Sports
Niluka defends title before announcing retirement
Olympian Niluka Karunaratne defended men’s singles title and Hasini Ambalangodage emerged the women’s singles winner at the Badminton Nationals 2020 concluded at the Mercantile Badminton Association courts on Sunday.
Niluka, who was the only Karunaratne sibling to go beyond the quarter-final stage, beat Rasindu Hendahewa 21-17, 21-16 in the men’s singles final. Later the many time national champion announced his retirement from local competitions.
He will however continue to compete at international level to reach qualifying standards for Tokyo Olympics.
Ambalangodage, meanwhile, beat Hasara Wijayarathne 21-14, 21-9 to win the women’s singles.