Niluka Karunaratne announces retirement

Sri Lanka’s most accomplished shuttle star, Niluka Karunaratne officially announced his retirement from International competitive badminton representing Sri Lanka while representing the country at a forum in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters. 

His badminton career from his school days at Royal spans well over two decades.

Niluka represented the Sri Lanka National Team as a 15-year-old in the Asian Badminton Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia in 2000. His phenomenal achievements of being a 17-time national champion, three-time Olympian and winning 34 international medals are the legacy of his unwavering determination, dedication and discipline, he adhered to like a religion during his magnificent career. It is difficult for someone who has a passion and temperament for the sport of badminton to hang up his racquet for good. Speaking to the media, Niluka said: “I have represented my country very actively, consistently and continuously for 22 years. I have conducted myself with a lot of discipline, courage and passion. My passion was to represent my country.” “I have been contemplating this for some time. There are a lot of young athletes coming up. Even though I am eager and have the passion to continue, it’s my responsibility and time to hand it over to the next generation and following generations to prepare. If we can do that now, we can have better players than me in upcoming years,” added Niluka.

“I will be very much involved in the development of badminton and also all sports in Sri Lanka. Having worked hard before as an athlete for myself to represent my country, I’m motivated and eager to serve my country in a different way to develop the next generation of athletes to represent the country to compete internationally, give them exposure and bring glory to Sri Lanka. That is my utmost aim and ambition,” said Niluka, who is full of energy to begin a new journey after waging fierce battles on the court.

Niluka went on to win three Gold medals on his international debut at the South Asian Junior (Under-16) tournament and the rest as they say is ‘history’. The highlight of his career was leading Sri Lanka at the 2012 London Olympics, the first Royalist and only badminton player to do so. He beat Japan’s number one and world-ranked number eight in the first round to be among the top 16 players.

“My father, Louie Karunaratne has been my coach and my inspiration. I started because of him only,” recalled Niluka whose father played badminton, first class cricket and was also a swimmer.

(SJ)