Niluka Karunaratne

Niluka Karunaratne
Personal information
Birth name Niluka Karunaratne
Country Sri Lanka
Born (1985-02-13) 13 February 1985
Galle, Sri Lanka
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight 65 kg (143 lb)
Handedness Right
Coach Louie Karunaratne
Men's singles
Highest ranking 34 (27 June 2013)
Current ranking 127 (12 April 2018)
BWF profile

Niluka Karunaratne (Sinhala: නිලූක කරුණාරත්න; Tamil: நிலுக கருணாரத்ன) (born 13 February 1985) is a Sri Lankan Olympic badminton player who compete in 2012 and 2016.[1] He was selected to captain the Sri Lankan contingent to the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2][3] Karunaratne competed in five consecutives Commonwealth Games from 2002–2018.[4]

Karunaratne, born in the coastal area of Galle, received his primary and secondary education in Dharmasoka College, Ambalangoda and Royal College, Colombo, where he won the Royal Crown in 2001. He took up badminton at the age of 8, having been introduced to the sport by his father, who was a national level badminton player.[5] He currently holds a position in the banking sector as a bank employee.[6][7][8]

As of July 2012, he is ranked 48th in the men's singles from the BWF World Ranking.[9] In 2012, the Sri Lankan Daily News called him "Sri Lanka’s undisputed badminton champion".[10][11]

At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he was knocked out of the men's singles in the round of 16 by Srikanth Kidambi.[12] He was also part of the Sri Lankan mixed badminton team, which was knocked out at the quarterfinal stage by England.[13]

2012 Summer Olympics

On 30 July 2012 Karunaratne defeated world eighth-ranked Kenichi Tago of Japan 2–0. Karunaratne defeated Tago 21–18, 21–16 in 44 minutes at the Wembley Arena in the Olympic men's badminton singles Group C at the 2012 Summer Olympics. The Associated Press quoted him as saying: "This is the biggest win in the history of Sri Lanka badminton".[14] India's Parupalli Kashyap sent him out of the Games, in a closely fought pre-quarter match.

Achievements

BWF International Challenge/Series

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2017 Brazil International Brazil Ygor Coelho 9–21, 21–14, 21–18 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Portugal International Sweden Gabriel Ulldahl 21–17, 21–13 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2016 Uganda International Portugal Pedro Martins 21–17, 21–15 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2014 Dutch International Denmark Rasmus Fladberg Walkover 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2012 Bahrain International India B. Sai Praneeth 21–14, 14–21, 17–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2012 Brazil International Guatemala Kevin Cordon 21–17, 20–22, 19–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
2012 Iran Fajr International India Sameer Verma 21–18, 21–15 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2012 Uganda International Italy Wisnu Haryo Putro 21–11, 21–18 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2011 Welsh International Malaysia Lok Chong Chieh 21–16, 18–21, 21–19 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2011 Miami International Peru Rodrigo Pacheco 21–12, 21–14 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2011 Puerto Rico International Austria Michael Lahnsteiner 21–18, 21–15 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2016 Uganda International Sri Lanka Dinuka Karunaratna Egypt Ali Ahmed El Khateeb
Egypt Abdelrahman Kashkal		 21–17, 21–17 1st, gold medalist(s) Winner
2010 Maldives International Sri Lanka Dinuka Karunaratna Pakistan Sulehri Kashif Ali
Pakistan Rizwan Azam		 21–18, 18–21, 15–21 2nd, silver medalist(s) Runner-up
     BWF International Challenge tournament
     BWF International Series tournament

See also

Olympic Games
Preceded by
Susanthika Jayasinghe		 Flagbearer for  Sri Lanka
London 2012		 Succeeded by
Anuradha Cooray

References

  1. ↑ "Niluka KARUNARATNE - Olympic Badminton | Sri Lanka". International Olympic Committee. 2016-11-20. Retrieved 2017-09-24.
  2. ↑ Weerawansa, Dhaneshi (15 July 2012). "Seven Sri Lankans at London 2012 Olympic Games". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka).
  3. ↑ "Niluka Karunaratne". london2011.com. Archived from the original on 31 July 2012.
  4. ↑ "Participants: Niluka Karunaratne". gc2018.com. Gold Coast 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  5. ↑ "Glasgow 2014 - Niluka Karunaratne Profile". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  6. ↑ "Olympic dreams". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  7. ↑ "Royal felicitates Olympic Shuttler Niluka". Daily News (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 31 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Karunaratne brothers giving Lanka a new high in badminton". The Times of India. 2 February 2010.
  9. ↑ "Ranking of Niluka KARUNARATNE". Badminton World Federation.
  10. ↑ "I want to be among the best 10 in the world". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 2012. Archived from the original on 26 July 2012. (interview)
  11. ↑ Nazir, Muhammad Ahmad (7 July 2012). "Niluka Karunaratne stretches his winning run at OCBC US Open Grand Prix Gold". newspakistan.pk.
  12. ↑ "Glasgow 2014 - Men's Singles Round of 16". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  13. ↑ "Glasgow 2014 - Mixed Teams Quarter-final". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 2015-09-30.
  14. ↑ Niumata, Foster (30 July 2012). "Sri Lankan KOs Tago in badminton upset". Associated Press via Yahoo! News.
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