Sports
Revisiting National Athletics Championships of 1945
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Athletics is set to conduct its 98th National Athletics Championships at the Sugathadasa Stadium from Saturday, as it looks forward to provide the competition-starved national athletes an opportunity to weigh in their strengths after being in the sideline for more than a year due to Covid 19 pandemic. In two years Sri Lanka Athletics will celebrate the centenary year. Today we review a National Championship which was held 75 years ago.
Sri Lanka Athletics which was then called the Amateur Athletics Association conducted the National Championships of 1945 over two days on October 14 and 15 at the Police Ground, Bambalapitiya.
According to Sri Lanka Athletics records, men competed in 15 events while the women’s competition had only four disciplines. Apart from the senior events there had been an invitational school boy event of 440 yards won by G.A. Van Twest of St. Sylvester’s College (56.3secs.)
At a time when distances of track events were measured in yards and miles and performances of field events in feet and inches, a feat of 10.1 seconds in the 100 yards had been adjudged the Best Performance of the meet. Sri Lanka Athletics statistics record 2/Lt. B.C. Henricus of Navy as the winner of the 100 yards.
The event witnessed G.D. Peiris, who would later become a member of the country’s first ever team to an Olympics in 1948, winning both the long jump and the triple jump. The athlete represented Y.M.C.A. and cleared 22 feet for his long jump victory. His performance for the triple jump title is registered as 45 feet and 9 ¾ inches. Peiris who competed unsuccessfully at the 1948 London Olympics long jump improved the National triple jump record thrice (1940, 1942, 1948).
A.C. Dep who later became a vice president of the athletics governing body was the winner of both the 120 yards hurdles (16.8 secs) and the pole vault. It was a time when jumpers would land on sawdust or coir dust pits after clearing. Dep who cleared 11 feet 2 ½ inches to win the pole vault at the 1945 edition held the national record for 26 years from 1936 to 1962. His national record was 12 feet and 7.5 inches.
He was not the only athlete from this competition to have become an athletics official. Upali S Gooneratne who also later became a vice president was placed second in the 100 yards. Gooneratne was a national record holder in the 100 yards. He established the record (10.1 secs) in 1938.
Another athlete of note was Chandra Senanayake who won the Discus throw for Police Sports Club with a feat of 112 feet and three inches. He was placed second in the shot put. Senanayake held the national discus throw record for 28 years, improving it ten times from 100 feet to 130 feet.
H.M.P. Perera who later became a medical doctor was probably the most prominent athlete of all. Perera representing Nemeans Sports Club won both the 220 yards (23.6 secs) and the 440 yards (51.4 secs). Perera held the national record of the 440 yards for 23 years from 1939 and produced Asia’s fastest time of the distance 49.5 seconds at an Indo-Lanka dual in 1946. At the same meet which was held in Bangalore, Duncan White ran an Asian record time of 54.9 seconds to win the hurdles.
The quarter mile specialist Perera was unbeaten at National Championships. His name appears as the winner of nationals in 1938, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45 and 50.
The event was also notable for G.D.H. Karunaratne as he clinched his third consecutive 880 yards title.
The women’s competition was dominated by Shirly Thomas and Olga Walker who won two events each. Shirly Thomas, a national record holder in both the 100 yards and the 200 yards won the sprints, while Walker won the two field events. Thomas’ records in the two sprint events were 12.2 seconds and 28.4 seconds. (Statistics for this story were provided by Sri Lanka Athletics statistician Saman Kumara Gunawardena)
Results of the 1945 National Athletics Championship
MEN
100 yards: 1. B.C. Henricus (Navy) 10.1secs., 2. Upali S Gooneratne (Prisons Sports Club), 3. W.T. Saunders (Jaffna College)
220 yards:
1. H.M.P. Perera (Nemeans Sports Club) 23.6secs., 2. W.T. Saunders (Jaffna College), 3. F.H. Brohier (Ace Athletic Club)
440 yards:
1. H.M.P. Perera (Nemeans Sports Club) 51.4secs., 2. J. Xavier (Navy), 3. P. Raymond (Army)
880 yards:
1. G.D.H. Karunaratne (Johnians Sports Club) 2:08.0secs., 2. J.S.L. White (Government Services SC), 3. K.W. Piyasiri (Vidyartha College)
1 Mile:
1. J.W.S.T. Gunasekara (Army) 4:50.4 secs., 2. L.A. De Soysa (Ace Athletic Club), 3. M.B. Rathnayake (Prisons Sports Club)
3 Miles:
1. L.A. De Soysa (Ace Athletic Club) 16:33.9secs., 2. M.B. Rathnayake (Prisons Sports Club), 3. R. Suithaly (Army)
120 yards Hurdles:
1. A.C. Dep (Police Sports Club) 16.8secs., 2. T.L. Blaze (Nemeans Sports Club), 3 T. Fillil (Police Sports Club)
440 yards Hurdles:
1. A.M. Xavier (Navy) 59.0secs. 2. R.R. Scott (Police Sports Club), 3. T.L. Blaze (Nemeans Sports Club)
High Jump:
1. R.R. Peiris (Ace Athletic Club) 5 ft 10 ¼ ins, 2. E.W. Labrooy (Excise Department), 3. D.J.C. Jayamaha (Excise Department)
Pole Vault:
1. A.C. Dep (Police SC) 11 ft 2 ½ ins, 2. K. Chelvadurai (Nemeans Sports Club), 3. T.M.T. Gunawardene (Nemeans Sports Club)
Long Jump:
