with true spirit. It was his achievements in the sport of Badminton that allowed him to be the Captain of the Olympic contingent in the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Niluka’s best achievement is his performance at the Olympics in 2012 where he defeated the #8th ranked player in the world Kenichi Tago 2-0 at the Wembley Stadium but could not get his qualification to the quarters as he went down against India’s Paruppalli Kashyap in the pre-quarters. In July 2012 he achieved his highest possible ranking by making his way to the 48th spot in the BWF Singles ranking.
