A squad of 16 members left Sri Lanka on Thursday to represent the country at the 8th Asian Schools Badminton Championship, which will be held between August 25th and September 2nd in Semarang, Indonesia.
The squad of 16 shuttlers includes eight each of boys and girls, and will be accompanied by six officials. Sri Lanka will be represented by eight boys – Shenuk Samararatne, Thilina Rajakaruna, Reshan Dimbukkuwalage, Thejana Herath, Thidasa Weragoda, Sanuda Ariyasinghe, Thesath Rajapaksha and Daham Gunawardena – and eight girls – Pawani Induwari, Dilini Ambalangodage, Dulanya Livera, Sithuli Ranasinghe, Amaya Ratnayake, Sandathi Gallage, Lakshana Sujeewa Kumar and Ranumi Manage. All players will compete in Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles among other players from the remaining seven countries in their respective categories.
Thushira Amaratunga will lead the supporting staff as Head Coach, and will be assisted by Harindu Pathiranage as Coach and Dilshan Gunasekara as Coach and Medical Officer. Dharshana Wijerathne travels with the group as the Manager while Gayani Hinidumage will accompany the contingent as the Lady Chaperon. Chandika Dharmapriya is designated as the Assistant Director of the contingent, representing the Ministry of Education.
The eight-day competition, held once in every four years, is hosted by the Indonesian Schools Sports Council and will include players from eight countries in the region. The tournament is well supported by the Central Java Provincial Government. The 8th Asian School Badminton Championship is planned to be held in the badminton court of Semarang University (USM).
The competition is part of a programme initiated by the provincial government to boost the sports and tourism sector through the ‘Specta Jateng Sports Tourism programme 2024’, which covers a total of 14 sports.
