The All-Island Wayamba Archery Championships 2023 was held successfully at the Royal International School ground in Kurunegala recently.
The Uva Archery Club dominated the proceedings while winning 11 medals, including 5 golds, 4 silvers and 3 bronze medals at the Championships which attracted archers from all over the country and saw participants competing in a variety of categories, including recurve and compound for both men and women.
The Uva archers excelled in the junior recurve category, with Amalmi Dharmadasa setting a new national record and winning gold in the U-10 age group, and Yunaya Tennakoon winning silver in the same class.
Other notable performances include Dinujaya Liyanage and Dahamdi Tennakoon winning gold and silver in the U-12 age group, Nithuli Wijesekara and Thenuki Dharmadasa winning gold and silver in the U-14 category, and Kavindu Dewmina and Bihandu Karunarathna winning gold and silver in the U-17 class respectively. Menuja Wijesekara also won a bronze medal in the junior men’s 70M category.
In the men’s over 40 age group, Prabhath Chathuranga, representing Uva, won the gold medal while Chamil Wijesekara won the bronze.
The coach of the Uva, Sanath Dalpatadu who has been training the team for many years, said this was a good momentum of performance by the provincial team in the recent years.
Veteran junior archery player and 2018 youth Olympic quarter-finalist Ravein Dalpatadu – ranked 363rd in the world, is also a member and mentor of the Uva Archery Team.