Sri Lanka shuttlers bag 25 medals with nine golds at Open Masters Games 2026

Sri Lanka veteran badminton players won an impressive tally of 25 medals at the IMGA Open Masters Games Abu Dhabi 2026, pocketing nine each of gold and silver medals and an addition of seven bronze medals.

Sri Lankan shuttlers were among the top performers of the multi-sport event annually organised and conducted by the International Masters Games Association, where over 25000 athletes of above 30 years competed under 38 different sports disciplines during February 6 and 15 in Abu Dhabi.

Among the nine gold medallists were Olympian Niluka Karunaratne, who topped the Over-35 Men’s Singles and Nadeesha Gayanthi and Kaushali Rodrigo, who claimed two gold medals each.

Nadeesha claimed two gold medals in the Women’s Over-40 Singles and Doubles, while Kaushali excelled in the Women’s Over-55 to claim the golds in Singles and Doubles, partnering with Sriyani.

Lakshmi Punchihewa partnered with Enoka to win the gold in Women’s Over-65 Doubles, while Unang paired up with Manjula Fernando to claim the Men’s Over-50 Doubles, as well as the Mixed Doubles of that age group partnering with Renu Chandika de Silva. Bruni Bin Garip completed Sri Lanka’s ninth gold medal, winning the Men’s Over-70 Singles.

Nadeesha Gayanthi and Manjula Fernando added another silver medal to their tally, winning the Over-40 Mixed Doubles, while Lakshmi Punchihewa claimed the silver of Over-65 Women’s Singles.

Rohan de Silva partnered with Bruni Garip to claim the silver medal of Men’s Over-70 Doubles, while Chithra Arachchige claimed two silvers in the Over-55 Singles and Doubles.

Clarence Homer won a silver medal in Over-55 Mixed Doubles, as well as the Men’s Doubles partnering with Upendra Perera.

Sri Lanka added two more silver medals in Men’s Over-45 Doubles from Randika and Romesh, and Men’s Over-55 from Nishantha Jayamanna and Rudianto.

Among bronze medallists, Renu Chandrika de Silva topped with two from the Over-55 Women’s Singles and Doubles, partnering with Thushari, while Enoka accounted for two medals.

She paired up with Lakshmi Punchihewa in the Women’s Over-60 and then went on to add another to the tally in the Mixed Over-65 partnering with veteran Rohan de Silva, while Charith, Romesh and Thushari added three more bronzes to Sri Lanka’s overall tally.