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Nethmi’s tough journey towards Commonwealth glory 

10 Aug 2022

The 5th of August is a day that Sri Lankans will cherish for a long time. 18-year-old Nethmi Ahinsa Poruthotage won the bronze medal in wrestling for Sri Lanka at the 22nd Commonwealth Games held in Birmingham, UK.  This was the only women’s medal in wrestling recorded for Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games. Nethmi also became the youngest athlete to win a Commonwealth medal for Sri Lanka. Australian athlete Irene Simionidis lost 10-0 to Nethmi who competed in the 57 kg weight category in the bronze medal match. Nethmi reached the semifinals by defeating Cameroon player Joseph Emeline in the quarterfinal match. She lost her chance to enter the final after losing 10-0 to India’s Anshu Malik. Speaking to the media after her bronze medal victory, Nethmi said: “I joined the tournament with the aim of winning the gold medal. But I am humbly happy to have won the bronze medal. Also, this tournament was a great experience to identify my shortcomings.” Responding to earlier comments made by commentators that the Australian player will easily win the bronze medal, Nethmi added: “At that moment my master (coach) T.S. Suranga Kumara said to remember the fighting in Sri Lanka. He asked me to remember the suffering that I had to go through for so long. He said that this is an opportunity to achieve great fame for the country with the situation that Sri Lanka is facing. So I fought every chance I got. I got a lot of strength to win the medal for my country.” Nethmi further commented: “I am studying at Velpalla Maha Vidyalaya. I am in a village called Idiminna in Pannala. My father works as a mason. My mother is at home. I have two sisters and a brother. “I came on this journey with a lot of financial difficulties. My parents did what they could. They’re the only ones I’ve ever had and they allowed me to wrestle even more. Normally, parents do not allow girls to play this kind of sport. I’m grateful to my parents for making my four limbs strong. Apart from my parents, my master and his wife did all the training activities, and provided food.”  Nethmi, who started wrestling in 2018, has been involved in the sport for only four years. “I started wrestling on 2 April 2018. My classmate Chamodya Keshani joined this one tournament from the 57 kg weight class category. She is the one who introduced me to this sport. “We trained on coir. We didn’t have a mattress. After some time, we received a mattress from the Sri Lanka Wrestling Federation. The mattress was put in a temple and we did our training there. Since the temple is supposed to be a place of silence, we had no choice but to remove the mattress and move to a new place. After that, a training place was built at the master’s house, and training was carried out over there.  “We never focused on nutrition so we simply practised while eating home-cooked rice. But my master learned that training alone is not enough to win a medal for the country. My master took many loans to sort out our needs. “I have seen films where teachers dedicate themselves to sportsmen, and achieve success. My master neglected his own life and taught us the game. But this is not a movie. This journey will only be going towards an Olympic medal.” she said.  


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