Muthumali Priyadarshani has brought honour to Sri Lanka by becoming the first women’s table tennis player to have reached the round of 16 (quarter-finals) in any Asian Table Tennis Championship.
This momentous feat was accomplished at the 25th Asian Table Tennis Championships that was held recently in Doha, Qatar.
Another notable factor is that she became the only player from the South Asian region to be among the first 16 at this year’s tournament which is a notable achievement considering the fact that this event was packed with players from countries where they play at a professional level and many of them are ranked on top in the world.
Muthumali, who is attached to the Navy, played and lost to the Japanese player Hayata Hina who is ranked 27th in the world.
In the other singles events, three of the players reached the round of 32 (pre-quarters). In the men’s singles event, schoolboy Senura Silva (Ananda College) reached the round of 32 and in the women’s singles event, schoolgirl Bimandee Bandara (Hillwood College Kandy) and Thanushi Rodrigo (Army) reached the round of 32 and lost to players from Iran and Chinese Taipei respectively.
In the team events both men and women performed tremendously well to improve the country’s ranking position by securing the12th position in the women’s team event while the men were positioned 18th.
At the previous Asian Championships held in Indonesia in 2019, the Sri Lanka women were placed 19th and the men finished 23rd.