2022 Commonwealth Games Beach Volleyball Sri Lanka men and women qualify, making history

Chathurika Madushani and Deepika Bandara with their trophyMalintha Yapa and Ashen Rashmika with the champions’ trophy

By Susil Premalal

The Sri Lanka beach volleyball men’s and women’s teams have qualified to participate in the 2022 Commonwealth Games Beach Volleyball tournament. The Commonwealth Beach Volleyball tournament is scheduled to take place between July 30 and August 7, 2022, in Birmingham, England.

This is the first time that both men’s and women’s Sri Lanka beach volleyball teams have qualified for the Commonwealth Games. The men’s beach volleyball team has taken part in two Commonwealth Games earlier.
The Commonwealth Asian Qualification Beach Volleyball tournament was conducted by the Asian Volleyball Confederation (AVC) and the Sri Lanka Volleyball Federation (SLVB), which took place at Negombo Beach Park.
Four Asian nations (Sri Lanka, Maldives, Malaysia, and Singapore) took part in this tournament. The Sri Lanka men’s team was represented by Malintha Yapa and Ashen Rashmika, while the women’s team was comprised of Chathurika Madushani and Deepika Bandara.

Sri Lanka beat Maldives 2-0 (21-13, 21-31) in the men’s final, while in the women’s final, Sri Lanka beat Singapore 2-0 (21-18, 22-20) to emerge champions.

Twelve nations are set to compete against each other in each tournament at the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Currently, hosts England, together with Canada, New Zealand, Australia, The Gambia, Rwanda, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka, have qualified for the men’s tournament.

In the women’s tournament, England, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Cyprus, Kenya, Scotland, and Sri Lanka have so far booked their berths.