Over 580 players of all categories are expected to be in action at the NPBA All-Island Open Badminton Championships which will be held from January 18 to 21 at the Vavuniya District Sports Complex in Omanthai.
According to the organisers, among the top ranked at the event will be Thenuka de Silva, Aashinsa Herath, Thilina Rajakaruna, Savinka Weerasekara and defending men’s Singles champion Malitha Sooriyarachchi.
The women’s Singles title holder, Sithuli Ranasinghe, will have to confront the challenges dished out by favourites Panchali Adhikari, Varangana Jayawardena, Sanadi Dahamsa and a few others among the 14 in action.
All eyes will be on Buwaneka Goonathileke and Jason Homer along with Shenuk Samararatne and SavinkaWeerasekara, who are tipped to be favourites among the men’s Doubles pairs in contention this time around as a total of 21 duos vie for the title. In the women’s Doubles, the cynosure of all eyes will be Isuri Attanayake and Sithumi de Silva and Hasini Ambalangodage and Hasara Wijeratne who are in prime form with a few international medals under their belts during the concluded season.
The opening ceremony will take place on January 18 at 9.00 am, followed by the preliminary rounds, leading up to the climax on January 20 with the quarter-finals and semi-finals.
The excitement will continue on January 21 with the highly anticipated semi-finals and final matches, followed by the closing ceremony.
The championship 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.
The main attraction of the competition will be the Open events comprising Men’s and Women’s Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles.
Organised by the Northern Province Badminton Association (NPBA), the four-day competition is sanctioned by Sri Lanka Badminton as a National Level 1 Ranking tournament.