1. G.D. Peiris (Y.M.C.A.) 22 ft 0 ins, 2. J.P.K. Fernando (Excise Department), 3. J.V. Wijeratne (Y.M.C.A.)
Triple Jump:
1. G.D. Peiris (Y.M.C.A.) 45 ft 9 ¾ ins, 2. C.S. Joseph (Old Josehepians SC), 3. J.P.K. Fernando (Excise Department)
Shot Put:
1. C.P.O. Atherton (Navy) 38 ft 10 ins, 2. Chandra Senanayake (Police Sports Club), 3. D.S. Thambiyah (Police Sports Club)
Discus Throw:
1. Chandra Senanayake (Police Sports Club) 112 ft3 ins, 2. L.C. Goonaratne (Ace Athletic Club), 3. C.P.O. Atherton (Navy)
Javelin Throw:
1. B.C. Da Silva (Nemeans Sports Club) 171 ft 1 ins, 2. L.C. Goonaratne (Ace Athletic Club), 3. V.R. Fernando (Silverline SC)
WOMEN
100 yards
: 1. Shirly Thomas (Unattached) 12.6 secs., 2. Y. Menzies (Navy), 3. Olga Walker (University)
220 yards:
1. Shirly Thomas 28.6secs. , 2. Y. Menzies, 3. Olga Walker
High Jump:
1. Olga Walker 4 ft 2 ins, 2. E.Garrett (W.R.N.S.), 3. Silvia Vanderziel (Unattached)
Long Jump:
1. Olga Walker 15 ft 3 ins, 2. Shirly Thomas, 3. M. Nathanielsz (Methodist College)
440 yards (Invitation School Boys):
1. G.A. Van Twest (St. Sylvester’s College) 56.3secs., 2. S. Suntharalingam (Hartley College), 3. Norton Perera (St. Joseph’s)
Shubman Gill dug deep for his slowest ODI hundred and India’s slowest in the last six years to see India through a tricky chase of 229 that must have brought back memories of their 3-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka last on similarly slow tracks. Despite a quick 69-run opening stand, India were tested by a target that was kept by Mohammed Shami, who took his sixth ODI five-for and became the quickest man to 200 ODI wickets in terms of balls bowled to get there.
Both sides will rue missed opportunities in their Champions Trophy opener. Bangladesh won a crucial toss on a tired pitch with no dew expected to make chasing easier, but they got off to such a poor start that they needed three dropped catches and a superlative fighting hundred from Towhid Hridoy to stay in the contest. India had Bangladesh down at 35 for 5, Axar Patel was on a hat-trick, and Rohit Sharma dropped a sitter followed by two lives for the record-breaking sixth-wicket stand. It allowed Bangladesh to get to a target that denied India a net-run-rate boost, which can prove crucial if they happen to lose one of their three matches.
India will still consider this a banana peel survived having misread the conditions and decided to field first should they have won the toss. On a slow pitch with no assistance for the quicks, they were gifted early wickets through some indiscriminate hitting. Bangladesh possibly felt the new ball was the best time to bat: they didn’t wait for a bad ball on offer and kept losing wickets. The first three fell to ambitious shots to plain good-length bowling with little seam.
Bangladesh were 35 for 3 when Axar was introduced in the ninth over. Tanzid Hasan, the only batter who had looked comfortable, played him for the turn and paid the ultimate price with an outside edge. Mushfiqur Rahim, arguably batting too late at No. 6 especially in the absence of the injured Mahmudullah, played the original line, and was done in by the rare one that turned. Axar slowed down the hat-trick ball even more, Jaker Ali obliged with an edge, which Rohit spilled.
Soon Hardik Pandya dropped Hridoy on 23 in Kuldeep Yadav’s first over. Scoring runs was still a task on the sluggish surface, more than 10 overs went without a boundary, but also India went the middle overs without a single wicket for the first time since the 2023 World Cup final. Jaker did provide an opportunity on 24 but this time KL Rahul missed the stumping off Ravindra Jadeja.
