Chinthana Vidanage, who won a medal at Melbourne (silver) and at the Delhi Commonwealth Games will be eying for his third consecutive podium finish in Glasgow.
Weightlifter Chinthana Vidanage, who is aiming for a third consecutive podium finish when he competes at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, expressed confidence that the country’s weightlifters would better the previous edition’s performance during the competition, starting on July 23.
“Weightlifters certainly have the potential to win more medals in Glasgow,” Vidanage told ‘The Island’ on the eve of team’s departure on Wednesday.
Sri Lanka won two medals at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in 2010. And both medals were won by weightlifters.
Sudesh Peiris, who won a bronze in the 62kgs weight class in Delhi, is the captain of the 100 plus Sri Lankan contingent.
Vidanage won a silver at the last edition in the 69kgs category, and will be eyeing for his third consecutive medal, having won his first at the Melbourne Games in 2006.
“Expectations are high, and I think that we can do better than what we did at the last edition. I can’t say that we will be winning golds. It is a competition and you can’t predict. There are some who are in the gold medal level. We certainly have the potential to win more medals than at the last edition,” expressed the 32-year-old, who backed Peiris and some of his training partners to be in contention for medals.
“Sudesh Peiris and Indika Dissanayake (who won the Best Athlete award at the last Sports Festival) are competing in the same weight class and I would say that both of them have the potential to win a medal each. Then there is Kumara Palangasinghe and Priyantha Wijesuriya. They are competing in the 56kgs category. Both of them are vastly improved weightlifters and are in the medal winning range,” said Vidanage.
Vidanage, who trained at both Kurunegala and Polonnaruwa, has closely followed Dissanayake (Kurunegala) and Palangasinghe (Polonnaruwa) at the two centres.
Vidanage said that he is hoping for a medal in a new weight class of 77 kgs.
“I chose the 77kgs class on my coach’s advise. He advised me to try the higher weight class. And I have trained targeting that,” said Vidanage, who last won his Commonwealth Games medal in the 69kgs class.
“I am hoping for a medal this time, as well. This time, I don’t need to reduce my weight. That is a bit of a plus, but there will be tough competition, especially from Indian and Australian competitors. And for a medal, I need to lift close to 320kgs. I have more than a week to acclimatise to conditions and be ready,” said Vidanage.
