Sports
Teenagers close the gap of standards at National Championship
The men’s 400 metres of the 103rd National Athletics Championship saw as many as four teenagers advancing to the final with Ananda Sastralaya, Kotte sprinter Kalhara Idupa securing a well deserving podium place. The obsession of the one lap race has powered schools athletes to be on par with the seniors and close the gap of standards.
It was no surprise as teenagers had already featured alongside seniors at this year’s Asian Championships and the World Indoor Championships in the 4×400 metres relays. Idupa won the silver medal of the men’s 400 metres with a feat of 46.32 seconds.
Sadev Rajakaruna and Omel Shashintha who are 18 and 17 years old respectively finished fourth and fifth. I.M. Bogoda was the other teenager to feature in the final. Rajakaruna also secured a bronze in the 200metres final.
The 400 metres was not the only event that saw teenage heroics. Vishwa Piyumika Dhanasekara another teenager clocked 1:52.72 seconds featuring in the men’s 800m final.
Kalhara Idupa won the silver medal in the
men’s 400 metres.
In endurance events, Ilango Vikirthan from Poovarasankulam Maha Vidyalaya, Vavuniya and Lahiru Achintha of St. Aloysius’ College, Rathnapura stoodout brushing shoulders against seniors. While Vikirthan secured bronze medals in the 5000 metres and 3,000m steeplechase, the 16-year-old Achintha clocked a remarkable time of 15:03.45 seconds to settle for the fourth place in the 5,000m.
Ambagamuwa Central hurdler Ayomal Akalanka was probably the best performer among school athletes in the men’s category at the National Championship. His gold medal winning performance of 50.27 seconds in the 400 metres hurdles rates among the best performers of the meet. He was also adjudged the best hurdler. The 19-year-old Dineth Chethiya was the other athlete to medal with a feat of 2.10 metres in the men’s high jump.
In the women’s category, Senari Wijetunga won silver in the 200m, Nuhansa Kodithuwakku (silver in 800m), Tharushi Abisheka (bronze in 1500m), Shehara Karunarathne (bronze in 400m hurdles), Dewmini Abeyrathna (bronze in high jump) and Dhananjana Fernando (4th in 100m) were among the school athletes to shine.
While the schools athletes have continued to raise the standards, there is certainly a drop in standards in the senior category. Analysts attribute the drop in standards in the senior category to the drop in the number of recruitments by Tri Forces. The Army, Navy and Air Force have been in the forefront of recruiting emerging athletes to their athletics pools yearly. But that has changed drastically during the last few years. Alarm bells are ringing.
by Reemus Fernando
India’s opening batter Shafali Verma and swing bowler Renuka Singh have moved up to sixth spots in the ICC’s T20I batting and bowling rankings respectively.
Shafali is the leading scorer in the ongoing bilateral series against Sri Lanka by a distance, her 236 runs nearly twice as many as second-highest scorer Smriti Mandhana’s 120. Renuka is also the leading wicket-taker, her four wickets level with team-mates Deepti Sharma, Vaishnavi Sharma and Shree Charani.
Shafali went up four places with back-to-back scores of 69*, 79* and 79 in the second, third and fourth T20Is. Renuka, meanwhile, climbed eight places to reach the joint-sixth position along with South Africa’s Nonkululeko Mlaba, particularly through her 4 for 21 in the third game of the series. Deepti leads the bowlers’ rankings after taking that position last week. Both Shafali and Renuka have also bagged one Player-of-the-Match award each in the series that India lead 4-0, with the last match scheduled for Tuesday in Thiruvananthapuram.
If India win today (30), this will be their third 5-0 series win in T20Is. They won by that scoreline in the West Indies in 2019 and in Bangladesh last year. Sri Lanka have, however, never before lost a T20I series 5-0.
(Cricinfo)
The Cabinet of Ministers granted their concurrence to the resolution furnished by the Minister of Youth Affairs to appoint S. Achchudan of Special Grade of Sri Lanka Administrative Service, who is currently serving as an Additional Commissioner of Elections at the Elections Commission who is
recommended by the panel of interviewers to the post of Director General of the Sports Development Department with effect form 01.01.2026.
After three low scores, three tosses lost and three heavy defeats, Sri Lanka gave hosts India more of a fight in the fourth T20I on Sunday when they finally got to chase a target instead of setting one. They got somewhat close thanks to contribution from batters apart from Chamari Athapaththu. With their confidence running a little higher, they would want to sign off fromthis five match tour with one win as the preparations for the T20 World Cup, which is less than six months away, heat up.
India have been clinical all through the series – with their share of luck, having won the first three tosses – in restricting Sri Lanka to totals under 130 and getting home with at least five overs and seven wickets in hand. That presents Sri Lanka the opportunity to test India’s middle and lower order on Tuesday, but with the gargantuan task of going past the duo of Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma, who put up India’s biggest partnership for any wicket to set up the hosts’ highest T20I total. India have had to use only five batters in this series so far.
Whether they set a total or chase one, Sri Lanka would draw inspiration from Hasini Perera’s start on Sunday, in which she took down Renuka Singh and Arundhati Reddy in the opening overs before Nilakshika Silva finally got some runs in the lower order.
Sri Lanka would also want to cash in on any lives their batters are offered as India have been sloppy this series – putting down five catches in the opener and two in the fourth game – which could help the visitors narrow the gap between the two sides.
There are always expectations from Athapaththu when Sri Lanka bat, and it was refreshing to see Hasini Perera take the lead in the opening partnership with her captain on Sunday. It was Perera’s penchant for boundaries that charged Sri Lanka to 52 for 0 in the first four overs. Hasini has played nearly 90 T20Is and the last game of the series will be the perfect chance for her to score her maiden T20I half-century that will only increase the faith in her abilities in the lead up to the T20 World Cup.
She has been dismissed just twice this series and Shafali Verma is reaching scary heights in the T20 format with 236 runs already at a strike rate of 185.82 this series. The next best strike rate this series (minimum 50 runs) is Jemimah Rodrigues’ 140.54. Shafali has taken down every possible bowling combination Sri Lanka have thrown at her at the start and with three half-centuries in a row, a continuation of her boundary barrage could be another spectacular show from the India opener.
Rodrigues missed the fourth T20I while recovering from a mild fever and India brought in Harleen Deol for her first game of the series but she didn’t get a chance to bat. Already leading 4-0, India may also want to hand a debut to 17-year-old wicketkeeper-batter G Kamalini, the only player in the squad who hasn’t played this series.
India (possible): Smriti Mandhana, Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues/Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Richa Ghosh/G Kamalini (wk), Deepti Sharma, Amanjot Kaur, Renuka Singh/Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Gaud, Vaishnavi Sharma, Shree Charani
Sri Lanka have been making changes through the series too, and even though they have used up all their players from the squad of 15, don’t rule out any more changes on Tuesday.
Sri Lanka (possible): Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Hasini Perera, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Imesha Dulani, Nilakshika Silva, Kaushini Nuthyangana (wk), Kavisha Dilhari, Kawya Kavindi/Malki Madara, Inoka Ranaweera, Malsha Shehani, Nimasha Meepage
[Cricinfo]
Shafali, Renuka close in on top five in ICC T20I rankings
S. Achchudan appointed as Director General of the Sports Development Department.
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Tax relief for Dates received as donations or gifts for Ramadan
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