Sawan Serasinghe

Sawan Serasinghe
Personal information
Country Australia
Born (1994-02-21) 21 February 1994 (age 30)
Galle, Sri Lanka
ResidenceMelbourne, Australia
Height1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Weight79 kg (174 lb)
HandednessLeft
Men's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking32 (MD 1 December 2016)
32 (XD 19 October 2017)
Medal record
Men's badminton
Representing  Australia
Oceania Championships
2015 North Harbour Men's doubles
2016 Papeete Men's doubles
2017 Nouméa Men's doubles
2017 Nouméa Mixed doubles
2018 Hamilton Men's doubles
2018 Hamilton Mixed doubles
2019 Melbourne Men's doubles
2014 Ballarat Men's doubles
2019 Melbourne Mixed doubles
2020 Ballarat Men's doubles
Oceania Mixed Team Championships
2014 Ballarat Mixed team
2016 Auckland Mixed team
Oceania Men's Team Championships
2018 Hamilton Men's team
2020 Ballarat Men's team
BWF profile

Sawan Serasinghe (born 21 February 1994) is a former badminton player from Australia. He won seven Oceania Championships titles, five in the men's doubles and two in the mixed doubles. Serasinghe competed in the men's doubles event at the 2016 Summer Olympics alongside Matthew Chau.

Serasinghe with his partner Matthew Chau in 2016

Career

Serasinghe started playing badminton since the age of five, he was born in Galle, Sri Lanka, and moved to Australia when he was 11 years old. He trains at the National Training Centre in Melbourne, and took out back-to-back Oceania Championships titles with Chau in 2015 and 2016. The 22-year-old also won the 2014 Sydney International Challenge mixed doubles with Setyana Mapasa, against some of the best players in the world. The Melburnian's first international experience was at the 2013 Australian Youth Olympic Festival where he competed in the men's doubles with Chau and also took the court in the men's singles competition.

He made his first Olympic appearance at the 2016 Summer Olympics, competing in the men's doubles with Matthew Chau. They headed into Rio as the 46th highest ranked pairing in the world, and were eliminated in the group stages after losing each of their matches against South Korea, Russia, and Chinese Taipei.

Off the court, Serasinghe holds a Bachelor of Business Information Systems degree from Monash University.

Achievements

Oceania Championships

Men's doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2020 Ken Kay Badminton Stadium,
Ballarat, Australia
Matthew Chau Oliver Leydon-Davis
Abhinav Manota
21–18, 9–21, 14–21 Silver
2019 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia
Eric Vuong Simon Leung
Mitchell Wheller
21–17, 21–10 Gold
2018 Eastlink Badminton Stadium,
Hamilton, New Zealand
Matthew Chau Robin Middleton
Ross Smith
21–17, 23–21 Gold
2017 Salle Anewy,
Nouméa, New Caledonia
Matthew Chau Kevin Dennerly-Minturn
Niccolo Tagle
21–8, 21–14 Gold
2016 Punaauia University Hall,
Papeete, Tahiti
Matthew Chau Leo Cucuel
Remi Rossi
21–11, 21–12 Gold
2015 X-TRM North Harbour Badminton Centre,
Auckland, New Zealand
Matthew Chau Kevin Dennerly-Minturn
Oliver Leydon-Davis
10–21, 21–16, 21–13 Gold
2014 Ken Kay Badminton Hall,
Ballarat, Australia
Matthew Chau Raymond Tam
Glenn Warfe
11–21, 13–21 Silver

Mixed doubles

Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result
2019 Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre,
Melbourne, Australia
Khoo Lee Yen Simon Leung
Gronya Somerville
18–21, 15–21 Silver
2018 Eastlink Badminton Stadium,
Hamilton, New Zealand
Setyana Mapasa Matthew Chau
Leanne Choo
21–19, 21–18 Gold
2017 Salle Anewy,
Nouméa, New Caledonia
Setyana Mapasa Joel Findlay
Gronya Somerville
21–19, 21–9 Gold

BWF Grand Prix (1 runner-up)

The BWF Grand Prix has two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 New Zealand Open Setyana Mapasa Ronald Alexander
Annisa Saufika
19–21, 14–21 Runner-up
  BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
  BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (6 titles, 3 runners-up)

Men's doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 Nouméa International Matthew Chau Joel Findlay
Jeff Tho
17–21, 21–7, 21–14 Winner
2015 Maribyrnong International Matthew Chau Darren Isaac Devadass
Vountus Indra Mawan
24–22, 10–21, 14–21 Runner-up
2015 Waikato International Matthew Chau Rizwan Azam
Michael Fariman
21–16, 21–15 Winner

Mixed doubles

Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result
2017 Sydney International Setyana Mapasa Ye Hong-wei
Teng Chun-hsun
Walkover Runner-up
2017 Nouméa International Setyana Mapasa Dylan Soedjasa
Susannah Leydon-Davis
21–13, 15–21, 21–17 Winner
2015 Norwegian International Setyana Mapasa Soren Gravholt
Maiken Fruergaard
21–17, 21–15 Winner
2015 Maribyrnong International Setyana Mapasa Robin Middleton
Leanne Choo
21–17, 19–21, 19–21 Runner-up
2015 Waikato International Setyana Mapasa Matthew Chau
Gronya Somerville
21–13, 21–17 Winner
2014 Sydney International Setyana Mapasa Pham Tran Hoang
Sylvina Kurniawan
11–4, 11–8, 11–3 Winner
  BWF International Challenge tournament
  BWF International Series tournament
  BWF Future Series tournament

References

  1. ^ "Players: Sawan Serasinghe". bwfbadminton.com. Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  2. ^ "Australian badminton champion makes Olympic debut". www.australiaplus.com. Australia Plus. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Sawan Serasinghe". Official Site of the 2016 Australian Olympic Team. Australian Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Aussie Badminton star celebrates end of months of clean eating with Olympian McDonald's meal". metro.co.uk. Metro. Retrieved 11 February 2017.