Sri Lanka saw plenty of success on day 5 of the Commonwealth Games, as athletes from a variety of sports took part.
Athletics
Yupun Abeykoon and Gayanthika Abeyrathne got the Athletics team off to a great start in Brimingham, with the speedster blazing through as the fastest in the Men’s 100m Heats and Abeyrathne establishing a new National Record in the Women’s 800m amongst a strong field of athletes.
Read More: Yupun Abeykoon wins Heat with ease to qualify for semis
Abeykoon is through to the semis later today, but unfortunately for Abeyrathne, she missed out on qualification, despite her record-breaking run.
Read More: Gayanthika Abeyratne renews 800m National Record
Beach Volleyball
Both Sri Lankan pairs were unable to come away with wins in their respective Group encounters, despite putting up a strong fight.
Ashen Rashmitha and Malintha Yapa came storming back after going 1-0 down to Gambia’s Sainey Jawo and Babou Jarra, but unfortunately could not keep up the momentum in the 3rd set. Scores read 14/21, 21/19, 9/15.
Their female compatriots Deepika Bandara and Chathurika Weerasinghe were brushed aside by Cyprus’ Manolina Konstantinou and Zoi Konstantopoulou 21/8, 21/10.
Boxing
Sri Lanka had a good day in the ring while all attention was focused on the track, with Rukmal Prasanna and Sanjeewani Muthuthanthri both clinching wins in their Round of 16 encounters. Unfortunately, Niklas Vittalis was unable to replicate his teammates’ success in his match.
Prasanna beat Shaffi Bakari Hassan of Kenya in his Bantamweight (51-54kg) bout 3-2, while Muthuthanthri overcame Mehreen of Pakistan by unanimous decision in the Featherweight (54-57kg) Category 5-0 . Vittalis lost his Light-middleweight (67-71kg) bout 5-0 to Faustino Ah Tong of Samoa.
Cricket
Sri Lanka started well with the ball but just could not put up a fight with the bat as they went down by 47 runs to New Zealand. With the loss, Sri Lanka saw their hopes of making it to the semis dashed alongside South Africa’s. The two teams will face off in a dead rubber on Thursday.
Read More: Sri Lanka knocked out of CWG after loss to New Zealand
Judo
Olympian Chamara Dharmawardhene managed a win in the Elimination Round of 16, but unfortunately, his teammate Rajitha Pushpakumara could not follow suit. Dharmawardhene had suffered two defeats earlier in the day, but ended on a high with a win against Botswana’s Tirelo Lekoko.
Weightlifting
Chathurika Balage lifted a total of 192kg in the Women’s 87kg Final to finish 7th among 11 lifters. She snatched 81kg and managed a 111kg Clean and Jerk.
