Ceylon Masters International Badminton Championship begins

Sri Lanka’s first ever international senior badminton tournament, the Ceylon Masters International Badminton Championship kicked off at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo yesterday with more than 270 local and foreign shuttlers vying for top honours.

The three-day event sees a total of 271 entries, including 84 overseas shuttlers from India, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, Macau, Nepal, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Australia in action. A total of 129 matches took place on the opening day on six courts at the venue.

The tournament is organised by the Ceylon Masters Badminton Association (CMBA).

The co-founders of the event, veteran masters shuttlers and sport administrators Rohan De Silva and Clarence Homer, along with a high-calibre organizing committee have left no stone unturned to make sure the smooth flow of the tournament and the tournament director, an International Referee and a experienced administrator, Ajith Wijayasinghe along with his team will make sure that everything goes according to BWF standards.

The tournament is sponsored by Mobil, 3M, Rovin Creative Services, Victor and Heladiv while the Sri Lanka Gem and Jewellery Authority has come forward to offer all participants a precious gemstone as a souvenir. 

All participants will also be provided with first aid at the venue and medical facilities at Nawaloka Hospital if required within the duration of the tournament.

The tournament sees competitions being held under eight age categories, namely over 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60, 65 and 70 in men’s and women’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles.

The podium winners in each category will be awarded medals and certificates while a total of $7500 will be on offer for champions and runners up of each event.

The event will culminate with a farewell banquet dinner, hosted by the CMBA, tomorrow, 28 November at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium.

The recently-launched official web portal of the CMBA, www.ceylonmasters.com, will publish the updates during the event.

Entrance is free to spectators who wish to witness this grand event and school children and young badminton enthusiasts shall be particularly welcome as CMBA intends to launch a badminton academy which meets international standards in the near future, designed to create an elite contingent of budding badminton players.