The Korean Embassy, in cooperation with the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation, organized the Awards ceremony of the 2021 Virtual Korean Ambassador’s Cup at the Korean Embassy on October 26.
Korean Ambassador, Santhush Woonjin JEONG and Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth and Sports, attended the ceremony and presented the winners with awards for their outstanding performance in the Championship.
Chaminda Punchihewa – President of the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation, Kanchana Jayarathna – Vice Chairman of the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation, Kisu Lee – Kukkiwon Dispatch Taekwondo Master and Amal Edirisooriya – Director General of the Sports Ministry also attended the Awards Ceremony.
The Korean Ambassador Santhush Woonjin JEONG expressed his delight on the outstanding Taekwondo performances delivered by the Sri Lankan athletes during the tournament.
“It is indeed notable that many young Sri Lankans participated in the Taekwondo Championship with great passion. I appreciate your team spirit and sportsmanship in the Korean Ambassador’s cup,” he said.
He further commented on the support extended by the Korean Embassy to develop Taekwondo in Sri Lanka. He said, “The Korean government together with the World Taekwondo Federation have selected five coaches from Sri Lanka who were awarded scholarships to participate in a 45-day Taekwondo training programme in Korea. Today, I am glad to handover more taekwondo equipments sponsored by the Taekwondo Promotion Foundation, to help boost taekwondo in Sri Lanka. The Korean Embassy hopes to join hands with the Sports Ministry and the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation to ensure that Taekwondo athletes reach their fullest potential and achieve Olympic recognition”.
Namal Rajapaksa, Minister of Youth and Sports congratulated all athletes who performed well in this tournament. He commended the Korean Ambassador for being a great advocate who is passionate about sports.
The Minister was thankful for the Korean Embassy’s commitment to organize the Korean Ambassador’s Taekwondo Championship annually to promote taekwondo and motivate Sri Lankan youth to practice it.
He said, “Ambassador’s Cup Taekwondo Championship has successfully contributed to strengthening people-to-people exchanges and deepening the ties between the two countries. Due to Covid-19 the tournament was held virtually since last year in line with the COVID-19 health guidelines, I hope that the Embassy and the Taekwondo Federation will host the next Korean Ambassador’s Taekwondo Championship offline to witness the talent of Sri Lankan athletes physically”.
Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation President, Chaminda Punchihewa extended his deepest gratitude to the Korean Embassy for organizing this tournament.
“The Federation have invested its utmost efforts to keep Taekwondo active throughout this year, and it wouldn’t have been possible without the support given by the Korean Embassy. We will do our best to uplift Taekwondo in rural areas and the Taekwondo equipment donated today would assist athletes to achieve their fullest potential. We will continue to make efforts to promote taekwondo education between Korea and the Sri Lanka,” he said.
The Korean Embassy will strive to deepen and strengthen the Korea-Sri Lanka friendship by promoting events to develop athletic skills for the youth nationwide.
The successful winners from the social media competitions representing all winners were presented awards:
- M. Duneesha Uwandi of Badulla District Taekwondo Association
- M. Dulaksha Dewindi of Badulla District Taekwondo Association
- L. T. M. Premakumara of Dharmapala Taekwondo Club, Ratnapura
The following referees were presented awards to for their excellent performances in the tournament:
- D. Kumara de Silva
- A. D. M. Asitha Wickramathunga
- R. Rathnasekara.
