Colombo (LNW): Niluka Karunaratne, Sri Lanka’s top badminton player, announced his retirement from international competitive badminton for Sri Lanka.
The announcement was made on Oct. 01 at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarter in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Karunaratne represented Sri Lanka in the Olympics in 2012, 2016, and 2020, and is currently ranked as the island’s number one badminton player and holds a record of 21 international medals, including 9 golds.
The player has the unique achievement of winning gold medals on five different countries.
In June 2013, Karunaratne attained a career-best singles ranking of 34, the highest ever by a Sri Lankan badminton player. He clinched the national badminton champion title a record 17 times.
His family, including his father Louie Karunaratne and brothers Dinuka and Diluka, are professional badminton players. Another brother, Chamika Karunaratne, plays cricket for the Sri Lanka national team.
