A Sri Lankan contingent of 18 athletes left the island to take part in the seventh World Military Games which commenced on Friday in Wuhan, China.
Track and field events are scheduled to begin on Tuesday and this will be a useful trial for some of the Sri Lankan athletes who will be participating in the South Asian Games which is scheduled to be held from December 1 to 10 in Nepal.
South Asia’s fastest runner Himasha Eshan and Asian bronze medal triple jumper Vidusha Lakshani are the key athletes of this Sri Lanka team. In addition, Sri Lanka has most of the talented athletes from the armed forces hoping for good results.
Junior Asian gold medallist 400m winner Aruna Dharshana, 3000m steeple chase record holder Nilani Ratnayake, also from the Army are included in this team. Olympians Sumedha Ranasinghe and Nadeeka Lakmali are javelin throwers will also take part in this event. The other athletes from the Army are triple and long jumpers Gretien Dhananjaya, Prasad Wimalasiri and Sarangi Silva who have performed well so far. Nadeesha Ramanayake, Prasad Wimalasiri and Saranga Silva are the 400m runners while Chanuka Sandeepa, Mohamed Safan and Fazeel Udayar run the 100m and 200m.
Air Force athletes in the contingent are 800m national record holder Nimali Liyanarachchi, shot putt athlete Tarika Fernando and Pole Vault champion Ishara Sandaruwan.
Sri Lanka’s 1500m champion Gayanthika Abeyratne is a key athlete from the Navy. Sri Lanka has won the nine medals in the history of the world military Games. They are two golds, one silver and six bronze medals so far. The Sri Lanka men’s 100m relay team comprising ALM Ashraf, ARM Rajaskhan, Vinod Suranjaya Silva and MYP Abeykoon secured the bronze medal at the sixth Military World Games held in October 2015 in Mungyeong, Korea.
Sri Lanka contingent:
Ishara Sandaruwan, Himasha Eshan, Gayanthika Abeyratne, Nimali Liyanarachchi, Vidusha Lakshani, Aruna Dharshana, Nilani Ratnayake, Grashan Dhananjaya, Prasad Wimalasiri, Sarangi Silva, Nadeesha Ramanayake, Sumedha Ranasinghe, Nadeeka Lakmali, Upamalika Ratnakumari, Tarika Fernando, Chanuka Sandeepa, Mohamad Safan, Fazeel Udayar