Sampath Bank supports Olympian Badminton Champion Thilini Jayasinghe

Sampath Bank in keeping with their well known policy of ‘national outlook, individual in focus is supporting for the second consecutive time Sri Lanka’s Badminton champion Tilini Jayasinghe to the London Olympics 2012. Sampath Bank supported her previously to the Beijing Olympics in the year 2008.

Thilini the champion shuttler hailing from Kandy came to the lime light of sport arena after emerging victorious at the national Badminton championship in year 2004. She clinches the Badminton Crown from seven times winner of the national championship Chandrika De Silva.

Thilini conquered not only the badminton crown but she also won the hearts of the leading commercial bank of Sri Lanka the Sampath Bank which eventually became her second home. Ever since she won the Sri Lankan badminton crown she was offered shelter at sport loving Sampath bank a champion in them in the field of banking who won the world finance award for the best banking group in Sri Lanka in 2012.

Thilini and Sampath Bank combination is an ideal combination as both have made winning a habit in their respective fields. Jayasinghe made history at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by becoming the first Sri Lankan women’s badminton player ever to represent Sri Lanka at the Olympics.

Success did not come to Thilini Sunari Jayasinghe in an easy way. Wanted to be a champion swimmer through sheer accident became a badminton player and clinched the national championship in badminton in 2004 though swimming was her first love. As a nine year old she was pushed into play in a tournament for her school not to win rather to fill the participants’ numbers. With a borrowed racket this nine year old was able to harness her capabilities and went on to prove that she can handle the ‘shuttlecock’ and the racket even better.

An old girl of Mahamaya College Kandy she comes from a family which excelled in academic activities but not in sports. Both parents being in the academia of the University of Peradeniya and only brother ended up with masters in ‘sports science’ and of course in Australia at present Thilini was steadily continued playing Badminton to bring glory to her mother land.

Internationally she was the first female Sri Lankan badminton player to represent the country in Beijing Olympics in 2008. In addition to this she has also represented Sri Lanka in Badminton World Championship, Asian Games, Commonwealth Games, and South Asian Games. She is also a winner of three silver medals in Asian games.

In addition to this Thilini has taken part in many international tournaments in countries including France, Zimbabwe, India, and Malaysia to name few of them. She has fulfilled the world Badminton federation’s requirement of playing the mandatory 10 world tournament in a colander of 300 tournaments to get qualified for Olympics. Sampath Bank has provided the financial support for these tournaments.  

She is a truly humble down to earth progressive Sri Lankan sports personnel. In 2004 with the winning of the national badminton crown she joined Sampath Bank merely for its truly friendly national cultural milieu which prevails in there. For this she had to turndown many more lucrative offers which came from many other institutions.

She remembers with great gratitude the top management of the bank and namely Managing Director Aravinda Perera, Marketing and Business Development DGM Tharaka Ranwala under whom she is working in the bank, Sampath Bank’s sports club, Head of human resources and other staff members. She is very much great full that the bank has come forward in times of difficulties and believes they would in future too render her all the support which she needs. Bank has released her for full time sports activities ever since she joined them and allowed her to concentrate purely on badminton training and to participate in overseas tournaments which are aimed to develop her skills and improve her international rankings.

 She is now pursuing higher professional studies such as CIM during off season and vouch she will continue to remain in Sampath Bank which has helped her in numerous ways which is beyond anyone’s imagination.

Sampath Bank wish Thilini Sunari Jayasinghe to repeat the performance her name sake Sri Lankan female athlete performed in year 2000 at the Sydney Olympics which was just two games before this Olympics.