Five-member Squad for World Wrestling Meet

File Photo

By Susil Premalal

The Sri Lanka Wrestling Association (SLWA) will field a five-member contingent for the 17th World Wrestling Championships, which will be held from October 2 to 10 in Oslo, Norway. Sri Lanka team will leave for Oslo on September 29.

The Sri Lanka Squad will include four men and one female competitor with over 173 wrestlers from 52 countries set to participate in the meet.

This event was initially scheduled for 2019 but was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa has already approved the Sri Lanka Squad for this meet.  Kathmandu South Asian Games Silver Medallist Madushanka Wijesuriya of Sri Lanka Air Force will lead the Sri Lankan contingent and will compete in the 74kg weight class event.    

“Sri Lanka have never won a medal at a world wrestling meet. All medallists of the Tokyo Olympic Games will be competing at this event.Under these circumstances it is difficult to believe that Sri Lanka could win a medal. But our goal is to improve the World Rankings,” President SLWA Sarath Hewawitharana said yesterday.         

Sri Lanka won 14 medals including two Gold Medals, 10 Silver Medals and two Bronze Medals at the Kathmandu SAF Games.

The Sri Lanka Wrestling Squad
Men: Madushanka Wijesuriya (Captain) – 74kg, Charles Fernando – 65kg, Anil Munasingha – 70kg) and Suresh Fernando – 70kg. 
Women: Nilukshi Perera (62kg)
Coach: Rajith Fernando.
Manager: Donald Indrawansa.