Sports
Record breaking Yupun eyes Olympic qualifying standards
by Reemus Fernando
Italy based sprinter Yupun Abeykoon shattered the Sri Lanka National record and the South Asian men’s 100 metres record, offering glimpse of hope to end more than two decades of wait for a Sri Lankan champion to feature in an Olympics in the glamorous sprint event.
Former Pannala National School and St. Joseph Vaz College athlete clocked 10.16 seconds to break Himasha Eshan’s national record at a championship in Germany where he beat a host of German sprinters to win the 100 metres dash on Tuesday.
Congratulatory massages were a galore in the social media from midnight Tuesday as the track and field fraternity took stock on the capabilities of a 4×100 metres relay team at regional international level and Abeykoon’s own chances of qualifying for the quadrennial event.
In an interview with The Island Abeykoon thanked every one who had helped him reach where he is today and stressed that earning Olympic qualifying standards was his goal.
He said that he missed two months of training due to Covid-19 pandemic and commenced training in July. His two coaches Maurizio Raparelli and Claudio Licciardello had prepared plans to asses his strengths this season and he was reaching the peak.
He had been in Italy for five years now and had dedicated his time fully for training while his expenses had been bone by his parents.
“I would like to thank those who helped me on my way to achieving the national record. My coaches, my parents, Gen. Palitha Fernando, the president of Sri Lanka Athletics who had been in constant contact,” said Abeykoon.
“I was congratulated by the new Sports Minister in the morning. It is the first time that I received any communication from the Ministry. I hope country’s athletes will get the necessary support.”
“From now on I will target achieving Olympic qualifying standards,” said Abeykoon.
The 25-year-old had produced a notable feat days ago before smashing the national record established by Eshan last year.
With Abeykoon now inching closer to the tough Olympic qualifying mark, pressure will be on home based athletes like Eshan, Suranjaya and Yodasinghe to earn the rare berth.
“This pressure will help Sri Lanka improve standards in the 100 metres and we will be able to field formidable relay teams for international events,” Sri Lanka Athletics statistician Saman Kumara told The Island.
Incidentally, Abeykoon who was placed third behind Himasha Eshan and Vinoj Suranjaya at the National Championships in 2019 produced impressive performances ahead of the last South Asian Games. Sri Lanka Athletics had taken a policy decision to feature only the winners of the National Championships for individual events of the regional Games thus he could not featuring in the 100 metres. He was selected only as a member of the relay team for the South Asian Games where he anchored the team to gold.
A Sri Lankan 100 metres sprinter has not competed at an Olympics since the former champions, Asian Games medallist Sriyantha Dissanayake in Barcelona 1992 and Chinthaka de Zoysa in 1996 Atlanta Olympics represented the country. There had been a few national sprinters, who had given much hope early in their careers but the ever improving standards during the Bolt-dominated era made the country wait for more than quarter of a century. With the World Athletics raising the qualifying standards for the 100 metres dash to tough 10.05 seconds for the postponed Tokyo event, not many analysts could bet on a Sri Lankan sprinter for the coveted berth. But now with Abeykoon showing signs of vast improvement under a foreign coach, local authorities are left to keep their fingers crossed at the prospect of winning a 100 metres spot for Olympics.
Abeykoon who left for Italy after his schooling was coached by Chaminda Sampath Weerasinghe when he was at Pannala National School and St. Joseph Vaz College.
Australia captain Alyssa Healy will retire from all forms of cricket following the upcoming series against India.
The 35-year-old wicket-keeper has more than 7,000 runs and 275 dismissals to her name in all formats of the game and led Australia to a historic 16-0 whitewash of England 8n the Ashes in 2025.
She has won the World Cup twice, with the highest individual score of 170 in a World Cup final coming against England in 2022, and the T20 World Cup on six occasions.
Healy said: “I’m still passionate about playing for Australia, but I’ve somewhat lost that competitive edge that’s kept me driven since the start, so the time feels right to call it a day.
“I’ll genuinely miss my team-mates, singing the team song and walking out to open the batting for Australia. Representing my country has been an incredible honour and I’m grateful for one last series in the green and gold.”
Healy is married to Australia fast bowler Mitchell Starc and is the niece of another Australian great in wicket keeper Ian Healy. She also already has a successful broadcasting career as a pundit and commentator.
