In anticipation of booking a passage for the Tokyo Olympics, Sri Lanka’s leading shuttler Niluka Karunaratne is participating in the 56th Portuguese International Championship and is facing the 141st ranked Kari Gunnarsson of Iceland in a first round match.
It would be a daunting task for Karunaratne who is currently ranked 41 in the men’s singles qualification list where up to 40 will qualify for Tokyo.
Karunaratne who has already gone for two Olympic Games will be going for the third time if he can make the cut. He will be competing in one more international competition after this with the hope of qualifying.
Now at 36-years-old, Karunaratne was the best shuttler in Sri Lanka for many years. Apart from going to the Olympics twice he has competed in five consecutive Commonwealth Games from 2002 to 2018.
He lost several opportunities to compete in international competition since 2015 as the WBF had suspended Sri Lanka’s badminton governing body. (TBR)