Draft:Anusha Kumari Liyanage

Anusha Kumari Liyanage is a former female karate champion in Sri Lanka. Anusha is the first and only Sri Lankan referee who became an Asian Karate Referee.

Anusha was born on September 11, 1973, in a family of three children in Kalutara, Nagoda, as Maddumaya. Her father was Mr. Somadasa Liyanage, who was a heavy vehicle mechanic and repair officer by profession, and Mrs. Soma Samarasinghe, a housewife, was her mother. Anusha married in 2009 and her only son, Ganegama Akitha Liyanage is also following Karate as her mother. During the 1988/89 riots, his elder brother Ashoka Liyanage lost his life and his sister Varuni Liyanage was working as a headmistress. Anusha took his school education at Dharmapala Maha Vidyalaya - Katukurunda, Ananda Sastralaya - Matugama & Gnanodaya Maha Vidyalaya - Kalutara.

Anusha started her Karate life in 1988 when she was studying for Ordinary levels. Anusha's first karate teacher was Mr. SHIHAN Lakshman Agalawatta. While engaging in karate, in the year 1992 he passed the advanced level in commerce and obtained National Education Diploma in Health and Physical Education (1995 - 1998) at Uva National College of Education, Bandarawela. After his karate coach Mr. Lakshman Agalawatta went to Japan,she trained under SHIHAN Cleman de Soyza according to Shitokai style and in 1994 she obtained the first rank of Black Belt. She got his first teaching appointment in 1999 at Dharmashoka College, Ambalangoda. Without limiting her teaching to the subject of health and physical education, she conducted classes to teach karate firstly at Dharmashoka College and then in other schools in Ambalangoda, and she has gone down in history as the person who introduced karate to Ambalangoda. After leaving Dharmashoka College, she transferred to Kalutara Girls' National School in 2002 and went to Japan in 2003 under the guidance of her first karate teacher, Mr. Lakshman Agalawatta.

Before going to Japan, Anusha, who produced many international level karate athletes, also managed to set several records as an athlete. From 1990 to 2002, Anusha won either the championships or runner-ups in the under 48 kg, Kumite event at the National Karate Championships. In the year 1994, for the first time in history, a Sri Lankan team participated in the World Karate Championship (held in Malaysia), and Anusha was the only female player in the team. In 2003, Anusha went to Japan to learn Japanese, worked in several small jobs, and studied karate under the trainer SHIHAN Toshio Oide. She has been working as a welding technician in Japan since 2005.

In November 2023, she achieved the 5th dan (rank) black belt in the Karate Do Federation of Japan, and Anusha is the only Sri Lankan athlete to achieve the 5th rank of black belt. Anusha is the only foreign athlete to reach this level in the Japan Karate Do Federation. Anusha made history as the first and only Sri Lankan referee who became an Asian Karate Referee after passing all the referee exams of Japan's Karate Do Federation.