19-member squad for IWF Weightlifting Championships

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka will field a 19-member strong contingent (10 men and nine women) for the IWF World Weightlifting Championships from December 7-17 in Uzbekistan. This meet will also serve as a qualification trial for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.

Competitors from over 150 countries are set to compete in the IWF World Weightlifting Championships, and the Sri Lankan team has already arrived in Uzbekistan for the event.

This is the biggest contingent that Sri Lanka will be fielding at an international meet after the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in Singapore was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in October.
G. Nishanthan, Secretary of the Sri Lanka Weightlifting Federation (SLWF), said they are not banking on any medals from the 16 men’s and women’s events at the meet, but their prime objective is to obtain qualification for the Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, Sri Lanka’s international medallist, Hansini Gomes, will not participate in the IWF World Weightlifting Championships due to an injury.

The Sri Lankan men’s team will be led by Indika Dissanayake, and the women’s team will be led by Chamari Warnakulasuriya.

The Sri Lankan contingent:
Men’s: Indika Dissanayake (Navy – 73kg), Dilanka Isurukumara (Army – 55kg), Thilanga Palagasinghe (Polonnaruwa WC – 61kg), Chaturanga Lakmal (Army – 61kg), Manoj Wijesinghe (Air Force – 67kg), Kamal Egodawatta (Navy - 67kg), Sudesh Peiris (Harmise WC – 75kg), Chinthana Vidanage (Navy – 81kg), Chanaka Peters (Navy – 96kg) and Ushan Vidanapathirana (Navy – 109+kg)
Women’s: Chamari Warnakulasuriya (Navy – 55kg), Srimali Samarakoon (Health Zone WC – 45kg), Mohideen Umeira (Air Force – 59kg), N. S. Rajapaksa (Air Force – 59kg), Arshika Vijayabaskar (Jaffna WC – 64kg), D. I. Gurugama (Polonnaruwa WC – 71kg), D. N. Sanjana (Under The Bar WC – 81kg), Chathurika Priyanthi (Navy – 87kg) and J. B. Haputhanna (Polonnaruwa WC – 87+kg).