No. 1 seed advances in Dove Saipan Int’l

Twenty-one-year-old Viren Nettasinghe of Sri Lanka started the last Badminton World Federation Grade 3 International Challenge tournament—the Dove Saipan International 2024—with a bang yesterday at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium.

The men’s No. 1 seed was fired up after failing to reach the finals of the first tournament—the Crowne Plaza Northern Marianas Open 2024—last week.

He went up against Chinese Taipei’s Chi Ting Cheng, who gave him a run for his money, but demolished him after just two sets, 23-21, 21-18.

Nettasinghe landed the first four points unanswered in the first set to go up, 4-0, as Cheng was left struggling to connect with his smashes. Nettasinghe tried to keep up his momentum but Cheng found his stride and got within two, 4-6. Cheng then kept the pace until he tied it up, 7-7, as Nettasinghe tried to recuperate.

The young up-coming Olympian then smashed his way to another lead, 12-8. Cheng didn’t give up, however, as he fought to tie it up once again, 12-12. Later, Nettasinghe could’ve ended the set early, but Cheng clawed his way back from a 13-19 deficit and forced the game into extra points. Finally, Nettasinghe put the set in his back pocket after securing the final two points, 23-21.

The second set was also a struggle for the tourney’s top seed, but he managed to put the game away from errors on Cheng’s part and his better placements.

At just 21, Nettasinghe has etched his name in the annals of Sri Lankan sports history as the youngest badminton player to represent the nation at the Olympics.

According to a press release, Nettasinghe will lead Sri Lanka at the Paris 2024 Olympics as the captain of the men’s Olympic team and the flagbearer of the Sri Lankan contingent for the opening ceremony. This significant honor underscores the country’s commitment to nurturing and highlighting young talent on the global stage, said the release.

At press time, not all matches are finished.

In doubles matches, the NMI duo of Andreau Galvez and Trizian Canoza fell to Japan’s Kota Ogawa and Misaki Kurashima, 3-21, 3-21; Kai Cheng teamed up with Yu Wei Peng and beat NMI’s Antonio Nicomedez and Marilou Malasarte, 21-7, 21-6; and Nathan Guerrero and Janelle Pangilinan succumbed to Chao Pang Liao and Yu-Hao Lin, 5-21, 9-21.

In other singles matches, No. 3 seed Kuan Lin Kuo made light work of Guam’s Chen Yang Hu, 21-2, 21-7; No. 5 Justin Hoh edged Keisuke Fujiwara, 21-19, 21-16; No. 6 Shogo Ogawa discarded of Yu Cheng Chen, 21-16, 21-14; and No. 7 Yu Huang defeated Rylan Tan, 21-18, 21-12.

Edward Lau was no match to Ping-Hsien Huang, 13-21, 8-21; Aryamann Tandon then routed Pyeong Gang Choi, 21-15, 21-13; NMI’s Sean Dizon fell to Byung Jae Kim, 6-21, 7-21; Wongsup Wongsup-in beat Lee Tao Ong, 21-13, 21-14; and NMI’s Paulo Quidato lost to Yen-Chen Ting, 3-21, 4-21.

Day 3 of the tournament starts today.