Nearly 1300 shuttlers will vie for honours at the 72nd National Badminton Championship, set to be worked off between December 1st and 8th at three key venues in Colombo. Organised and conducted by Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB), the country’s core domestic badminton event will take place at the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) Indoor Courts, the Otter Aquatic Club Courts and at the SLB Indoor Courts at Maitland Place, where shuttlers in contention will compete under different categories.
The SLB officials stated that they are overwhelmed with the extraordinary enthusiasm among local shuttlers as the number of entries this year reached 1254, surpassing last year’s total number of 1140, by the time entries were closed on November 19th. The record number of entries will prompt the SLB officials to assign nearly 60 officials for the eight-day competition, in which Buwaneka Goonethilleke and Ranithma Liyanage will defend their titles.
The main draw seeding and SLB Ranking will be determined on November 22nd as SLB intends to publish the seeding report on the same day upon its completion. Competitors will be allowed to withdraw without penalty before 6:00pm on November 23rd, as SLB will conduct the main draw at 11:00am on November 24th at No.2 Cambridge Terrace, 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 category of 100+, 110+ and 120+. 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 1st, 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 and final matches. The grand finale is set for December 8, where all the selected finals will be held, concluding with the Closing Ceremony to mark the culmination of this prestigious badminton championship.
At the 71st National Badminton Championship 2023, Buwaneka Goonathilleke 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 Gunasekara. Top seed shuttler Ranithma 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 Alvis and Hasara Wijerathne 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 receive appropriate gifts instead of prize money, according to the decision taken by the tournament organisers. The country’s elite domestic badminton event, conducted in accordance to BWF regulations, is sponsored by Li Ning, McFoil, 3M, GAC and Mobil.