Sri Lanka participated at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang, Indonesia from 18 August to 2 September 2018.
The Sri Lankan team was scheduled to consist of 185 athletes (138 men and 47 women), marking the large contingent the country has sent to a single edition of the Asian Games. The Sri Lankan team will compete in 28 sports, marking its debut in the sports of baseball, canoeing, roller sports and triathlon. Approximately, 60 officials and coaches were also a part of the contingent, making the total team size 245. However, the athletics team was cut to 14 athletes (from 25), making the team size 174 (128 men and 46 women), which would still make this the biggest team the country has sent to the games. Further changes made the final team size at 173 athletes (131 men and 42 women). Sri Lanka will also have an athlete competing in the demonstration event of esports.
On August 17, 2018, weightlifter Dinusha Gomes was announced as the country's flag bearer at the opening ceremony.
The National Shooting Sports Federation of Sri Lanka declined to enter any athletes for the games because the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka refused a request for a coach to go with the team.
Sri Lanka failed to win a medal, being jointly ranked with eight other countries for last place. The country's highest placement was two fourth-place finishes for the men's 4 × 400 m track and field relay team and the men's rugby sevens team.
Competitors The following is the list of number of competitors participating at the Games per sport/discipline. SportMenWomenTotalArchery 1 0 1Athletics 7 5 12Badminton 4 2 6Baseball 18 0 18Basketball 4 4 8Beach volleyball 2 0 2Boxing 3 3 6Canoeing 1 0 1Field hockey 18 0 18Golf 4 0 4Gymnastics 0 1 1Judo 2 0 2Kabaddi 12 12 24Karate 4 2 6Roller sports 2 2 4Rowing 4 0 4Rugby sevens 12 0 12Sailing 1 0 1Squash 2 2 4Swimming 5 0 5Table tennis 1 1 2Taekwondo 3 3 6Tennis 2 2 4Triathlon 1 0 1Volleyball 14 0 14Weightlifting 2 2 4Wrestling 1 0 1Wushu 1 1 2 Total 131 42 173
Archery
Sri Lanka originally had five archers (three men and two women), who met the qualification standards. However, the Sri Lankan Olympic Committee approved only one male archer.
Men AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankSajeev De SilvaIndividual recurve61364W 6–0L 2–6did not advance
Athletics
Sri Lanka originally entered a team of 25 athletes (18 men and seven women), however the team would only be finalized after the National Championships, held in Colombo from August 3 to 5, 2018. Two athletes were given exceptions to the trials as they were training overseas: Indunil Herath and Hiruni Wijayaratne. The final team consisted of 14 athletes. The team was later reduced to 12 athletes (seven men and five women), after the entries of Ushan Thiwanka and Upamali Ratnakumari were rejected by organizers due to the national organization forgetting to enter their names on time. The track and field team failed to win a medal for the third straight Asian Games. The top placing performance was fourth by the men's 4 × 400 m relay team who finished with a time that was off the Sri Lankan record by 0.03 seconds.
Men Track & road events AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankAruna Darshana400 m46.971 Q46.533 did not advanceKalinga Kumarage45.99 PB3 Q46.213 q46.498Indunil Herath800 m1:47.543 qcolspan=2 1:51.368Aruna DarshanaKalinga KumarageAjith PremakumaraPasindu KodikaraDilip Ruwan4 × 400 m relay3:06.663 Qcolspan=2 3:02.744 Ruwan was the reserve and did not compete in the heats or final.
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistanceRankDistanceRankJanaka Prasad WimalasiriLong jump7.5611 q7.867
Women Track & road events AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankRumeshika Rathnayake200 m23.793 Q24.056did not advanceGayanthika Abeyratne800 m2:06.313 qcolspan=2 2:05.506Nimali Liyanarachchi2:06.744colspan=2 did not advanceHiruni Wijayaratne10,000mcolspan=4 DNFNilani Rathnayaka3000 m steeplechasecolspan=4 9:54.656
Badminton
Sri Lanka entered six badminton athletes (four men and two women). The team's best performance was a quarterfinals finish by the men's doubles pairs team of Sachin Dias and Buwaneka Goonethilleka.
Singles AthleteEventRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreDinuka KarunaratneMen'sW 2–0 (21–14, 21–15)L 0–2 (6–21, 14–21)did not advanceNiluka KarunaratneL 0–2 (12–21, 12–21)did not advanceThilini HendahewaWomen'sL 0–2 (6–21, 4–21)did not advanceKavidi SirimannageW 2–0 (21–4, 21–4)L 0–2 (4–21, 14–21)did not advance
Doubles AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreSachin DiasBuwaneka GoonethillekaMen'sW 2–0 (21–11, 21–8)W 2–0 (21–12, 21–13)L 0–2 (12–21, 15–21)did not advanceDinuka KarunaratneNiluka KarunaratneL 0–2 (16–21, 16–21)did not advanceThilini HendahewaKavidi SirimannageWomen'sL 0–2 (13–21, 12–21)did not advanceSachin DiasThilini HendahewaMixedL 1–2 (21–13, 12–21, 13–21)did not advance
Baseball
Sri Lanka made its Asian Games debut in the sport of baseball. The team first competed in the a preliminary qualification group to qualify to compete in group A. Sri Lanka's baseball squad consisted of 18 athletes. Sri Lanka won its debut match by beat Laos 15 to 10. However, a loss to Thailand the next day meant the team was eliminated.
Summary TeamEventRound 1Round 2Super / ConsolationFinal / OppositionsScoresRankOppositionsScoresRankOppositionsScoresRankOppositionScoreRankSri Lanka men'sMen's tournament: W 15–10: L 3–14 (F/7)2did not advance9
Roster Sri Lanka announced their squad on August 6, 2018. The team consists of 18 athletes. The position of the player is listed in parentheses.
