Niluka Karunaratne


Niluka Karunaratne is a Sri Lankan Olympic badminton player who compete in 2012 and 2016. He was selected to captain the Sri Lankan contingent to the 2012 Summer Olympics. Karunaratne competed in five consecutives Commonwealth Games from 2002–2018.
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. He currently holds a position in the banking sector as a bank employee.
As of July 2012, he is ranked 48th in the men's singles from the BWF World Ranking. In 2012, the Sri Lankan Daily News called him "Sri Lanka’s undisputed badminton champion".
At the 2014 Commonwealth Games, he was knocked out of the men's singles in the round of 16 by Srikanth Kidambi. He was also part of the Sri Lankan mixed badminton team, which was knocked out at the quarterfinal stage by England.

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". India's Parupalli Kashyap sent him out of the Games, in a closely fought pre-quarter match.

Achievements

South Asian Games

Mixed doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2010Wooden-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
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2020Uganda International Gergely Krausz18–21, 21–18, 13–21 Runner-up
2019Benin International Ade Resky Dwicahyo23–21, 21–17 Winner
2017Brazil International Ygor Coelho9–21, 21–14, 21–18 Winner
2016Portugal International Gabriel Ulldahl21–17, 21–13 Winner
2016Uganda International Pedro Martins21–17, 21–15 Winner
2014Dutch International Rasmus FladbergWalkover Runner-up
2012Bahrain International B. Sai Praneeth21–14, 14–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2012Brazil International Kevin Cordon21–17, 20–22, 19–21 Runner-up
2012Iran Fajr International Sameer Verma21–18, 21–15 Winner
2012Uganda International Wisnu Haryo Putro21–11, 21–18 Winner
2011Welsh International Lok Chong Chieh21–16, 18–21, 21–19 Winner
2011Miami International Rodrigo Pacheco21–12, 21–14 Winner
2011Puerto Rico International Michael Lahnsteiner21–18, 21–15 Winner

Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2016Uganda International Dinuka Karunaratna Ali Ahmed El Khateeb
Abdelrahman Kashkal		21–17, 21–17 Winner
2010Maldives International Dinuka Karunaratna Sulehri Kashif Ali
Rizwan Azam		21–18, 18–21, 15–21 Runner-up