National Sports Games begin from Gampaha

From left to right:  I. P. Wijerathne – Director, Sports, Sports Development Department, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs;  Amal Edirisuriya – Director General, Sports, Sports Development Department, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs; Dr. Amal Harsha de Silva – Secretary, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs; Roshan Ranasinghe – Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs;  Bandula Egodage, Vice President, Corporate and Regulatory Affairs, Nestlé Lanka;  Sajeewa Wickramasinghe – Senior Manager, Sponsorships & Activations, Nestlé Lanka.  

By Susil Premalal   

 Nestle Lanka Limited’s Nestomalt has come forward to sponsor the 47th National Sports Games marathon, cycling and the race-walking events for the 30th successive year.   

 These three events, conducted by the Ministry of Sports under the 2022 National Sports Games will be held on October 8 and 9 in Gampaha.   

 Altogether a total of 31 sports disciplines will be conducted at the National Sports Games but the rest of the events are yet to be announced by the Ministry of Sports.   

 The Men’s and Women’s marathon events and the Men’s cycling event will be staged on October 8 while the Men’s and Women’s race-walking events and the Women’s cycling event will be held on the following day.   
 Over 450 competitors are set to participate in these three events, which will be conducted in the Open category, Sports Minister Roshan Ranasinghe told reporters during a media briefing held at the Duncan White Auditorium in 
Colombo yesterday.   

 This event will also serve a selection trial to pick the Sri Lankan contingent for the 2023 Dhaka Marathon and the Hong Kong Marathon.   

 The winner of the marathon, race-walking and cycling events will receive a cash award of Rs. 50,000, runner-up Rs. 40,00 and third place Rs. 30,000. In addition, cash awards will be presented up to 10th place.