In the recently concluded summer season Open badminton championships held in Nuwara Eliya, Clarence Homer and Hasitha Chanaka made it to the final in the Open doubles beating top seeds and surprising all badminton fans.
Homer, a 52-year old veteran along with Chanaka, a 36-year old past national champion streamed in to the final that opened the eyes of many badminton lovers and exposed the sad state of today’s badminton standards among the present generation.
“I am working on my game to bring home a medal from the world senior championships and as a result of coach Tony coming in I got an opportunity to play more badminton.
“I am sad to say that the funds spent don’t go towards badminton now and all expenditure is on politics. No juniors are promoted and politics have become the winner. We are not consulted about today’s badminton,” said Homer in an interview with the Sunday Observer.
He called on the Sports Minister to appoint a badminton committee comprising of past players to ensure the sport is put back on the right track.