Impressive Niluka ends the Olympics on a high

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Niluka at Rio Olympic

“I tried my very best for my country and Sri Lanka badminton”

Sri Lanka’s ace shuttler Niluka Karunaratne finished his second Olympic campaign with a victory over Adrian Dziółko of Poland ranked 58th in the world rankings, in a fiercely fought contest. Niluka won the match 2-0. Having won the first set of the contest 21-19, Niluka had to hold off stiff competition from Dziółko in the second set where the game was contested until the points read 22-24.

It is a great finish to this courageous shuttler’s second Olympic campaign as he will not be selected to the quarterfinal stages of the competition finishing as the second placed shuttler in the Group P. Niluka made waves in the badminton arena at his debut Olympics where he managed to defeat the then world No. 8and Asian champion to advance to the next phase.

This time around Niluka met the reigning world champion Chen Long of China and lost the first game 2-0. Speaking to the media after his victory he said,

“I tried my very best for my country and Sri Lanka badminton. I’m really happy to beat one of the best world ranking players in the world. It was a really tough match and I’m happy to go back with a positive feeling, positive attitude & positive mindset to my country. ”

Niluka has made  the Island proud at the Rio games with a tremendous effort that will no doubt be a benchmark to all aspiring young shuttlers in the country.  

Listen to what Niluka had to say after his victory.