Sri Lanka’s female players will be the cynosure of all eyes when they take part in the Badminton Asia Youth under-16 Championships which the country will host from August 3-9 at the S. Thomas’ College Mount Lavinia gymnasium.

The championships have been tagged as an event that will showcase the future champions by its organizer, the Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA).

Sri Lanka will make the line up of teams along with Asia’s powerhouses in badminton like China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Korea. The other countries expected to vie for honours are Thailand, Vietnam, India, Iran, Hong Kong, Japan, Pakistan, Bhutan, Cambodia, Brunei and Laos.

SLBA Interim Committee Chairman Professor Ranjith de Silva speaking to the media at a press briefing, held at Hilton Residencies yesterday in connection with the upcoming event, said that this was an ideal opportunity for budding shuttlers, especially from rural areas, to observe how the sport is played correctly.

This marks the first occasion in the 50-year-history of the SLBA that a continental championships has been awarded to Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka will have the opportunity of fielding six entries for the singles and team events respectively in the boys and girls categories. All other countries are permitted to register a minimum of three and a maximum of four entries at the singles and team events at the championships.

As with the host nation, the focus is on the girls, because they did well at the championships last year by making it to the quarterfinals.

Sri Lanka’s hopes will be on Achini Ranasinghe and Upuli Samanthika who have improved tremendously. SLBA officials are of the opinion that they have the potential to upset some of the top players in the tournament.