Ten athletes for Commonwealth Games in New Delhi

by Leslie Fernando

ATHLETICS: Ten athletes, eight men and two women have been selected by the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games to be held from October 3 to 14 in New Delhi, India.

According to Major General Palitha Fernando, the President of the Athletic Association of Sri Lanka, the athletes were selected on the performances at the 88th National Athletic Championships held at the Mahinda Rajapaksa Sports Complex in Diyagama last weekend. The selectors also took into consideration the feats of athletes at the earlier meets held at local and international level.

Sri Lanka’s men will compete in the 100 metres, 200 metres, 400 metres, 1,500 metres, high jump and 4 x 400 metres relay while the two women athletes will participate in the 400 metres and long jump disciplines.

The selected athletes will have the opportunity to train abroad, prior to the Commonwealth Games for at least two to three weeks. The athletes will go into residential training from next weekend said the athletic chief.

The men’s team: Shehan Ambepitiya the fastest man in the South Asian Region (100 m and 200 m) Shehad won the 100 meters dash in Dhaka, Bangladesh in early January.

The gold medal winners at the South Asian Games in Dhaka Chaminda Wijekoon (1,500 m), Prasanna Amarasekera (400 metres), Manjula Kumara (High Jump), U.G. Wickremanayake, Shalitha Ramanayake, K.K. Seneviratne, N. Karunaratne (4 x 400 metres relay).

The two women athletes are: Chandrika Subashani (400 metres) and C.D. Priyadarshani (long jump). Both Subashani and Priyadarshani were gold medal winners at the 11th South Asian Games.

Chandana Ekanayake will be the manager while Sunil Gunawardena will be the coach.