The 20-member Sri Lanka badminton team are who are gearing up for the upcoming South Asian Games are currently in a residential training camp in Bandarawela to acclimatize with conditions in Nepal.
Eight players will be selected for the South Asian Games scheduled to be held from December 1 to 10.
The badminton championships are to be conducted in Pokhara 200 kilometers away from the capital Kathmandu where the major part of the Games will be held.
The team will miss the services of Olympian and Sri Lanka’s top-ranked player Niluka Karunaratne, elder brother of Dinuka, due to an injury.
Niluka’s absence will surely have an impact on the team’s hopes, but Dinuka, who defeated his elder brother to win the national championship, will go all out to cover his brother’s absence. Also in training is Buwaneka Goonetilleke and Sachin Peiris, the doubles pair.
Ranthushka Sasindu, Lochana de Silva, Maduka Dulanjana, Krishan Danushka, Thusith Palliyaguru, Chamath Dias, Hasitha Chanaka, Achini Ratnasiri, Thilini Hendahewa, Kavidi Sirimannage, Nadeesha Gayanthi, Upuli Weerasinghe, Kavindika de Silva, Hasara Wijeratne, Dilmi Dias, Anurangi Masakorala and Hasini Ambalangodage.