Weightlifting very popular in Kandy with many coaches in the trade
by Upananda JAYASUNDERA - Kandy Sports Special Cor.
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Veteran weightlifting coach R.B. Wickremasinghe (right)
gives instructions to a trainee weightlifter. Pictures by
Upananda Jayasundera - Kandy Sports Special Corr.
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WEIGHTLIFTING: Weightlifting is a very popular sport in Kandy and
this sport has had very popular coaches in junior S.A. Wijewickrema, M.
Pakeer Ali and other coaches at YMCA, Kandy. They had coached well over
three to four decades and produced many champions like M. Sabaratnam, M.
Majeed, Asela Wijewickrema, M. Dayan, M. Jayathilake, S. Duinl and S.M.
de Silva and some others too. Now coaching in weightlifting has taken
over by Athula Wijewickrema - Sports Officer attached to the Ministry of
Sports.
The Kandy Municipality too has come into the picture and they have
taken steps to widen this sports and they have started a weightlifting
centre at the Wewalpitiya grounds, Kandy. Municipal Commissioner
Chandana Tennakoon is personally taking an interest in the sport. This
weightlifting centre is open from Sunday to Tuesday from 8 a.m. to 8
p.m. and open to both men and women. The coaching here is in charge of
veteran coach R.B. Wickremasinghe of the Ministry of Sports who is
assisted by M. Dayan - former South Asian weightlifting medal winner.
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Young boys and girls who are training under R.B.
Wickremasinghe (extreme left) and M. Dayan (extreme right). |
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