by Reemus Fernando

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World javelin leader Rumesh Tharanga lived up to his billing to win Sri Lanka a highly anticipated gold medal, overcoming wet weather and a slow runway at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on Monday.

‎The overwhelming favourite after a string of victories at global level this year, Tharanga made an unlikely start, opening with 73.52m in the first round and trailing his South Asian rivals, including reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. At the halfway mark he surged ahead with a massive 88.33m, then sealed the contest with 88.55m.

‎”He rose like a true champion at the most crucial moment. It was an incredible performance in these wet conditions,” veteran coach Susantha Fernando, who watched from the stands, told The Island. “I was blessed to see a Sri Lankan win gold at back-to-back Asian Games.” Fernando’s own charge, Tharushi Karunaratne, won the 800m at the last edition. He was one of the team coaches at the venue yesterday.

‎The 23-year-old, trained by Tony Prasanna, arrived in Japan as world No. 1 and the season’s leading thrower. In June he became the first Sri Lankan to throw beyond 90m, launching a national-record 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League. In July he beat India’s Neeraj Chopra to take Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow, and this month he won the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. He also became the first Sri Lankan to win the Diamond League title. He was the only thrower in the field with two throws beyond 92m this season.

‎With such a reputation to carry, a Games record (89.15m) was widely expected, and Tharanga came close, but nearly every thrower struggled in the wet conditions.

‎With Chopra absent, India’s Y. Singh and R. Yadav took silver and bronze with 85.72m and 84.35m respectively. Nadeem finished just outside the podium with 80.29m. Former national record holder and Olympian Sumedha Ranasinghe was sixth with 78.08m.

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‎Akalanka impresses in hurdles

‎‎Meanwhile, hurdler Ayomal Akalanka produced one of Sri Lanka’s best performances among those who narrowly missed the podium, finishing fifth in the men’s 400m hurdles.

‎Running from lane two, the 20-year-old clocked 49.37 seconds against an elite continental field. The former Ambagamuwa Central Udubulathgama athlete stayed in contention throughout the final and finished ahead of Japan’s Kazuki Kurokawa, India’s Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan and Kazakhstan’s Vyacheslav Zems.

‎Qatar’s Bassem Hemeida won gold in 47.82, with Japan’s Taiju Goto taking silver in a personal best of 47.93. Taiwan’s Chung-wei Lin claimed bronze in a personal best 48.74, and his compatriot Jian-rong Chen was fourth in 49.25.

After all the euphoria of Headingley, Sri Lanka’s men’s cricket team came crashing back to earth, suffering an embarrassing defeat in front of a capacity crowd at The Oval on Sunday.

Sri Lanka have been playing ODI cricket for more than 50 years and this was their fifth heaviest defeat in the format and their worst against England.

Defeats hurt, but over the years good teams have used them as motivation to bounce back. With Sri Lanka, however, there appears to be precious little light at the end of the tunnel. They keep persevering with the same set of players and unsurprisingly, keep getting the same old results.

More worrying than the margin of defeat was the lack of fighting spirit. Sri Lanka got their sums horribly wrong and ended up inflicting another dose of humiliation on the once proud brand of Sri Lankan cricket.

Unless the administrators address these issues quickly, Sri Lanka could be heading for yet another disappointing World Cup in South Africa next year. Reaching the semi-finals may be a bridge too far, but the realistic ambition should at least be to reach the last seven stage, with the next World Cup being played under a new format.

On Sunday, Sri Lanka simply conceded far too many runs. The bowlers lacked imagination and discipline, while the fielding was equally shoddy as England piled up 355 for seven, their second highest ODI total against Sri Lanka.

It was a considerable confidence booster for an England side forced to summon replacements following injuries to Jos Buttler and Adil Rashid. Their replacements, Jordan Cox and Liam Dawson, made telling contributions.

Sri Lanka cannot boast of such depth. Like the UNP under Ranil Wickremesinghe, they seem to have been rebuilding for years, yet there is still no sign of the grand comeback everyone keeps waiting for.

When the pressure comes on, the decision making becomes even more alarming. Former captain Charith Asalanka, in particular, has repeatedly made a mockery of running between the wickets. Too often either he finds himself in danger or his partner ends up paying the price.

There was another bizarre episode when Pavan Rathnayake was ruled run out by the on-field umpire. He appeared to earn a reprieve on review, only to eventually be declared out.

Wicketkeeper Cox had initially dislodged the bails while attempting to collect the ball. Most followers of the game know that once the bails have already been removed, a fielder generally needs to uproot a stump while holding the ball to complete a run out. What many perhaps did not realise was that the Laws also provide for a batter to be run out if the ball itself subsequently knocks a stump out of the ground.

It summed up Sri Lanka’s day: even when they thought they had survived, there was another nasty surprise waiting around the corner.

It was yet another bitter lesson on a tour that promised much but delivered precious little. Sri Lanka return home with few positives, plenty of bruises and an uncomfortable pile of questions demanding answers.

St. Joseph’s College, Colombo 10, has once again etched its name in golden letters within the annals of Sri Lankan school sports. At the conclusion of the 40th All-Island School Games, organized by the Ministry of Education, the Josephians swept the courts with a masterclass performance, capturing both the Under-17 and Under-20 double championships for the third consecutive year (2024, 2025, and 2026).

This occurrence is so rare and never been achieved before and hard to imagine that will be ever matched in the near future.

The U-17 squad put on an exhibition of tactical discipline and relentless energy throughout the competition overcoming every opponent.

In the pre-quarterfinals, the Joes beat St. Anne’s College, Kurunegala in a one-sided game while the quarter-final too proved to be a cake walk as they overcame Jaffna Hindu College. St. Joseph’s beat Trinity College, Kandy in the semis and beat arch-rivals St. Peter’s in the final to secure the title.

The Under-20 team faced fierce competition. Spearheading this phenomenal run was Chamidu Madushan, whose dominant performances on both ends of the floor earned him the prestigious award of Most Valuable Player (MVP).

Joes overcame St. John’s College, Jaffna 42–21 in the pre- quarters while beating Kingswood College, Kandy in the quarter-final, which turned out to be a close contest.

They beat Jaffna Central in the semis and beat Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa 56-49.

Victorious under 20 Josephian team.