Weightlifter Sudesh wins Silver
Chinthana WASALA reporting from Glasgow, Scotland
The Sri Lankan camp at the 20th Commonwealth Games was filled with
joy, excitement and happiness when the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games
Bronze medalist Sudesh Peiris upgraded his medal with a Silver in the
men’s weightlifting 62kg category.
 Peiris managed to lift 120 Kg in Snatch in his first attempt, to keep
Sri Lanka’s hopes alive at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre
(SECC) precincts on Friday night. His second attempt to lift three more
kilos did not go well. However, Peiris went for his goal in his third
and final attempt in the Snatch category with a 123kg lift to be ranked
second in the Snatch, behind the 25-year- old weightlifter from Cyprus,
Dimitris Minasidis who lifted 125 kilogrammes and later went on to win
his first Gold medal in such a major event.
Sri Lankan competitor Indika Dissanayaka was also among the top five
at the end of first session.
In the clean and jerk session, Peiris went straight for a weight of
150 kilogrammes. However, Sri Lanka’s hope for a medal during the 62 kg
category was in jeopardy when Peiris failed in his first two attempts to
go for 150 kg. Dissanayake tried to go for 149kg in his first and
seconds attempts but failed. Then he tried to lift 153 kilogrammes to
make his total 253 kilogrammes, but failed to do so. However ,Peiris who
was under pressure of losing his target, lifted 150kg in his third and
final attempt to book a podium finish with a total lift of 273. The
Samoan weightlifter V Ioane tried to push himself to the limit by
lifting 160 kilos to go for a total of 275 kilogrammes, threatening
Peiris’s attempt to win a silver, but he failed in his third try, and
was placed third. .
Dimitris Minasidis of Cyprus won the Gold with a total lift of 276
kg.
Speaking to the Sunday Observer after the medal awards ceremony,
delighted Sudesh Peiris, said that his initial ambition was to win a
gold medal. “I came here to win a gold medal but I am truly delighted
for being able to upgrade my medal. I am training back in Sri Lanka
under lot of stress due to various financial problems. However, I did
not let my mission to fade away. If I had not done all these sacrifices,
this would have not been a reality,” Peiris said. Peiris, who led the
Sri Lankan contingent comprising 104 athletes at the 20th Commonwealth
Games, won the Bronze medal in the men’s 62 kg weightlifting clean and
jerk event during the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi 2010, lift.
“The game has improved a lot since then. Even the Gold medal winning
performances at the Delhi games was not enough to win even a Bronze
medal this time around. We have to improve constantly. I hope to do my
country proud in the future too”, said Peiris.
Glasgow, Saturday |
