Javelin thrower Dinesh Priyantha Herath who won the bronze medal at the last Rio Paralympic Games will lead the nine member Sri Lankan team to the Tokyo Paralympic Games scheduled to be held from August 24 to September 5 unlike the able bodied Olympians who were paid millions only to return by falling terribly below expectations.
Worthy of note was also the fact that the Paralympians returned with 15 medals from the last Asian meet while the able bodied Sri Lankans at the Asian Games came back with nothing to show.
President of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) Lt Colonel Deepal Herath said that the nine athletes from four sports representing Sri Lanka was of great encouragement to the others who are aspiring to showcase their prowess amid several constraints.
Herath and Samitha Dulan both Javelin throwers received direct qualification while women’s competitor Kumudu Priyanka qualified through a Universality allocation.
The 34 year old Herath was the flag bearer at the last 2018 Asian Para Games and was also the first Sri Lankan to win a Paralympic medal when he bagged a bronze at the last Rio Games with a distance of 58.23m to secure the medal in the F-46 category.
He will once again compete in the same category and is expected to improve his performances.
Herath is the most experienced athlete of the team having won a silver medal at the 2017 World Para athletic championship, a gold medal at the last Asian Para Games with a new meet record and silver medal at the 2019 World Para athletic championship.
Women’s athlete Kumudu Priyanka who contests the 100m and long jump in the T 45/46 category won the long jump bronze medal at the last World Para Grand Prix in Dubai in February and is the second Sri Lankan women’s Paralympian to represent the country after Amara Indumathi in the Paralympics of London and Rio.
Sampath Hettiarachchi in the Javelin F 64 and Sampath Bandara the only competitor in archery will be in a Paralympics for the second time after the last Rio Games. Both Hettiarachchi and Bandara qualified on what is called wildcard invitation while two others, rower Mahesh Jayakody and wheel chair tennis player Ranjan Dharmasena also benefitted from the same qualification.
In addition Saman Maduranga Subasinghre in the 400m T-47 and Palitha Bandara in the shot putt F 42 category were last minute entrants through High Performance slots.
Leading phone service provider Dialog is a driving force behind the contingent.
Sri Lankan Paralympic team for the Tokyo Games:
Athletics: Dinesh Priyantha Herath (Captain, Javelin Throw F 46) , Samitha Dulan (Javelin Throw F 44 ), Palitha Bandara (Shot Putt F 42 ), Sampath Hettiarachchi (Javelin Throw F 64), Saman Maduranga Subasinghe (400m T-47 ) and Kumudu Priyanka (100m, Long Jump T-45/46 ). Pradeep Nishantha and Arjan Ratnayake (coaches )
Archery: Sampath Bandara with Major General Rajeewa Wickramasinghe as coach
Rowing: Mahesh Jayakody with Lasantha Wilikala as coach
Wheelchair Tennis: Ranjan Dharmasena with Jagath Wilikala as coach