Two athletes for Laser Run World Championships in Ireland
The Modern Pentathlon Federation of Sri Lanka (MPFSL) will be sending two athletes to take part in the Laser Run World Championships to be held in Dublin, Ireland from September 27 to 30.
Twenty eight countries will be taking part in the contest. The Sri Lankan athletes left the island for the event yesterday.
The International Federation, UIPM, has invited the top two ranked Sri Lankan athletes to participate at the event. This is a golden opportunity for Sri Lankan Modern Pentathletes to compete on the World Stage.
The athletes participating at the championships are: Asanka Nilaweera (Sri Lanka Air Force) and Suresh Kalum (Sri Lanka Army) while Ushan Kodagoda is the manager of the team.
Nilaweera and Kelum are the top two performers in the last Laser Run City Tour event held in August in Bandaragama. These two athletes have been consistently performing well in the last four Laser Run City Tour events conducted in 2017 and 2018 by MPFSL. They have been ranked in the top 10 in World Rankings regularly.
This is the first time that these two athletes are taking part in the World Championship.
Nilaweera is Sri Lanka’s number one pentathlete while Kelum is Sri Lanka’s number two pentathlete.
Dilmah Tea will sponsor both of them and their sponsorship package was handed over yesterday at the Dilmah Arcade at Independence Square.
Associated with Dilmah Tea were Roshan Tissarachchi, Director Sales and Vajira Sugathapala, General Manager Sales. They said that earlier they had sponsored cricket and they are sponsoring selected sports and that is why they are coming forward to sponsor the Laser Run.
R.b. wickremasinghe, Assistant Director, Department of Sports Development said that the Modern Pentathlon started only a few years ago in Sri Lanka and has started on a long journey and their work will not be a burden to the Sports Ministry.
Nishantha Piyasena, President Modern Pentathlon of Sri Lanka, said that within a few years that it has done very well and for the first time Sri Lanka has been selected for a world event.
Over 200 athletes are currently involved in Modern Pentathlon in the country and their target is to win an international medal. Maxwell de Silva, Secretary. National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka was involved in the proceedings.