The final round events of the 45th National Sports Festival organized by Sports Ministry along with Department of Sports Development will be held at Vincent Dias Stadium, Badulla from October 24 to 27.
Around 2,100 athletes are expected to take part in the final round. Out of 33 events 27 have been conducted in several parts of the island in the last couple of months.
Western Province took the lead in the medals table with 72 gold, 54 silver and 52 bronze medals with Central Province second with 22 gold, 21 silver and 33 bronze medals.
North Western Province and North Central Province won 20 gold, 15 silver and 31 bronze medals and 14 gold, 11 silver and 22 bronze medals respectively to be placed third and fourth.
The Ministry of Sports has taken a decision to encourage the athletes who will be offered two brand new cars to the Best Men and Best Woman athlete at the championship while players who create new records will be offered Rs. 100,000 and Rs. 50,000 for new meet records as prize money, said Dammika Muthugala, Director General-Department of Sports Development at a media briefing.
Regarding the 13th South Asian Games (SAG), Director General Muthugala commented: “We expect at least 35 gold, 75 silver and 125 bronze medals in the upcoming South Asian Games at Kathmandu and Pokhara cities in Nepal from December 1 to 10. A Sri Lankan contingent of over 600 will represent around 27 sporting events.
“Our players secured 25 gold, 63 silver and 98 bronze medals at the last SAG edition. We are expecting more gold medals, that’s why we decreased the prize money for bronze medals while increasing the prize money for a gold medal,” said Muthugala.
“A total of Rs. 344.15 million will be spent on this year’s South Asian Games and we have already allocated Rs. 23 million for training and accommodation. A further 200 technical officers, 95 coaches, 15 physiotherapists, 10 doctors, 5 motivational coaches and 15 separate officers will take wing to Nepal along with the athletes, where they will be given the task of observing the proceedings, analyzing and reporting back,” he further added.
Be the first to comment