The third Sri Lankan weightlifter to compete today (5th) at the Commonwealth Games, Thilanka Wiraj narrowly missed out on a medal in the Men’s 62Kg and had to be satisfied with a fourth-place finish.
Thilanka lifted a total of 279Kg which included a snatch of 124Kg and a ‘Clean and Jerk’ of 155Kg and failed in his attempt to clear the 160Kg mark which would have earned him the Bronze medal of the competition. Pakistani Talha Talib won the Bronze medal clearing a total weight of 283Kg which included a games record snatch of 132Kg and was the best of the day in the weight class. Aznil Bidin of Malaysia won Gold clearing a total weight of 288Kg and was remarkable in his ‘Clean and Jerk’ where he managed to lift 162Kg. Morea Baru of Papua New Guinea won Silver clearing a total of 286Kg.
Thilanka’s near miss hampered what would have been a perfect day for the Sri Lankan lifters who started off their commonwealth campaign with flying colors as they managed to win two bronze medals in the two events that they competed in. Chathuranga Lakmal opened the medal count for Sri Lanka when he won the country’s first medal at the 2018 Games winning Bronze in the Men’s 56Kg category.
Read : Commonwealth games; Chathuranga Lakmal wins Sri Lanka’s first medal
Dinusha Gomas who represented the country in the women’s 48Kg category managed to mirror Thilanka’s performance as she too went on to win the Bronze medal in weight class doubling the Island’s medal tally.
Read : Bronze for Gomas, Sri Lanka’s second at CWG 2018
Sri Lankan weightlifting contingent will be in action during the span of the next 04 days with 6 male and 2 female lifters set to take part in their events. 03 lifters will take the field tomorrow Chamari Warnakulasuriya, Chathruanga Dissanayake and Nadeeshani Rajapaskshe set to comete in their respective events.
Visit the below link on Sri Lanka’s #1 Sports hub to be updated on all the happenings of the 1st Commonwelath Games. www.thepapare.com/athletics/#cwg2018
 at the Commonwealth Games, Thilanka Wiraj narrowly missed out on a medal in the Men’s 62Kg and had to be satisfied with a fourth-place finish.){kind=link}