Thilanka Palangasinghe clinches bronze at Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships

Sri Lankan weightlifter Thilanka Palangasinghe has secured a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, on Friday. 

The 28-year-old weightlifter competed in the men’s 61kg category.

He has successfully lifted 145kg in clean and jerk, 116kg in snatch, with a total of 261kg.

Meanwhile, Sri Lankan weightlifter Srimali Samarakoon won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 on Thursday. The twenty-two-year-old competed in the women’s 45kg category.

The Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships 2021 is currently being held concurrently in Tashkent along with World Weightlifting Championships 2021 from December 7 to 17.

The Commonwealth Championships, the most important qualifying event for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, was earlier scheduled to be held in Singapore in October but was moved to Uzbekistan due to Covid-19 issues.

Tashkent, the Uzbekistan capital and host city for the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Championships from December 7-17, agreed to concurrently host the Commonwealth Championships.

A 20-member contingent of weightlifters was selected by the Sri Lanka Weightlifting Federation (SLWF) in preparation for the Commonwealth Championships and IWF World Championships.