Sasidu Ranathunga of John Keells Holdings and Yasasri Herath of IFS were crowned as Men’s and Women’s Open Singles champions at the 41st MBA Novices Badminton Championship 2025 held at the MBA Indoor Courts in Colombo. Organised and conducted by the Mercantile Badminton Association (MBA) for the 41st occasion, the event was held through March 22nd and 30th with the participation of nearly 390 shuttlers representing 52 local corporates.
Sasidu Ranathunga of John Keells Holdings overcame Sapumal Bimsara of Nations Trust Bank 2-1 following a close battle which saw the three sets culminate as 21/17, 10/21 and 21/19. Praveen Sanjana of Aitken Spence beat Chenula Fernando of Astron in straight sets (21/13, 21/15) to secure the third position.
Yasasri Herath of IFS had very little trouble to defeat Nivodi Perera of Seylan Bank, as she recorded a comfortable straight win by 21/7 and 21/9. In a rather exciting third place playoff Dulandi Savithya of Seylan Bank overcame Venuki Fernando of Union Bank to record a straight win of 21/13, and 25/23.
Kasun Priyanka and Sapumal Bimsara of Nations Trust Bank teamed up to record a thrilling 2-1 win against Chathuka Heshan and Vinod Payagala of IFS to emerged the Men’s Doubles champs, while Charuka Laksidhu and Yehan Achintha of Heyleys beat Chanaka Madushanka of Emarchemi NB and Tharusha Charles of Heyleys 2-1 in a rather exciting playoff to secure the third position.
In the Women’s Doubles final Chamali Botheju and Keshani Devindi of LOLC received a walkover from Shenali Ahamadeen and Venuki Fernando of Seylan Bank, as they claimed the title, while Gimanthi Elikawela and Seahra Nethmini of David Peiris recorded an exciting 2-1 win against Chalakie Weerasinghe and Gayathri Chandima of NDB to secure the third position.
Bhagya Ranasinghe and Yasmitha Dayarathne of John Keells Holdings teamed up to defeat Kasun Priyanka and Lihini Karunarathna of Nations Trust Bank to record a straight win and annex the Mixed Doubles title, while Yehan Achintha and Kushmi Vinori of Heyleys received a walkover from Vihaga de Silva and Shenali Ahamadeen of Seylan Bank in the third place playoff.
The nine-day annual competition organised by the Mercantile Badminton Association at its very own Indoor Courts situated at Malalasekara Mawatha attracted 210 Men’s and 77 Women’s players in total from 52 affiliated companies. The championship consisted of 12 events and 416 matches in total, as the 41st edition of the MBA Novices culminated with a colourful awards ceremony with the presence of former Sri Lanka sprinter Ranga Wimalawansa as Chief Guest.
