Sri Lanka hopeful of Asian Games medal after 16 years

Sri Lanka youth team manager Chandana Ekanayaka is seen handing over the report to SLA President Maj. Gen. Palitha Fernando, while Palitha Jayathilaka (Acting Secretary) and Shantha De Silva (Treasurer) are also seen in the picture

By Susil Premalal

Sri Lanka’s target at the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 is to win more than one athletic medal, according to Sri Lanka Athletic (SLA) Recorder and Athletic Selection Committee Member Saman Kumara Gunawardena.

The 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic and will be held from September 23 to October 6 
in China.

The SLA selection committee has recommended to the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) that 12 athletes are qualified according to the SLA selection criteria for the Asian Games.

In the history of the Asian Games history, Sri Lanka has not won an athletic medal since the 2006 Doha Asian Games, having participated in Guangzhou (2010), Incheon (2014), and Jakarta (2018), as Gunawardena pointed out.

This situation is not because Sri Lankan athletes are at a low level, but because countries like Qatar and the UAE field athletes from other countries at the Asian Games, World Athletic Championship, and Olympic Games, which is a setback for South Asian countries, said Gunawardena.

As a result, SLA has decided to send a strong athletic team to the Hangzhou Asian Games.

SLA are banking on Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Yupun Abeykoon (100m and 200m), Ushan Tiwanka (high jump), and Danushka Sadaruwan (long jump), who have excelled at international level, to win an Asian Games athletic medal after 16 years.

Among them, the best hope is Italy-based Abeykoon in the 100m and 200m events.

Tiwanka and Dhanushka are training in the United States, but their participation is in doubt because of visa wrangles.
In Asian Games history, Sri Lanka has won 27 medals, comprising 10 gold, six silver, and 11 bronze.

Meanwhile, Chandana Ekanayake, manager of the Sri Lanka team that took part in the 5th Asian Youth (U-18) Athletic Championship in Uzbekistan, has handed over his report to SLA President Maj. Gen. Palitha Fernando.

Seven athletes took part in this championship, winning two silver and two bronze medals.