PRESS RELEASE: Showers of blessings for the Lankan athletes in their welcome to the village

Hangzhou, 22 September 2023 – Sri Lanka were among the five Hangzhou Asian Games athletes contingents which were welcomed at the Games Athletics Centre here today.

 

The athletes were welcomed by the head of Hangzhou Asian Games village - Li Huolinin, in a simple but elaborate ceremony that was also blessed by a slight shower, thus brining to an end of the dry spell that the athletes experienced until that point.

 

The Hangzhou Games authorities and the heads of the five respective contingents exchanged pleasantries with the Chef-de-mission to the Lankan contingent Nishanthe Piyasena leading the way. The five teams that were welcomed were Bahrain, Laos, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and the UAE.

 

In the competition arena, Rower Mohamed Nafiran redeemed himself on the 21st at the Men’s Double Sculls Repechage 1 when he came in 2nd with a timing of 07mts 48:92secs. and earned a place in the semi-finals, where he qualified for Final B with a timing of 07mts 57:55secs at the Fuyang Water Sports Centre today. Also on the 21st, Nafiran along with Nuwan Sampath came in 4th in Men’s Double Sculls, Repechage 1 and qualified for Final B with a timing of 07mts. 23.07 secs while Maheshi Badra and Jayani Hirunika came in 6th in Women’s Double Sculls, Repechage 1 and qualified for Final B with a timing of 08mts. 20.63 secs.

 

At the Ningbo Banbianshan Volleyball Centre, the Lankan Beach Volleyball duo consisting of Deepika Bandara and Chathurika Madushani won against the South Korean duo – Shin Jieun and Kim Seyeon, in the Women’s Preliminary Round with score of 2-0 on the 21st but lost against the Philippines with a score of 0-2 today. 

 

Meanwhile, Sailor Taalya Tranchell came in 6th place in Race 1, 2 and 3, but managed to surge forward to the 3rd place in Race 4 in Girl’s Dinghy – ILCA4. In Boy’s Dinghy – ILCA4, Sailor Tharen Nanayakkara came in 11th Race 1 and 2, rose to 10th in Race 3 but went back to 11th place in Race 4. These games were held at the Ningbo Banbianshan beach Volleyball Centre.

 

Lankan Cricket journey was kick-started today when the women’s team stepped into the quarter-final of the proceedings against Thailand in a bid to defend or upgrade their Incheon Bronze at the Zhejiang University of Technology Cricket Field. Sri Lanka won the toss and elected to bowl where the Lankan lasses 84 for 2 (Sanjeewani 32, Putthawong 2-21), beat Thailand comfortably 78 for 7 (Sutthiruang 31, Priyadharshani 4-10), by 8 wickets.

 

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