Sports
Thrower Tharanga takes Sri Lanka’s top spot in rankings
He did not win a medal or break a national record at last week’s Asian Athletics Championships but with two big throws, javelin thrower Rumesh Tharanga has earned the top spot among highest ranked Sri Lankan athletes according to the latest statistics released by World Athletics.
The two big throws produced by the 22-year-old has helped him earn enough ranking points to overtake sprinter Aruna Dharshana who had reigned in that position for more than two years.
The 83.71m and 83.27m throws delivered by Tharanga during the qualifying round and the finals have helped him improve ranking score from 1176 to 1218 during the regional championship. He was placed fourth in the men’s javelin throw won by reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan.
Tharanga who came almost close to achieving the direct qualifying standards for this year’s World Athletics Championship when he cleared 85.41 metres in March is currently ranked 17th in the ‘Road to Tokyo’ rankings which determines the final 36 athletes for the World Championship.
The former St. Peter’s College athlete has to remain in the top 36 in that ranking or clear a distance of 85.50 metres to earn direct qualification for the September event. In the javelin world rankings Tharanga occupies a creditable 16th position, the highest by any Sri Lakan male athlete in any discipline.
National record holder Sumeda Ranasinghe who earned direct qualifying standards for the World Championships javelin recently, finished seventh at the Asian Championship. He is ranked eighth in Asia and 27th in the World Rankings.
The bronze winning performance of Kalinga Kumarage at last week’s Championship has helped him overtake Aruna Dharshana in the 400m.
The 400 metres specialist has climbed up to the fifth position in Asia for the first time this season.
The 45.55 seconds finish in Gumi, earned Kalinga 1142 points while his third place finish at the continental championship secured 130 placing points. Kalinga was in the 13th position in Asian rankings before the Championship started in South Korea.
The 32-year-old sprinter is now the second highest ranked Sri Lankan athlete behind Rumesh Tharanga in any discipline, while Dharshana is third.
Despite not performing up to expectations at the Asian Championships, Aruna Dharshana has managed to remain in the top ten in Asia in the 400 metres. He is now ranked sixth in Asia behind Kalinga in the 400 metres.
by Reemus Fernando ✍️
Morocco’s plans for their World Cup quarterfinal against France have been shaken up after it was confirmed that star forward Ismael Saibari will miss the match.
Saibari sustained a hamstring injury in the last-16 match against Canada and has not recovered in time for the crucial knockout match, coach Mohamed Ouahbi said on Wednesday.
“Everyone is 100 percent fit except Saibari. This game comes too soon for him, but I hope he is not out for the rest of the competition,” Ouahbi told reporters ahead of Thursday’s last-eight showdown in Boston.
Saibari, who has just joined Bayern Munich from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven on a five-year deal for a reported fee of 50 million euros ($57m), has been one of the standout players at this year’s World Cup.
He scored in each of his team’s three group games and converted the winning penalty in the shootout as Morocco beat the Netherlands in the last 32.
However, the attacking midfielder came off early with a hamstring problem in the 3-0 win against Canada in the last 16 last Saturday.
Should Morocco progress, Saibari might make a comeback in the semifinals.
“He’s not ready, but I hope it’s not the end of the tournament for him,” Ouahbi said.
Saibari went off the pitch to receive medical attention after sustaining an injury against Canada [Aljazeera]
Soufiane Rahimi, who is an out-and-out striker, came on for Saibari in that game and scored Morocco’s third goal.
The Atlas Lions are seeking to avenge their 2-0 defeat against France in the semifinals of the 2022 World Cup.
That was the first time any African or Arab team had reached the last four of the tournament, and their incentive this time is to match that run.
Ouahbi dismissed suggestions that his team can say they have already had a successful tournament by getting to the quarterfinals.
“We absolutely want to win the game tomorrow, so we will not listen to people who say it doesn’t matter if we go out now,” said the coach, who took over from Walid Regragui in March.
“Tomorrow, we will try to get to the semifinals. I don’t like this sentiment that we have already done well and anything else is a bonus,” added Ouahbi, who said he had watched the 2022 meeting of the sides as a fan, on television.
Meanwhile, Morocco’s Real Madrid star Brahim Diaz insisted his side can compete with the much-fancied France as he prepares to come up against Kylian Mbappe, his colleague at club level.
“Tomorrow, we are playing one of the favourites, but we have shown we can compete, and that is why we are here. I have full faith and full confidence in the team.”
[Aljazeera]
West Indies have been fined ten percent of their match fee and penalised two World Test Championship (WTC) points for maintaining a slow over-rate in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Antigua.
Match referee Javagal Srinath imposed the sanction after the hosts were found to be two overs short of the target after time allowances were taken into consideration.
As per to the ICC Code of Conduct for Players and Player Support Personnel, players are fined five percent of their match fee for each over their team fails to bowl within the allotted time, with the maximum penalty capped at 50 percent of the match fee. Additionally, a side is penalised one point in the WTC points table for each over short as per the ICC WTC playing conditions.
Captain Roston Chase pled guilty to the offence and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
West Indies bowled 188.3 overs across both innings and secured a draw after conceding a 50-run deficit in the first innings. Having won the first Test at the same venue, by an innings and 217 runs, the result was enough to complete a 1-0 series win. They stand ninth on the WTC table with 18 points, after the deduction, with one win, two draws and seven losses in ten games.
[Cricinfo]
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