Former stars ready to take Sri Lanka badminton to whole new level

A host of former badminton stars and renowned professionals will team up in a bid to take Sri Lanka’s badminton to a whole new level at the upcoming Annual General Meeting of the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA) on 24 March in Colombo.   

The team, led by Rohan de Silva, has nominated former national player Nishantha Jayasinghe for the post of President. De Silva is also one of the candidates for the post of Vice President at the election, which will be held after a two-year period.       

They have the backing of a number of past accomplished national players such as Dr. Ranjani Senewiratne, Niroshan Wijekoon, Chandrika de Silva, Duminda Jayakody and Kaushali Dissanayake and most of them will see themselves serving under the presidency of Jayasinghe. 

The team expects to develop Sri Lankan badminton to earn the highest rankings and podium results at world-class events such as the World Championships and Olympic games, making badminton the most vibrant and popular sport in the country. 

In the meantime, they will also focus on promoting healthy living and social development, from the far corners of the country to the city through provincial and sectoral development.

The team has proposed a number of new concepts to develop the sport in the country under their motto ‘Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress and working together is success’.

Jayasinghe, one of the hot favourites to take the office at the AGM, and De Silva hope to lift rural badminton to an international level with the aid of new training programs implemented from the grassroots level to the national ranks. 

The team promises that future prospects will be identified and budding shuttlers will be provided with an opportunity to reach the national level which will subsequently pave their way to the international level. 

To do this De Silva’s team expects to bring in former national players and professionals to the SLBA administration and introduce an effective management system. According to them, a four-year development plan will be implemented. 

The reestablishment of the nonexistent, senior and junior national pools, assisting in the setting up of provincial pools, moving the administration office to a more suitable location, improving provincial badminton courts, proper recognition of badminton academies islandwide, quarterly meetings with the Sports Minister on progress and development, an annual badminton colours night and fellowship and a medical insurance policy to cover sports injuries for all players in the national pool are some of their proposals. The team has already secured resources to fund the programs so upon approval implementation will not be a problem for them.

Their plans also include the relocation of the SLBA headquarters to a site which will also house a badminton complex which meets international standards as well as a modern gymnasium. 

They have also drawn plans to offer more national and international exposure for players and to hire foreign expert trainers while developing infrastructure to make badminton ‘the sport’ of the country.