Golfer Anura Rohana and athlete Gayantika Abeyratne have been appointed as the captains of the Sri Lankan team for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Anura Rohana, a professional golfer, won a silver medal for Sri Lanka at the 14th Asian Games held in Busan, South Korea in 2002.
This is Gayantika’s third Asian Games in the 800m and 1500m events, and she has previously represented the 2014 Incheon and 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. Last July, she joined the Asian Athletics Championships in Thailand and won the bronze medal in the 800m and 1500m events.
However, for this year’s Asian Games, the golf team is scheduled to leave on September 24 and the athletics team on the 26th. The opening ceremony will take place on September 23. Anura Rohana and Gayantika Abeyratne, who are the two captains of the Sri Lankan team, will leave for China on September 22.
Meanwhile, short-distance runner Yupun Abeykoon announced on Tuesday that he will not participate in this year’s Asian Games, and Sri Lankan team head Nishantha Piyasena told ‘Dinamina’ that he officially informed he would withdraw from the event.
62 sportsmen and 34 women from Sri Lanka will participate in this year’s Asian Games and will compete in 21 sports.
The games of this year’s Asian Games will start on the 19th of this month and will conclude on October 8.
Niroshan Priyankara