Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Roshan Ranasinghe has approved the team leaving Sri Lanka for the Asian Games to be held in Hangzhou, China.

Accordingly, 62 male and 34 female players will compete in 20 events. Twenty managers and 24 coaches will be accompanying the athletes, making it a total of 153 individuals from Sri Lanka travelling to the Games, including six members of the medical team and seven officials of the National Olympic Committee.

As per the instructions of the Minister of Sports, two coaches who were not included in the team that won gold medals for Sri Lanka in the recently concluded Asian Athletics Championships have also been included – W.G.M. Thushara, the coach of Nadisha Ramanayake, who won a gold medal for Sri Lanka in the 400 m event after 32 years, and Susantha Fernando, the coach of Tharushi Karunaratne, who won the gold medal in the women’s 800 m event.

Only the most essential personnel were reported to have received the Minister’s approval for this year’s event.

Secretary of the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs K. Mahesan, Director General of Sports Development Department Dr. Shemal Fernando, National Selection Committee Secretary Arjun Rishya Fernando, National Selection Committee Staff Officer Major Ishni Katuwangoda, and National Sports Council member Lasitha Gunaratne were also present at the time.