Army corporal Dilanka wins first medal for Lanka

Dilanka Kumara with his bronze medal

Dilanka Kumara with his bronze medal

A 26-year-old Corporal from Sri Lanka Army Service Corps hailing from Kurunegala Dilanka Isuru Kumara Yodage won Sri Lanka’s first medal at the XXII Commonwealth Games in Birmingham when he was placed third in the men’s 55kg weightlifting event on Saturday.

“I always had hopes of winning a medal and was confident because of the training I underwent,” said an elated Dilanka Kumara after adorning himself with a bronze medal to launch Sri Lanka campaign in weightlifting.

In a highly competitive weight category where gold medallist Malaysia’s Mohamad Aniq set a Games record of 249kg followed to pip India’s Mahadev Sargar (248), Kumara lifted a total of 225kg (105 snatch and 135 clean and jerk) to clinch third place. He failed in his attempt to snatch 112kg and lift 137kg and 141kg in the clean and jerk.

This was Kumara’s first international medal failing to win a podium place at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championship in December but qualifying for the Games in a Singapore tournament in February.

“We had more expectations but we achieved our goal of winning a medal. Considering the situation in the country where we could not get fuel to go for training, we have to content with this performance. Perhaps his performance was affected by the chilly weather. We are confident we can win more medals in the weightlifting,” said assistant coach Rukshan Chinthaka, a Sports Officer from Wayamba Province.

The biggest disappointment was Srimali Samarakoon, gold medallist at the Commonwealth Championship and Singapore tournament in the 45kg weight class. Competing in the women’s 49kg event for the first time, she failed in three attempts to lift 90kg in the clean and jerk to finish in eighth position. India’s Chanu Saikhom Mirabai won the gold medal with a total of 201kg setting a new Games Record while Morocco’s Marie Hantra Roilya (172kg) and Canada’s Hannah Kaminski (171kg) won silver and bronze respectively.

Another medal prospect in weightlifting, Chamari Warnakulasuriya finished seventh in the women’s 55kg weight category lifting a total of 164kg. Nigeria’s Adijath Adenika Olariynoye lifted a total of 203kg to win the gold medal in a new Games record pipping India’s Bindyarani Devi Sorobkhaibam (202) and England’s Frarer Morrow (198).

Sri Lanka’s women’s T20 cricket team lost to England in their opening pool B match at Edgbaston on Saturday night with the hosts coasting to a five-wicket win almost three overs to spare in a low-scoring encounter. Australia beat India by three wickets, Pakistan lost to Barbados while New Zealand beat South Africa by 13 runs.

Sri Lanka’s Tuskers played their hearts out against England in their pool A match. Sri Lanka closed the gap to 21-12 at half time but England romped home 47-19 scoring seven tries and six conversions. Tharinda Ratwattee, skipper Srinath Sooriyabandara, and Buddhima Piyaratne scored a try apiece for Sri Lanka.

In the 9/16 quarter-final against Uganda, Sri Lanka lost 38-19 fighting back after trailing 19-5 at the break. Uganda scored six tries and four conversions while Sooriyanbandara, Buddhima Piyaratne and Reeza Raffaideen scored the tries for Sri Lanka.

Ganga Seneviratne competing in the 100m backstroke clocked one minute 06.17 seconds in heat seven which produced several of the fastest qualifiers for the next round.

BADMINTON-Mixed Team Group A

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan 4-1

Mixed Doubles: Sachin Dias/Thilini Hendahewa beat Muhammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti/ Ghazala Siddique 2-0, Men’s Singles: Niluka Karunaratne beat Murad Ali 2-0, Women’s Singles: Vidara Suhasni Vidanage lost to Mahoor Shahzad 2-0, Men’s Doubles: Sachin Dias/Niluka Karunaratne bt Murad Ali/Muhammad Irfan Saeed Bhatti 2-0, Women’s Doubles: Thilini Hendahewa/Vidara Suhasni Vidanage bt Mahoor Shahzad/Ghazala Siddique 2-0

