Deshabandu Kobala Vithanage Damayanthi Dharsha-Kobalavithanage is a retired Sri Lankan athlete who competed in the 200 and 400 metres race events. She is the current Asian Games record holder in women's 200m event and current Asian Athletics Championships record holder in women's 400m event as well as national record holder in women's 400m. She is regarded as one of the greatest track and field athletes to have represented Sri Lanka at international level alongside her teammate Susanthika Jayasinghe. She is also regarded as the most successful Sri Lankan athlete at the Asian Games with a medal haul of four medals including three gold medals and became the first Sri Lankan female athlete to clinch three Asian Games gold medals. She represented Sri Lanka at the Olympics on three occasions in 1992, 2000 and 2004. She also represented Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games on four occasions in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006 as well as at the South Asian Games on four occasions.
Mariya Olehivna Muzychuk is a Ukrainian chess grandmaster and Women's World Chess Champion from April 2015 to March 2016. She is also a twice women's champion of Ukraine, World Team and European Team champion with Ukraine in 2013. Muzychuk has experienced multiple successes with Ukraine at the Women's Chess Olympiad winning gold in 2022, silver in 2018 and bronze in 2012, 2014 and 2016.
Phiona Mutesi is a Ugandan chess player. She has represented Uganda at four Women's Chess Olympiads, and is one of the first titled female players in Ugandan chess history. Mutesi is the subject of a 2012 book and a 2016 film called Queen of Katwe.
Reshika Amali Udugampola is a former Sri Lankan freestyle swimmer and sports administrator. She is also the current secretary of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka's Athletes' Commission and also serves in the marketing sub-committee of the International Olympic Committee.
Suneetha Godigamuwage Wijesuriya is a veteran Sri Lankan chess player and coach. She won Sri Lanka's first ever gold medal at a World Chess Olympiad when she achieved it during the 30th Chess Olympiad which was held in Manila in 1992. Up to date, she remains as the only chess player to have won a gold medal at a World Chess Olympiad for Sri Lanka. She has also won the Sri Lankan Women's National Chess Championship title ten times. She is well known for her efforts in developing the game of chess across the country.
Nataliya Ihorivna Buksa is a Ukrainian chess player.
The Sri Lankan Chess Championship is organised by the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka, and was first held in 1972. The Sri Lankan Women's Chess Championship was first held in 1979.
Kavidi Ishadika Sirimannage is a Sri Lankan badminton player. In 2010, she won the mixed doubles title at the Sri Lanka Air Force Championships with Niluka Karunaratne. In 2015, she was crowned as the champion in the women's doubles, and the runner-up in the singles and mixed doubles. In 2016 she helped the Sri Lankan women's team win a silver medal at the South Asian Games, and also won a bronze in the singles and the mixed doubles event. She won the 2017 Summer Season Championships in the women's doubles event with Thilini Hendahewa, and was the runner-up in the singles. She won her first international title at the Lagos International tournament in the women's doubles event with Hendahewa. She competed at the 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei, Taiwan, and at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast.
Romesh Weerawardane is a Sri Lankan chess player. Weerawardane was the first Sri Lankan to be an International Master. Weerawardane competed in two Chess Olympiads in 2010 and 2016, scoring 2/6 and 2.5/10 respectively. He serves as a FIDE Instructor.
Wijesuriya is a Sinhalese surname that may refer to
Mihiliya Methsarani is a Sri Lankan female squash player. She has represented Sri Lanka in international competitions such as Asian Youth Games, South Asian Games, Commonwealth Games and has won medals. Currently, she is considered as Sri Lanka's best squash player.
Dagnė Čiukšytė is a Lithuanian chess player. In 2007 she moved to England and now represents this country in international competitions.
Sachini D. Ranasinghe, also known as S.D. Ranasinghe, is a Sri Lankan chess player who holds the title of Woman International Master. She is the first Sri Lankan player to get awarded the title of Woman International Master and only Sri Lankan player to win Asian zonal 3.2 chess championship and participate at the World chess Cup in 2012. She is a five-time winner of the Sri Lankan Women's Chess Championship. She is the strongest Sri Lankan women chess player in this era.
Anna-Marie Suzanne Quint Ondaatje also simply known as Anna-Marie Ondaatje is a Canadian born female rhythmic gymnast of Sri Lankan descent. She has competed in national level competitions in Canada and has represented both Canada and then switched to compete for Sri Lanka in international gymnastics events. She became the first rhythmic gymnast to represent Sri Lanka at the Commonwealth Games after creating history for the nation at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was also named as one of just four female gymnasts from Sri Lanka to represent at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Alexandra Valeria Botez is an American and Canadian chess player, poker player, online streamer and YouTuber. In chess, she holds the FIDE title of Woman FIDE Master (WFM) and has a peak FIDE rating of 2092. She is a five-time Canadian girls' national champion and one-time U.S. girls' national champion. Botez has represented Canada at three Women's Chess Olympiads in 2012, 2014, and 2016. Alexandra and her younger sister Andrea Botez host the BotezLive Twitch and YouTube channels, which each have over 1 million followers and are one of the largest chess channels on each platform.
Marija Petrović is a female chess player who has represented both Yugoslavia and Serbia in international chess championships. She represented Yugoslavia in international chess competitions from 1981 to 1992 until the breakup of Yugoslavia and then went on to represent Serbia at the international level from 1992 until her retirement in 2016. She achieved the Woman International Master title in 1981. Marija is also a two time national champion for Yugoslavia in 1983 and 1984 in the Yugoslav Chess Championship. She won her first Yugoslav Chess Championship national title jointly with her fellow counterpart Suzana Maksimović. She also represented Yugoslavia at the Women's World Chess Championship 1988 and took part in two Olympiad events in 1984 and 1990.
Women represent a small minority of chess players at all ages and levels. Female chess players today generally compete in a mix of open tournaments and women's tournaments, the latter of which are most prominent at or near the top level of women's chess and at youth levels. Modern top-level women's tournaments help provide a means for some participants to be full-time professional chess players. The majority of these tournaments are organized by the International Chess Federation (FIDE) and revolve around the World Championship cycle, which culminates in a match to decide the Women's World Chess Champion. Beyond those events, among the most prominent women's tournaments are women's and girls' national and continental championships.
Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage also simply known as Ranindu Liyanage is a Sri Lankan chess player and current national champion. In July 2021, he became the first Sri Lankan man to participate at the FIDE Chess World Cup. He is currently coached by Uzbekistani chess grandmaster Alexei Barsov.
Thambu Nelka Shiromala also known as Nelka Shiromala Thampu is a Sri Lankan police officer, boxing referee and former national boxer. Nelka is widely regarded as the first Sri Lankan female boxing referee. She has officiated in several local and international boxing matches as referee. She was also selected by the International Olympic Committee as one of the referees for the boxing competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics. She is regarded as one of the early pioneers of the women's boxing in Sri Lanka when it was originally introduced in the country in 2000s. She is nicknamed as "queen of the ring" in the boxing arena.
