Niroshan Wijekoon – first Sri Lankan to win a World Cup match

Niroshan Wijekoon

Pathmasiri Niroshan Bandara Wijekoon created history as the first badminton player to represent Sri Lanka at the Olympic Games in 1992 in Barcelona, Spain.

He was born in Bandarawela on February 10, 1964 and was educated at St. Thomas’ College, Bandarawela, Ananda College, Colombo and later went on to captain Royal College, Colombo.

Wijekoon made his debut in Sri Lankan National Badminton Championships in 1975 as an 11-year-old and went on to win 28 titles including nine Singles, 12 Doubles and seven Mixed Doubles.

Wijekoon started playing badminton at St. Thomas’ College from his young age and came under the guidance of some top coaches of the calibre of Ananda Alahakoon, A.R L. Wijesekera and L. R. Ariyananda in the beginning of his career. He was immensely benefited through their coaching and had the distinction of winning the Under-12, Under-14, Under-16, Under-18 and Under-19 age group titles at the Inter-Schools Badminton Tournaments.

Wijekoon enjoyed his best period from 1981 to 1991 and won the National Men’s Singles title on eight occasions, Mixed Doubles title on 10 occasions and the Men’s Doubles title on seven occasions.

He remained supreme at all major ranking tournaments conducted by the Sri Lanka Badminton Association during that time and proved that there was none better than him in the badminton sphere in Sri Lanka.

He won his first National Men’s Singles title in 1983 and went on to represent Sri Lanka at the Asian Badminton Championships in 1982, 1986 and 1990.

Wijekoon also participated in the Japan Open Badminton Championships from 1988 to 1992, the Thailand Open Championships from 1985 to 1989, the Australian Open Championships in 1989 and 1991 and the Malaysian and Indonesian Open Championships in 1986 and 1988.

In 1984, he beat the Singaporean number one at the Thomas Cup and was the first Sri Lankan to win a Singles match in a Thomas Cup game.

Wijekoon also participated in the World Badminton Championships in 1989 in the Men’s Singles and lost to Kim Hak-kyun of South Korea 7-15, 7-15.

In 1992, he won the Portuguese Open Championships and gained a place in the Sri Lanka Olympic Squad for the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.

In 1989 he also participated in the South Asian Badminton Championships. At the Olympic Games, Wijekoon, was up against the Austrian champion Hannes Fuchs in the first round and was defeated 15-9, 15-11. (C.D)