Sri Lanka’s badminton players in the under-17 and U-15 age categories have been knocked out in the second round at the Badminton Asia Junior Championship that is being played in Mandalay, Myanmar.
Most of them were knocked out in the first round itself which goes to show the poor preparation of the team for this tournament.
Those who won in the first round were, Janodya Adhikari, Senuji Umagiliyage, Sethum Perera and Dumindu Abeywickrama in the singles event. But they lost in the second round before returning home empty handed.
Amanda Jananuwani and Chathuli Ishara were the women’s doubles pair who won in the first round but lost in the second to a pair from Singapore.
The debacle has been attributed to poor planning and preparation and a local badminton coach said that the Sri Lanka Badminton Association had no proper criteria when conducting the trials. They conducted practices only for a few days under an Indonesian coach. It was also revealed that the Sports Ministry approved the squad only a few days before their departure to Myanmar.
The Sunday Observer also learns that all players had to pocket out their own funds for the tour. The so-called Interim Committee installed by the Sports Ministry to run the affairs of the sport failed to obtain funds from the Ministry.
If this is the case, how can one expect the Interim Committee to collect funds and promote the game and improve the standards?