Manel Dharmakeerthie, one of world’s most veteran international wushu judges and referees, has been appointed as the Assistant Chief Referee for ‘sanda’, the combat event of wushu, at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. This is the fifth consecutive time Dharmakeerthie will serve on the elite referee panel at Asian Games. Joining Dharmakeerthie in [...]
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Manel Dharmakeerthie, one of world’s most veteran international wushu judges and referees, has been appointed as the Assistant Chief Referee for ‘sanda’, the combat event of wushu, at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan. This is the fifth consecutive time Dharmakeerthie will serve on the elite referee panel at Asian Games.
Joining Dharmakeerthie in Japan as international technical officials (ITOs) are two fellow Sri Lankans Jeewan Maduranga Payagalage in ‘taolu’ and Indika Ekanayake in ‘sanda’. Recommended by Dharmakeerthie in his capacity as a WFA Technical Committee member, both officials qualified at the international examination held in Haikou, China, in July 2026.
Dharmakeerthie made his Asian Games debut as a sanda judge and referee at the 16th edition in Guangzhou, China, in 2010, the same year he was appointed to the Technical Committee of the Wushu Federation of Asia (WFA). His Asian Games stints include as jury member in Incheon, South Korea in 2014 and Palembang, Indonesia in 2018, before stepping up as assistant chief referee role at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in 2023.
Print Edition – The Sunday Times, Sri Lanka
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