Ruwini Abeymanne is a former Sri Lankan sports shooter who was born in Ratnapura and excelled in athletics, basketball, gymnastics, and hockey in the beginning.
After leaving school, she joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1989 at the age of 19 years. There she followed a physical education instructor course while participating in hockey and gymnastics.
Thereafter, she entered the Marksman Training School in Diyathalawa under the instructions of Colonel Daya Rajasingha and went on to claim several titles both at local and international level.
She left the Army and joined SriLankan Airlines before moving to Slimline.
Abeymanne had the honour of representing the country at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in Bisley, England in 2001.
Earlier, she represented the country in the Commonwealth Games in 1998 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and once again she participated in Melbourne, Australia in 2006.
Abeymanne also represented Sri Lanka at the Asian Air Gun Championships held in New Delhi, India in 2015.
She had a highly successful South Asian Federation (SAF) Games in 1995 in Madras, India where she went on to bag the Air Pistol Individual Silver Medal, Air Pistol Team Silver Medal and the Sports Pistol Team - Gold Medal.
She produced a near repeat performance at the 1999 Kathmandu SAF Games by winning the Sports Pistol Individual - Gold Medal, Sports Pistol Team - Gold Medal and the Air Pistol Team - Silver Medal.
Abeymanne went on to dominate the 2004 SAF Games in Islamabad, Pakistan by securing the Air Pistol Team Silver Medal and the Sports Pistol Team Silver Medal.
She was in excellent form at the 2006 SAF Games in Colombo as well while winning the Air Pistol Team Silver Medal and the Sports Pistol Team Bronze Medal.
At the 2010 SAF Games in Dhaka, Bangladesh she won the Sports Pistol Team Bronze Medal and at the 2016 SAF Games in Guwahati and Shillong, India she secured the Air Pistol Team Bronze Medal.
At the South Asian Shooting Championships in 2000 in Pakistan, she won the Air Pistol Individual Gold Medal and at the 2008 event in Pakistan, she won the Air Pistol Team Silver Medal and the Sports Pistol Team Bronze Medal.
In 2009 at the South Asian Shooting Championships in Bangladesh, she won the Air Pistol Team Silver Medal and the Sports Pistol Team Bronze Medal.
Abeymanne further extended her dominance by winning the Small Bore Silhouette Rifle Gold Medal, Small Bore Light Rifle Gold Medal, Small Bore Silhouette Rifle second match Gold Medal and the Small Bore Light Rifle second match Bronze Medal at the 2003 Metallic Silhouette Shooting Championships in South Africa.
She produced another fine performance at the Asian Air Gun Championships in 2015 in New Delhi, India and managed to win the Air Pistol Team Silver Medal.
At the Commonwealth Shooting Championships in 2001 in Bisley, England she won the Bronze Medal in the Sports Pistol Team event with a total of 577 points.
Abeymanne had the distinction of winning Silver and a Bronze Medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia while establishing two Sri Lanka records.
At the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia she won the Batch Match Sports Pistol Gold Medal with a total of 577 points. (C.D)
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