Niluka Karunaratne

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]

Niluka Karunaratne
Personal information
Birth nameNiluka Karunaratne
CountrySri Lanka
Born (1985-02-13) 13 February 1985
Galle, Sri Lanka
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Weight65 kg (143 lb)
HandednessRight
CoachLouie Karunaratne
Men's singles
Highest ranking34 (27 June 2013)
Current ranking114 (25 February 2020)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Sri Lanka
South Asian Games
2006 Colombo Men's team
2010 Dhaka Men's team
2004 Islamabad Men's team
2010 Dhaka Mixed doubles
BWF profile

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]

Karunaratne at the 2018 Dutch Open

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.

  • Karunaratne signing autographs for fans
  • Karunaratne at the London 2012 Olympics

Achievements

South Asian Games

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2010 Wooden-Floor Gymnasium,
Dhaka, Bangladesh		 Renu Hettiarachchige Sanave Thomas
Aparna Balan		 14–21, 13–21 Bronze

BWF International Challenge/Series (10 titles, 5 runners-up)

Men's singles

Year Tournament Opponent Score Result
2011 Puerto Rico International Michael Lahnsteiner 21–18, 21–15 Winner
2011 Miami International Rodrigo Pacheco 21–12, 21–14 Winner
2011 Welsh International Lok Chong Chieh 21–16, 18–21, 21–19 Winner
2012 Uganda International Wisnu Haryo Putro 21–11, 21–18 Winner
2012 Iran Fajr International Sameer Verma 21–18, 21–15 Winner
2012 Brazil International Kevin Cordon 21–17, 20–22, 19–21 Runner-up
2012 Bahrain International B. Sai Praneeth 21–14, 14–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2014 Dutch International Rasmus Fladberg Walkover Runner-up
2016 Uganda International Pedro Martins 21–17, 21–15 Winner
2016 Portugal International Gabriel Ulldahl 21–17, 21–13 Winner
2017 Brazil International Ygor Coelho 9–21, 21–14, 21–18 Winner
2019 Benin International Ade Resky Dwicahyo 23–21, 21–17 Winner
2020 Uganda International Gergely Krausz 18–21, 21–18, 13–21 Runner-up

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2010 Maldives International Dinuka Karunaratna Sulehri Kashif Ali
Rizwan Azam		 21–18, 18–21, 15–21 Runner-up
2016 Uganda International Dinuka Karunaratna Ali Ahmed El Khateeb
Abdelrahman Kashkal		 21–17, 21–17 Winner
  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. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
  2. Weerawansa, Dhaneshi (15 July 2012). "Seven Sri Lankans at London 2012 Olympic Games". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 26 September 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  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 30 September 2015.
  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. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013.
  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 30 September 2015.
  13. "Glasgow 2014 - Mixed Teams Quarter-final". g2014results.thecgf.com. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  14. Niumata, Foster (30 July 2012). "Sri Lankan KOs Tago in badminton upset". Associated Press via Yahoo! News.
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