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Sunday Nov 10, 2024
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Sri Lankan shuttlers on Sunday returned home after a successful show at the 13th South Asian Games in Pokhara, Nepal with nine medals.
The 23-member team, coached by Indonesian Tony Wahyudi and Duminda Jayakodi, clinched one gold medal, five silver, and three bronze, to be placed second in badminton competitions among seven nations at the biennial regional multi-sport event.
The highlight on tour was the gold medal won by Thilini Hendahewa and Kavindi Sirimannage in the women’s doubles, when they defeated Achini Ratnasiri and Upuli Weerasinghe in an all Sri Lankan final.
Later, Hendahewa teamed up with Sachin Dias to reach the final of the mixed doubles, but had to satisfy with the silver after going down fighting to India’s Dhruv Kapila and Meghana Jakkampudi.
In the men’s doubles, Buwaneka Goonathilake and Sachin Dias stormed into the final with a strong performance over their counterparts. However, their Indian opponents proved to be too strong in the final, as the Lankan pair settled in for a silver medal.
Dinuka Karunaratne won the men’s singles bronze while Achini Ratnasiri and Dilmi Dias also finished third after being outplayed by their respective Indian counterparts.
Earlier, Sri Lanka had also won two silver medals in the team events after reaching the summit clashes in both men’s and women’s categories. Sri Lankan men went down to India 3-1 in the final, which took place at the Badminton Covered Hall in Pokhara last Monday. In the women’s team event, the Lankan team was blanked 3-0 by strong Indians.
The Lankan shuttlers, who arrived in an Air India aircraft on Sunday, were given a warm welcome by Sri Lanka Badminton officials and fans.
