23 Facts About Niluka Karunaratne

Niluka Karunaratne was born on 13 February 1985 and is a Sri Lankan badminton player who has competed at the Olympics in 2012,2016 and 2020.

Niluka Karunaratne is currently regarded as the number one premiere badminton player in Sri Lanka and Sri Lanka's most decorated badminton player with a record 21 medals to his name at international events including 9 gold medals.

Niluka Karunaratne holds the unique distinction of winning five gold medals in five different continents.

Niluka Karunaratne reached his higher career singles ranking of 34 in June 2013, which is the personal best ranking by a Sri Lankan badminton player.

Niluka Karunaratne has emerged as national badminton champion for record 17 times, the most by a Sri Lankan badminton player.

Niluka Karunaratne took up badminton at the age of 8, having been introduced to the sport by his father, who was a national level badminton player.

Niluka Karunaratne became the youngest ever Sri Lankan national badminton champion at the age of 16 in 2001 after winning his maiden national title on debut appearance at the Sri Lankan Badminton Nationals.

Niluka Karunaratne competed in five consecutives Commonwealth Games from 2002 to 2018.

Niluka Karunaratne was part of the Sri Lankan mixed badminton team, which was knocked out at the quarterfinal stage by England.

Niluka Karunaratne won his first international badminton championship in 2011 after emerging victorious in the men's singles event at the Puerto Rico International.

Niluka Karunaratne set a record for winning most consecutive number of men's singles title at the Sri Lankan Badminton Nationals during 9 occasions from 2000 to 2009.

Niluka Karunaratne was selected to captain the Sri Lankan contingent to the 2012 Summer Olympics in his debut Olympic appearance and was the flagbearer for Sri Lanka during the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Niluka Karunaratne made his second Summer Olympics appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympics representing Sri Lanka amid various difficulties as he was not eligible to compete in local and international badminton events due to the temporary ban on Sri Lankan Badminton Federation imposed by the Badminton World Federation in 2015.

In January 2021, he tested positive for COVID-19 along with his younger brother Chamika and Niluka Karunaratne was disbanded from the National Badminton Association.

However, he pledged to participate in badminton competitions after recovering from COVID-19 and in February 2021, he along with his younger brother and national cricketer Chamika Niluka Karunaratne played in the first round encounters in the men's singles of the Sri Lankan Badminton Nationals 2020.

Niluka Karunaratne announced his retirement from competing in local events after claiming the national badminton title for the record seventeenth time in 2021.

In May 2021, Niluka Karunaratne reached the semifinals of the 56th edition of the Portuguese International Badminton Championships but was eliminated from the semis after losing to Germany's Max Weisskirchen.

Niluka Karunaratne will become the first Sri Lankan badminton player to compete at three successive Olympics.

Niluka Karunaratne announced that he would officially retire from international badminton after competing at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July 2021.

Niluka Karunaratne was accompanied by his brother Dinuka Karunaratne as his partner in lead up to the 2020 Olympics.

Niluka Karunaratne holds a position in the banking sector as a bank employee.

However, Niluka Karunaratne disagreed regarding the comments made by Anuradha Cooray.

In 2014, Sri Lanka Badminton Association took disciplinary action against Niluka Karunaratne for acting in an undisciplined manner during the selection trials prior to the 2014 Commonwealth Games.