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Sri Lanka Badminton Association (SLBA) President Prof. Ranjit de Silva believes that the sport is bound to regain its popularity in its country following his administration’s efforts to promote the sport. In an interview with local media, he revealed that he had never seen an organization that was badly run before he took over in March last year.

He revealed that there were no advertisers or entities that were willing to invest in the organization because it was found out that there were a lot of financial scams that took place and that the sport was never fully developed despite the funding that was given to the organization.

De Silva, a former top badminton racket player himself, is currently a professor in University of Sri Lanka. He received his doctorate in the United Kingdom in 1966 through a scholarship to Cambridge University. While at the school, he’s been actively playing badminton which earned him a Cambridge Blue award for his skills. He won his first National Badminton title in 1962.

Despite his love for the sport, he never wavered from his studies, having finished his doctorate and at the same time, nominated to represent the country at the World Federation Annual General Meeting in 1967. By 1970, he became the Vice President of the Badminton Association.