Sri Lanka’s number one shuttler Niluka Karunaratne yesterday qualified to compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games after maintaining a superior World Ranking during the last few months.
The two-time Olympic shuttler is the 6th Sri Lankan to qualify for the major international multi-sport event pushed back by the COVID-19 outbreak last year.
In February this year, the 36-year-old announced his retirement from all local events but continued to eye international arena with Tokyo Olympics in mind.
The announcement came shortly after Karunaratne claimed his 17th title at the 2020 National Badminton Championship.
Hailing from Galle, Karunaratne took up badminton at the age of 08. He received his primary and secondary education at Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and Royal College, Colombo.
Karunaratne was also the captain of the Sri Lankan contingent to the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Claiming the first international win in 2011 at the Puerto Rico International, Sri Lanka’s most decorated shuttler has bagged a total of 10 international titles so far.
(Mirror)