Viren, Ranithma retain Open titles at 73rd Nationals
Title holders Viren Nettasinghe and Ranithma Liyanage made a fitting end to their campaigns of the 2025 season, by defending the Men’s and Women’s Open Singles titles, joined by Varangana Jayawardana and Rashmi Mudalige, who defended the Women’s Open Doubles title at the 73rd National Badminton Championship 2025, which concluded at the S. Thomas’ College Indoor Sports Complex in Mount Lavinia.
Three titles – the Men’s Open Singles, Women’s Open Singles and Women’s Open Doubles – were up in the guard as respective holders, Olympian Viren Nettasinghe, Ranithma Liyanage and doubles pair Varangana Jayawardana and Rashmi Mudalige were defending their titles earned from last year’s nationals.
Open winners Viren Nettasinghe (5th from left) and Ranithma Liyanage (4th from left) with other winners
Viren entered the fray of defending his crown with a strategy, as he clinically overcame each of his opponents from the Round of 32, all in straight sets, to reach the final. The country’s top Men’s Singles shuttler continued his form against Rasindu Hendahewa in the Men’s Open Singles final, to end his final bout for the year, again in straight sets to defend the title. Viren defeated Rasindu by 21/10 and 21/14 to win his second national title in style.
Ranithma defended her Women’s Open Singles title by recording a comfortable straight win against Rashmi Mudalige in an absorbing final that lasted nearly 45 minutes. Though the title decider stretched way longer than anticipated, Ranithma managed to seal the victory by recording set wins of 21/12 and 21/18 to claim the national title for the second year running.
Fourth seed pair Sanuda Ariyasinghe and Thisath Rupathunga created an upset by toppling top seeds Oshamika Karunarathne and Thulith Palliyaguru in a lengthy final that went down to the wire in the Men’s Open Doubles final. Sanuda and Thisath won the first set 21/15, but the top seed pair bounced back to level the game 1-all with a 21/18 win. But the gritty pair of Sanuda and Thisath maintained their composure to overcome the favourites 21/15 in the decider and claim the Men’s Open Doubles title.
Varangana Jayawardana and Rashmi Mudalige completed a successful campaign to defend the Women’s Open Doubles title from last year, this time overcoming the aspiring pair of Dilni Ambalangodage and Ranumi Manage in straight sets. Varangana and Rashmi remained unbeaten throughout, as they ended the unblemished run of Dilni and Ranumi with set wins of 21/13 and 21/18 to win the Women’s Open Doubles title for the second year running.
The Mixed Open Doubles title was claimed by the pairing of Thulith Palliyaguru and Panchali Adhikari, who battled for 45 minutes to overcome Aashinsa Herath and Rashmi Mudalige 2-1 in the final. After conceding the first set by 12/21, Thulith and Panchali regrouped to claim the following two sets by 21/18 and 21/15 on their way to win the title.
Organised and conducted by Sri Lanka Badminton, the 73rd edition of the National Badminton Championship attracted a total of 1525 entries, making the 2025 version a history-making event. Sri Lanka Badminton officials were overwhelmed by the enthusiasm among local shuttlers as the number of entries this year exceeded last year’s total count of 1254, a clear progress from 2023 edition’s tally of 1140. Rohan de Silva, the Managing Director of McLarens Holdings, graced the awards ceremony as the Chief Guest at the country’s elite domestic badminton event, conducted in accordance to BWF regulations and sponsored by McFoil, Mobil, Li Ning, 3M and GAC.