Entries are now being accepted for the 72nd National Badminton Championships which is scheduled to be held from December 1 to 8 at three key venues in Colombo. Organised by Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB), the eight-day core domestic championship is slotted to take place at the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) Indoor Courts, the Otter Aquatic Club Courts and at the SLB Indoor Courts at Maitland Place, with an expected list of over 1000 shuttlers, who will compete under different categories.
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. However, 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 December 1, and will be followed by the preliminary rounds, leading up to the climax on December 6 with the Round of 16 and quarter-finals.
The excitement will continue on December 7, with the highly anticipated semi-finals and additional quarter-final matches. The grand finale is set for December 8, where all the finals will be held, concluding with the Closing Ceremony to mark the culmination of this prestigious badminton championship.
The main draw seeding will be determined based on SLB Ranking as of November 22, followed by the draw on November 24, at No.2, Cambridge Terrace, Colombo 7. Entries will close on November 19 at noon.
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 certificated guaranteed for winners, runners-up and semi-finalists of each event of the tournament. Junior winners will receive appropriate gifts instead of prize money, according to the decision taken by the tournament organisers.
Entries can be submitted online or by contacting Sadeesha Adithya on 0761759017 or Akila Hettiarachchi on 0771851839. All details of the 72nd Badminton Nationals are available in the prospectus published in the SLB website.