India beat Sri Lanka 5-0

Mixed Doubles: Satwick Sairaj Rankireddy/Machimanda Ponnappa bt Sachin Dias / Thilini Hendahewa 2-0, Men’s Singles: Lakshya Sen beat Niluka Karunaratne 2-0, Women’s Singles: Aakarshi Kashyap bt Vidara Suhasni Vidanage 2-0, Men’s Doubles: B Sumeeth Reddy/Chirag Chandrashekar Shetty bt Duminu Abeywickrama/ Sachin Dias 2-0, Women’s Doubles: Treesa Jolly/Gayathri Gopichand Pullela bt Thilini Hendahewa/Vidara Suhasni Vidanage 2-0

Sri Lanka beat Australia 3-2

Mixed Doubles: Sachin Dias/Thilini Hendahewa beat Yning Ziang Lin/Gronya Somerville 2-0, Men’s Singles: Niluka Karunaratne bt Nathan Tang 2-0, Women’s Singles: Vidara Suhasni Vidanage lost to Hsua-Yu Wendy Chen 2-0, Men’s Doubles: Sachin Dias/Niluka Karunaratne bt Tran Hoang Phan/Jack Yu 2-0, Women’s Doubles: Thilina Hendahewa. Vidara Suhasni Vidanage lost to Hsuan-yu Wndy Chen/Gronya Somerville 2-0

RUGBY SEVENS- MEN

9/16 Quarter final 3: Uganda bt Sri Lanka 38-19 (19-5)

Pool A: Samoa bt Sri Lanka 44-0 (27-0), England bt Sri Lanka 47-19 (21-12)

WOMEN 5/8 semifinal 2: Scotland bt Sri Lanka 58-0 (38-0)

Pool A: Canada bt Sri Lanka 74-0 (36-0), New Zealand bt Sri Lanka 60-0 (36-0)

SWIMMING-Women’s 100m Backstroke

Heat 4: Ganga Seneviratne 7th (1:06.17) failed to qualify

WOMEN’S T20 CRICKET- England bt Sri Lanka by 5 wickets

Scores: Sri Lanka 106/9 (20) (Chamari Atapattu 10, Hasini Perera 17, Nilakshika Silva 25, Kaveesha Walikothage 10, Oshadi Ranasinghe 13; Sophie Ecclestone 3-25, Freya Kemp 2-14, Issy Wong 2-10) England 109/5 (17.1) (Sophia Dunkley 14, Alice Capsey 44, Nat Sciver 17, Mai Bouchier 21no, Oshadi 2-20, Inoka Ranaweera 3-29)

SQUASH- Men’s Singles

Round of 32: Saurav Ghoassal (India) bt Shamil Wakeel 3-0 (11-4 11-4 11-6), Greg Lobban (Scotland) bt Ravindu Laksiri 3-0 (11-9 11-4 12-10); Round of 64: Ravindu Laksiri bt Shomari Wiltshire (Guyana) 3-1 (11-2 11-1 7-11 11-3), Shamil Wakeel bt Shawn Simpson (Barbados) 3-2 (6-11 9-11 11-6 11-9 11-1)

Women’s Singles

Round of 32: Nicole Bunyan (Canada) bt Chanithma Sinaly 3-0 (11-1 11-8 11-4), Georgina Kennedy (England) bt Yeheni Kuruppu 3-0 (11-1 11-1 11-1); Round of 64: Yeheni Kuruppu bt Ashley Khalil (Guyana) 3-2 (11-4 11-9 9-11 3-11 11-4)

BOXING- Men’s Over 60kg-63.5kg (Light Welter): Joseph Tyers (England) bt Sanjeewa Bandara Rajakaruna WP 5:0

WEIGHT LIFTING- Men’s 55 KG

1 Bin Kashan Mohamad Aniq (Malaysia) 107kg (snatch) 142kg (clean and jerk) 249kg (Games Record)

2 Sanket Mahadev Sargar (India) 248kg (113 and 135)

3 Dilanka Isuru Kumara Yodage (Sri Lanka) 225kg (105 and 135)

3×3 BASKETBALL-Men

Pool A: Scotland bt Sri Lanka 16-9 (Rukshan Atapattu 4, Yogananthan Simron 5)

Women- Pool A: Kenya beat Sri Lanka 21-8 (Nihari Perera 3, Taniya Perera 3, Chalani Perera 2), Scotland bt Sri Lanka 21-5