McLarens Holdings dominate
Youth Olympic medalist Sachin Dias and former national champion Achini Rathnasiri won the Men’s and Women’s 'A' Division Best Player awards respectively as their team, McLarens Holdings, bagged major honours at the 36th Mercantile Badminton Association ( MBA) Inter- Firm Team Badminton Championships 2019.
Teams representing McLarens Holdings won the overall championships in a whopping 8 categories at the event organised by the MBA under the supervision of Sri Lanka Badminton (SLB).
Overall champions McLarens bagged 325 points, 188 more than their closest rival HNB, who were runners-up with 137 points, in the final standings, winning the Over (O)-35 Women, O-40 Men – 'A' Division, Mixed 'B' and 'C' Divisions, Women’s 'A' and 'C' Divisions as well as the Men’s 'A' and 'B' Divisions.
McLarens Shuttlers Kaushali Dissanayake ( O- 35 Women), Upendra Jayawardene (Team 'A' - O-40 Men – 'A' Division), Hasini Ambalangodage ( Women’s ' C' Division) and Kasun Amarasena (Men’s 'B' Division) also won individual awards as Most Outstanding Players in their respective groups.
The tournament, one of the major events in the country’s badminton calendar, saw more than 1800 players representing 220 teams from 57 companies competing for 31 titles. The two- week long tournament also saw 1100 matches being held. The event was sponsored by LINING (Flex Sportsware) and Revival Physical Medicine Centre.
McLarens Group's Joint Managing Directors Dinesh Jayawardana and Shehara Jayawardana were the Chief Guests at the awards ceremony, while Flex Sportware Managing Director Sanjeewa Akuratiya, and Revival Physical Medicine Centre CEO Rajini S. Jayatilake, were the Guests of Honour.