Travel Trade Badminton goes to SLA again

The SriLankan Airlines badminton team didn't drop a set as they over-ran all opposition in the 17th Annual Travel Trade Badminton Tournament.

The National Carrier made a clean sweep of the Men's, Women's and Veterans' categories. The men's team won for the 15th time, while the women's team took their division for the 13th consecutive year.

K.T. Inosha and Suranjan De Silva of SriLankan were adjudged Players of the Tournament in the Women's and Veterans' categories respectively.

Hotel Topaz was the 1st Runner-up, with Hilton Colombo in third place. The tournament, held at S.Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia, featured 20 men's teams and 12 women's.

Teams first competed in a round robin format in groups, with each tie between teams consisting of three singles and two doubles matches. In the Men's division, SriLankan defeated Royal Palm, Serendib, Lanka Princess and Neptune, Hotel Topaz and then went on to beat Serendib Beach Hotel in the quarter-final, Lanka Princess in the semi-final, and Hotel Topaz in the final 3/0.

The Women's division saw the National Carrier beating Hilton Colombo, Serendib Group and Walkers Tours in the group stage, and next sweeping aside Serendib Hotel Beach Hotel in the quarter-final, Hotel Topaz in the semi-final, and Walkers tours in the final 2/0.

In the Veterans category, which was contested by five teams, SriLankan defeated Walkers.