Sri Lanka misses out on a possible Medal

By Shamseer Jaleel, reporting from Gold Coast, Australia

Sri Lankan shuttlers Buwanaka Goonetilake and Sachin Dias settled for 4th place at the Men’s Doubles event at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games after being beaten by Malaysian double Shem Goh and Kiong Tan in the Bronze Medal deciding encounter.

This is the closest that Sri Lankan Badminton players have come to a medal in Commonwealth Games history.

Meanwhile the Sevens Rugby players were beaten by Fiji, Wales and Uganda in their pool games and were eliminated from Day 2.Sri Lanka ended the 2018 Commonwealth Games with 6 medals under their belt – three medals each from Weightlifting and Boxing with 5 Bronze and one Silver.

The 21st Commonwealth Games concluded on Saturday with hosts Australia topping the medals table with 80 gold medals, 59 silver and 59 bronze for a total of 198 medals. England was placed second with 45 gold medals while India came in third with 26 gold medals.

Athletes from 71 countries and territories participated in the 21st Commonwealth Games held over a period of 11 days featuring 275 events in 19 sports. For Sri Lanka 80 athletes represented the country. Sri Lanka was placed 31st with one silver and five bronze medals.

The 22nd games are to be held in England in 2022.

Hiruni finishes number 11 in Marathon

Hiruni Wijayaratne was the final Sri Lankan participant at the Commonwealth Games 2018, competing in the Women’s Marathon last Sunday (15April). She finished in 11th place, clocking a time of 2:49:37.

Helalia Johannes of Namibia won Gold,crossing the finish line in 2:32:40, while Australian Lisa Weightman nabbed Silver and fellow Australian Jessica Trengove won Bronze.

Sri Lanka ended the Games with 6 medals,three each from Weightlifting and Boxing. A total of 80 athletes participated in the Commonwealth Games 2018, which was the most successful in terms of number of medals won by the Sri Lankan contingent.   (SJ)