Sports
Promising Lahiru shines bright with 1500m bronze
St. Aloysius’ College, Rathnapura athlete Lahiru Achintha accomplished a rare achievement as he clocked sub four minutes to win a bronze medal in the 1500 metres at the Asian Youth Athletics Championship in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
He became the first youth athlete from Sri Lanka to have won a medal in the challenging discipline at the six editions old championship when he returned a time of 3:59.47 seconds to finish third.
Qatar’s Mubarak Abdi Said and Lebanon’s Mahmoud Abou Zeid finished first and second respectively. The 16-year-old Achintha was the youngest on the podium as he continues to shine as a clear future prospect for Sri Lanka.
Not many Sri Lakan athletes have clocked sub four minutes in the 1500 metres in the Under 18 age category. The national youth (U18) record of the distance remained 4:00.14 seconds from 2019 to 2024.
At the first selection trial held in February, both Achintha and Shavindu Awishka bettered the Under 18 youth record. While Awishka clocked 3:58.24 seconds to establish a new youth record, Achintha came up with a feat of 3:59.24 seconds to better the previous record.
Achintha also established a national youth record in the 3000 metres before the Asian event, prompting Sri Lanka Athletics to pick him for the team.
Achintha showed promise as a 14 year old when he turned tables on athletes in the Under 20 age category to win the cross country race held in January 2024.
Achintha’s bronze victory was a huge consolation for the Sri Lakan team in Dammam after the country’s two female athletes missed the corresponding girls event due to a faux pas.
Sri Lanka also won a silver medal on Wednesday when Lyceum International Wattala sprinter Dananjana Fernando finished second in the girls 100 metres.She clocked 11.92 seconds to beat India’s Aarti to the third place.
by Reemus Fernando
Mikel Merino scored in the 88th minute from a rebound yielded by backup Belgium goalkeeper Senne Lammens, and Spain advanced to the World Cup semifinals with a 2-1 victory.
Merino was the late hero for the second straight match for Spain, who advanced to face tournament favourite France in the semifinals on Tuesday in Dallas.
Merino came on in the 86th minute and scored from his second touch of the match, charging into the box and pouncing after Lammens spilled a Pau Cubarsi shot from outside the area.
The Arsenal forward also scored as a substitute early in injury time to secure Spain’s 1-0 victory over Portugal in the last-16.
Lammens, the Manchester United keeper, was forced into the match in the 71st minute after longtime Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois left with an apparent thigh injury.
Belgium desperately pressed for an equaliser in the final minutes, but Aymeric Laporte volleyed their best chance out of the box.
Fabian Ruiz scored the opening goal in the 30th minute for Spain after Courtois had parried a shot from Dani Olmo from Pedro Porro’s cut-back from the right of the area, but Belgium forward Charles De Ketelaere scored the first goal allowed by Spain in the entire World Cup in the 41st minute.
His header from Timothy Castagne’s cross from the right ended a record streak of 649 minutes without conceding at the World Cup.
The annual rugby encounter between Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College, played for the William Weerasinghe Memorial Trophy, is set to take place today (July 11, 2026), at 4:00 PM at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy.
The official unveiling of the trophy took place this week at the Dharmaraja College premises with the participation of the Principals of the two schools, teachers-in-charge of sports, coaches, the Rugby teams, and several distinguished guests, including Dharmaraja College Old Boys’ Association President Mahesh Wijetunga, Kingswood College Old Boys’ Association President Muditha Abeykoon,
Text and Pic by SK Samaranayake
The annual rugby encounter between Dharmaraja College and Kingswood College, played for the William Weerasinghe Memorial Trophy, is set to take place tomorrow (July 11, 2026), at 4:00 PM at the Bogambara Stadium, Kandy.
The official unveiling of the trophy took place this week at the Dharmaraja College premises with the participation of the Principals of the two schools, teachers-in-charge of sports, coaches, the Rugby teams, and several distinguished guests, including Dharmaraja College Old Boys’ Association President Mahesh Wijetunga, Kingswood College Old Boys’ Association President Muditha Abeykoon,
by S K SAMARANAYAKE
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