The Junior Table Tennis team of Sri Lanka who emerged victorious at the South Asia Junior and Cadet Table Tennis Championship held in Karachi and the Sri Lanka Silhouette Shooters team who were category champions in the 12th World Shooting Championship were felicitated by the Ministry of Sports in the presence of the Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara.
The Junior Table Tennis team were the undisputed champions in Karachi dominating the medal tally, winning 9 out of the 10 medals on offer. Sri Lanka also went on to win the team events in both the junior and cadet categories.
Leading the boys’ team, Vidyartha College player Udaya Ranasinghe was able to secure gold medals in the Junior Boys’ Singles as well as the Junior Boys’ Doubles. He went on to make it three medals in the entire tournament as he played an integral role in the Junior Boys’ team event. The girls’ captain Hansani Piumila also received the same honour bagging three gold medals that came from the Junior Girls’ Single, Junior Girls’ Doubles followed by the Junior Girls’ team event. 
Sri Lanka secured a total of 9 gold medals, 4 silvers and one bronze. The team was coached by Buddhika Dikkumbura and Namal Gunasekara.
Along with the Junior Paddlers, the Sri Lanka Silhouette Shooting Team emerged world champions in the categories of Small Bore Light Rifle and Small Bore Silhouette Rifle in the recently concluded 12th International Metallic Silhouette Shooting Union World Shooting Championship bagging 38 medals in total. The World Shooting Championship that took place in South Africa from the 2nd to the 15th of July 2016 featured a total of 22 countries.
The eight-member team was led by Major Sanjeewa Rathnayake who took the honour of securing 5 gold medals, 2 silvers and 5 bronze medals to make his individual tally 12 medals in total. Captain Jineth Sri Gayanga went on to become the #1 ranked shooter in the Small Bore Rifle Light & Silhouette category and brought home 11 medals in total that included eight golds, two silvers and a bronze.
The other members of the winning team were Nandana Weerasinghe, Roshan Gunawardena, Ishara Abeysooriya, Subhashana Welikala, Senerath Manikdiwela & Amil Gunawardena.
Speaking at the felicitation ceremony, Hon. Dayasiri Jayasekara congratulated the two teams on their achievements and encouraged the teams for the upcoming tournaments. He also mentioned that the Ministry of Sports will always guide the teams for overseas tournaments but only if they submitted their plans ahead.
“We request all the sports bodies to submit their future plans for 2017 so that the Ministry can plan ahead and allocate the necessary budgets for the tours and not have the sports team at a disadvantageous position”