The duo found their touch deeper into the innings, but Hridoy was hampered by cramps all over his body. Shami returned to the challenging task of bowling with a short leg-side boundary but used the slower ball wide outside off to not just deny them boundaries but also collect three more wickets. A cameo from Rishad Hossain and Hridoy’s fight despite crippling cramps took Bangladesh to a fighting total.
Rohit continued his high-intent starts of recent times, and Gill matched him shot for shot as India raced away from the three Bangladesh quicks. Just before the field was about to spread, Rohit fell for 41 off 36 in a bid to make one last use of the field restrictions. Immediately, scoring became laborious. Even the master accumulator Virat Kohli struggled to manipulate the ball into gaps before falling to a legspinner again, this one with the letters of Rashid scrambled to Rishad.
Shreyas Iyer played the conditions for a while, but once he got a couple and a boundary off Mustafizur Rahman, he overreached and lobbed a slower ball to mid-off to be dismissed for 15 off 17. Promoted for the dual tasking of breaking the sequence of right-hand batters and also have an eye on the net run rate, Axar skied a slog-sweep, failing to read the Rishad topspinner.
The last three wickets had fallen for 75 runs and had taken 20.2 overs. You would have thought the sight of KL Rahul would have brought calm to the proceedings, but he tried an uncharacteristic hoick early on only to be dropped by Jaker, whom he had himself reprieved earlier in the day. That proved to be the last opportunity for Bangladesh even as India overcame the ghosts of the failed chases in Sri Lanka last year.
The man to thank was Gill, who anchored the chase and made sure he was there at the end. He was 26 off 23 when Rohit got out, but as the conditions changed he tightened his game and took only selective risks. His next boundary came only when the skiddy fast bowler Tanzim Hasan came back. In the 32nd over. By that time had brought up his slowest half-century.
Gill was content with singles off the spinners and even Mustafizur, who bowls a wicked slower ball to make use of these conditions. He scored just 30 off the 52 balls following Rohit’s dismissal, then went into middle gears before finishing it off in glory. He needed 12 out of the 19 runs to bring up a hundred, and hit a six and a four off Tanzim to get to the mark off 125 balls and take his customary bow. Rahul took India home with a six off Tanzim with 21 balls to spare.
Brief scores:
India 231 for 4 in 46.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 41, Shubnam Gill 101*, Virat Kohli 22, KL Rahul 41*; Taskin Ahmed 1-36, Mustafizur Rahman 1-42, Rishad Hossain 2-38) beat Bangladesh 228 in 49.4 overs (Towhid Hridoy 100, Tanzid Hasan 25, Jaker Ali 68; Mohammed Shami 5-53, Harshit Rana 3-31, Axar Patel 2-43) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) imposed a fine of US$ 10,000 on Dasun Shanaka for breaching the terms of the player contract he entered into with SLC.
The decision follows an incident where Shanaka, after playing for his domestic club in the ongoing Major Club Three-Day Tournament, withdrew early due to an injury.
This is following the player submitting a medical certificate, which recommended Shanaka to rest, and hence he did not take part in the remainder of the match.
However, on the same evening, he traveled to Dubai and participated in a franchise league match.
This action was deemed a breach of several contractual clauses that require players to uphold the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and commitment to Sri Lanka Cricket.
During the inquiry, Shanaka acknowledged his actions and expressed regret for any inconvenience caused.
He also clarified that he did not act with dishonest intent and assured SLC that he would exercise better judgment in the future.
Sri Lanka Cricket remains committed to maintaining the highest ethical and professional standards and will continue to take necessary measures to uphold the integrity of the game.
by Reemus Fernando
Paceman Sethmika Senavirathne took seven wickets as Trinity rattled Maris Stella for 32 runs before cruising to a ten wickets victory in the Under 19 Division I limited overs tournament match at Asgiriya on Thursday.
Sethmika shared ten wickets with Malith Rathnayake to dismiss the visitors within 11 overs. The first six batsmen in the Maris Stella batting line up did not score a single run.
With his seven wicket haul Sethmika has now accounted for the best bowling performance of the ongoing limited overs tournament. His stunning performance (5.3-2-9-7) has come just a day after St. Benedict’s paceman Ayesh Gajanayake took similar number of wickets (9-2-27-7) to bowl out Lumbini for 60 runs.
In the other limited overs matches, St. Sebastian’s beat Lumbini by seven wickets while St. Anne’s pulled off a twelve runs win over St. Anthony’s College Wattala.
Trinity rout Maris Stella at Asgiriya
Scores
Maris Stella
32 all out in 10.3 overs (Hasmika Nethshan 12n.o.; Sethmika Senavirathne 7/09, Malith Rathnayake 3/18)
Trinity
36 for no loss in 6.2 overs (Dimantha Mahavithana 28n.o.)
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