Sri Lanka at the 2018 Asian Games
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, 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 are were also a part of the contingent, making the total team size 245. However, the athletics team was cut to 14 athletes, making the team size 174, 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. 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.| Sport | Men | Women | Total |
| Archery | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Athletics | 7 | 5 | 12 |
| Badminton | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Baseball | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Basketball | 4 | 4 | 8 |
| Beach volleyball | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Boxing | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Canoeing | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Field hockey | 18 | 0 | 18 |
| Golf | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Gymnastics | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Judo | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Kabaddi | 12 | 12 | 24 |
| Karate | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Roller sports | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Rowing | 4 | 0 | 4 |
| Rugby sevens | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Sailing | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Squash | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Swimming | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| Table tennis | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Taekwondo | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Tennis | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Triathlon | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Volleyball | 14 | 0 | 14 |
| Weightlifting | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Wrestling | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Wushu | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Total | 131 | 42 | 173 |
Archery
Sri Lanka originally had five archers, who met the qualification standards. However, the Sri Lankan Olympic Committee approved only one male archer.;Men
Athletics
Sri Lanka originally entered a team of 25 athletes, 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, 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
- Ruwan was the reserve and did not compete in the heats or final.
;Women
;Track & road events
Badminton
Sri Lanka entered six badminton athletes. The team's best performance was a quarterfinals finish by the men's doubles pairs team of Sachin Dias and Buwaneka Goonethilleka.;Singles
;Doubles
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
;Roster
;Round 1
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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.Boxing
Sri Lanka's boxing team consisted of six athletes.Canoeing
Sri Lanka entered one male kayaker.Sprint
;MenQualification Legend: FA=Final A; SF=Semifinals
- Results given are within the heat.
Field hockey
Men's tournament
;Roster;Pool A
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;Seventh place match
;Summary
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
Gymnastics
Rhythmic
Sri Lanka entered one rhythmic gymnast.;Individual Qualification
- For qualification, the top three of four scores counted towards a gymnast's total.
Judo
Sri Lanka entered two male judokas.;Men
Kabaddi
Sri Lanka entered a men's and women's team of 12 athletes each. 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
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
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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
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Karate
Sri Lanka entered six karatekas.;Kata
;Kumite
Roller Sports
Sri Lanka entered four athletes in the speed discipline. This marks the first time the country will compete in the sport at the Asian Games.Speed
Rowing
Sri Lanka entered four rowers. The team finished in last place in all three races in competed in and therefore ranked eighth in the quadruple sculls.;Men
Qualification Legend: FA=Final A ; FB=Final B ; R=Repechage
- Results given are within the heat.
Rugby sevens
Men's tournament
Sri Lanka announced their squad on August 9, 2018. The team consists of 12 athletes.- Sudarshana Muthuthanthri
- Danushka Ranjan
- Jason Dissanayake
- Danush Dayan
- Srinath Sooriyabandara
- Kavindu Perera
- Sudam Sooriyarachchi
- Gayan Weeraratne
- Tarinda Ratwatte
- Buddhima Piyarathane
- Reeza Raffaideen
- Rehan Silva
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;Quarterfinal
;Semifinal
;Bronze medal match
Sailing
Sri Lanka entered one male sailor in the laser standard event.;Men
Squash
Sri Lanka entered four squash players. All four squash players lost their first matches three sets to zero, and did not advance further in the competition.;Singles
Swimming
Sri Lanka's swimming team consisted of five male swimmers. Matthew Abeysinghe broke the national record in the men's 200 m freestyle event. Sri Lankan swimmers advanced to only one final, through Matthew Abeysinghe's sixth-place finish in the 100 metres freestyle event. The sixth-place finish, was the best swimming result for Sri Lanka at the Asian Games.;Men
Table Tennis
Sri Lanka entered two table tennis players.Taekwondo
Sri Lanka entered six taekwondo practitioners.Tennis
Sri Lanka's tennis team consisted of four athletes.;Singles
;Doubles
Triathlon
Sri Lanka entered one male triathlete. This also marked the country's Asian Games debut in the sport.;Individual
| Athlete | Event | Swim | Trans 1 | Bike | Trans 2 | Run | Total Time | Rank |
| Lakruwan Dewa | Men's | 24:55 | 0:31 | 1:03:06 | 0:31 | 42:25 | 2:11:28 | 24 |
Volleyball
Sri Lanka will be returning to the Asian Games for the first time since 1966. The Sri Lankan team finished in 13th place after defeating Vietnam in the 13th place match.Indoor volleyball
Men's tournament
;Roster;Pool E
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;13th–20th quarterfinal
;13th–16th semifinal
;13th place game
Weightlifting
Sri Lanka entered four weightlifters.Wrestling
Sri Lanka entered one male wrestler.;Men's freestyle
Wushu
Sri Lanka entered two wushu athletes.;Sanda