Todd Greenberg, Cricket Australia CEO said: “Alyssa is one of the all-time greats of the game and has made an immeasurable contribution both on and off the field over her 15-year career.
“We look forward to celebrating her achievements throughout the series against India.”
Australia host India in a Test match, three one-day internationals and three T20 matches in February and March
(BBC Sports)
They began with a scrappy last-ball win to kick off WPL 2026, but there was nothing scrappy about Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) second win, over UP Warriorz, on Monday night.
Grace Harris tore into her former franchise with a breathtaking assault, sending the ball to all parts of the DY Patil Stadium. By the time she was out for a 40-ball 85, RCB needed just seven runs to win with 50 deliveries remaining.
In an effort similar to her opening-night honours, Lauren Bell swung the new ball and troubled Warriorz’s openers in her first two overs. In trying to break the stranglehold, Harleen Deol attempted to jailbreak in her third, but could only spoon a catch to Smriti Mandhana at mid-off for a 14-ball 11. And just like that, UP Warriorz had seen two different opening pairs come and go without giving them the start they were after.
She was denied a wicket in her first over – the sixth of the innings – when Meg Lanning’s swipe landed agonisingly short of Arundhati Reddy at backward square leg, but Shreyanka Patil had Lanning hack uncharacteristically to Radha Yadav at deep midwicket off her next.
In the same over, she also had a second wicket when Phoebe Litchfield flat-batted a short ball straight to Mandhana at mid-on, shortly after having reverse-swept her for six
Coming off a four-for and an unbeaten half-century against Mumbai Indians, de Klerk began with two wickets off her first two deliveries. Kiran Navgire fell first when she heaved a length ball to cow corner, while Shweta Sehrawat was brilliantly caught at backward point by Reddy. Warriorz were in all sorts of trouble at 50 for 5.
This was the perfect fire-and-ice combination on paper. But on Monday, they were both mellower and batted risk-free for much of their unbeaten 93-run partnership. Deandra Dottin signalled a change of intent when she went after Patil in her third over – the 15th – by muscling a length ball for six over long-on. That galvanised both batters to break free; Deepti Sharma gave the perfect finish by going after Patil in a 15-run final over that helped them finish with 143.
With two rookies in their top four, RCB could’ve chosen to play safe by having Gautami Naik partner Mandhana. But they took the aggressive route, and Harris justified that decision by muscling a 22-ball half-century as RCB wiped out 78 in the powerplay alone.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has opened an investigation and warned of possible disciplinary action for “unacceptable behaviour of players and officials” as they clashed on the pitch on Saturday at the end of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) quarterfinal between Algeria and Nigeria.
“CAF has referred the matters to the disciplinary board for investigation and has called for appropriate action to be taken if the identified persons were to be found guilty of any wrongdoing,” said African football’s governing body in a statement on Monday.
Tensions spilled over on the pitch at the end of the January 10 game in Marrakesh, Morocco, which Nigeria won 2-0 thanks to second-half goals by Victor Osimhen and Akor Adams.
Referee Issa Sy was shielded from irate Algeria team staff and was escorted off the field. Video clips showed Sy was still being pursued in the mixed zone for media and broadcasters as he made his way to his cabin.
Any disciplinary action could have an impact on the Super Eagles as they prepare for their semifinal showdown on Wednesday against Morocco.
“CAF strongly condemns any inappropriate behaviour which occurs during matches, especially those targeting the refereeing team or match organisers,” CAF said.
Video showed accredited media fighting in the mixed zone as they waited for players to pass through for interviews after the match.
Algeria’s federation also confirmed it had filed a complaint with CAF over Sy’s performance
“The Algerian Football Federation cannot ignore the refereeing performance observed during the last match, which raised numerous questions and caused considerable confusion,” it said in a statement.
“Certain decisions have damaged the credibility of African refereeing and do nothing to enhance the value of continental football on the international stage.”
CAF said it was also investigating incidents in Friday’s last-eight tie between the hosts and Cameroon.
Morocco won that game 2-0 in Rabat, Morocco, and the Indomitable Lions were notably unhappy at the officiating in particular the refusal to award them a penalty for a challenge on Manchester United’s Bryan Mbeumo in the second half.
(BBC Sports)
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