Eight paddlers to participate
Rohan Sirisena
A team of eight paddlers- four Men and four Women- along with officials, will leave for India on July 16, to take part in the 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis (TT) Championship 2019, to be worked off at the Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Stadium, Cuttach, Odisha, India from July 17-22.
The Championship organised by the Commonwealth TT Federation, in collaboration with the Indian TT Federation, will see Australia, Bangladesh, Cyprus, England, India, Jersey, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Singapore, Scotland, South Africa,
Sri Lanka and Wales participating.
The Sri Lanka (SL) teams led by Rohan Sirisena (Men) and Ishara Madurangi (Women) will compete in both Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Sirisena, a three-time National Singles champion, led the SL Men’s team at the 2014 Lusofonia Games, while Madurangi, a seven-time National champion, has been representing the National team from 2004. As a 16-year-old schoolgirl, she won Bronze, a first in the history of SL TT, at the Asian Junior TT Championship.
Ishara Madurangi
The team was selected after two trials held on June 1-2, at the S. Thomas’ College Indoor Stadium.
At the last championship the SL Women finished 5th, while the Men finished 7th.
Men: Rohan Sirisena (Captain), Krishan Wickremarathne, Nirmala Jayasinghe and Milinda Lakshitha
Women: Ishara Madurangi (Captain), Bimandee Bandara, Chamathsara Fernando and Jithara Warnakulasuriya
Officials: Chandana Perera (Manager cum Delegate), Buddika Dikkumbura (Coach), Priyani Dissanayake (In-charge of school players and Lady Chaperone)