Akalanka Ranasinghe (OF) Sameera Rathnayake (OF) Saliya Wijesinghe (OF) Tharindu Madumal (P) Sanjeewa Jayarathne (P) Shasika Dulshan (P) Chirath Karunarathne (P) Chamika Yasas (P) Nelanka Karunarathna (C) Isara Gunasiri (C) Amila Pushpa Kumara (OF) Naween Anuradha (P) Sanjeewa Manna (INF) Sandun Madushanka (INF) Krishna Hapuarachchi (INF) Sahan Avishka (INF) Iresh Kosala (C) Kaushala Prabuddha (OF)
Round 1
Basketball
Sri Lanka entered both a men's and women's 3-on-3 teams. Each team consisted of four athletes.
Men's 3-on-3 tournament
Roster Sinna Fernando Pawan Gamage Arnold Thevakumar Kisal Wijewarnasooriya
Women's 3-on-3 tournament
Roster Imesha Durage Fathima Moreseth Anne Ravindran Rashmi Don
Beach volleyball
Sri Lanka entered one male beach volleyball pair. The pair won one match and lost two, placing them third in the group. With that result, the pair did not advance out of their group.
AthleteEventPreliminary roundStandingRound of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankAsanka PradeepSashimal YapaMen'sPool BL 0–2 (21–23, 11–21)W 2–0 (21–15, 21–10)L 0–2 (12–21, 11–21)3did not advance
Boxing
Sri Lanka's boxing team consisted of six athletes (three men and three women).
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalRankOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultThiwanka RanasingheMen's −49 kgL 0–5did not advanceVidanalange BandaraMen's −52 kgL RSCdid not advanceDinindu SaparamaduMen's −64 kgL RSCdid not advanceAnusha KoddithuwakkuWomen's −51 kgL 1–4did not advanceKeshani HansikaWomen's −57 kgL 0–5did not advanceKrishmi DharmathilakeWomen's −60 kgL 0–5did not advance
Canoeing
Sri Lanka entered one male kayaker.
Sprint Men AthletesEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankRanhoti WijerathneK-1 200 metres45.1216 SF41.8218did not advance Qualification Legend: FA=Final A; SF=Semifinals Results given are within the heat.
Field hockey
Sri Lanka qualified a men's field hockey team after winning the bronze medal at the qualifying tournament in Muscat, Oman. With the win against Hong Kong, the Sri Lankan men's field hockey team won its first game in 40 years at the Asian Games. The win in 1978 also came against Hong Kong. The Sri Lankan team finished in eighth place, after losing the 7th place match to Oman.
Men's tournament
Roster
Pool A
Seventh place match
Summary TeamEventGroup StageSeventh place matchOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreRankSri Lanka men'sMen's tournamentL 0–11L 0–8W 1–4W 1–3L 0–204L 2–58
Golf
Sri Lanka entered four male golfers. Before the competition began, 20 teams put in complaints to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, disputing the eligibility of three of the golfers: Mithun Perera, Nadaraja Thangarajah and Anura Rohana. The event is open to amateurs, and all three were considered professionals. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled against excluding them from the games. However, the team went ahead and still replaced the three golfers. All three were replaced with Joseph De Soysa, Sachin De Silva, and Kumara Patrick.
Men Athlete(s)EventFinalRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4TotalRankSachin De SilvaIndividual74 828483 323 (+35)=72Joseph De Soysa7973 76 73 301 (+13)=41Lalith Kumaradid not startKumara George Patrick73777977 306 (+18)=47Sachin De SilvaJoseph De SoysaKumara PatrickTeam226232239233930 (+66)15
Gymnastics
Rhythmic Sri Lanka entered one rhythmic gymnast.
Individual Qualification AthleteEventApparatusTotalRankHoopBallClubsRibbonAnna-Marie OndaatjeQualification11.4512.4511.7010.3535.60024 Q For qualification, the top three of four scores counted towards a gymnast's total.
Individual final AthleteEventApparatusTotalRankHoopBallClubsRibbonAnna-Marie OndaatjeQualificationdid not start
Judo
Sri Lanka entered two male judokas.
Men AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalRankOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultChamara Repiyallage−73 kgL 1s1–10did not advanceRajitha Pushpakumara−81 kgL 0s1–10did not advance
Kabaddi
Sri Lanka entered a men's and women's team of 12 athletes each (24 total). The women's team will participate for the first time ever. The president of the Sri Lankan Kabaddi federation, Anura Pathirana, resigned after both teams failed to win a medal.
Summary TeamEventGroup StageSemifinalFinalOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankSri Lanka men'sMenL 28−44W 46−29L 25−29L 22−334did not advance7Sri Lanka women'sWomenL 15−41W 34−17W 22−17L 12−383did not advance5
Men's tournament
The men's team consisted of 12 athletes.
Roster
Chamara Haputhanthri Milinda Chathuranga Sajith Indrakumara Chaminda Samarakoon Lahiru Kuruppu Lahiru Sampath Dilan Sanjaya Rathnapala Asiri Sadaruwan Aslam Sajah Pushpakumara Nishantha Gunawardhana
Pool A
Women's tournament
The women's team consisted of 12 athletes. Roster
Madhushani Chaturika Kokila Edirisinghe Indika Damyanthi Thilini Kanchana Madhurika Hansmali Methusala Thilakshani Nimesha Dilrukshi Thilakshi Wijethilaka Gothami Kaushalya Sajini Jayasinghe Indiwari Wejethunga Sithumini Manojini
Pool A
Karate
Sri Lanka entered six karatekas (four men and two women).
Kata AthleteEventRound of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalRankOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultNiyon SampayaMen's kataL 0–5did not advance
Kumite