Sports
Akalanka tops list as four athletes reach qualifying standards
Asian Youth Athletics Championships- Selection Trial
by Reemus Fernando
Ambagamuwa MV hurdler Ayomal Akalanka continued the trend set by the former students of his school as he reached qualifying standards for the Asian Youth Athletics Championships at Diyagama on Tuesday.
The athlete trained by veteran coach Anura Bandara clocked an impressive 52.18 seconds to win the boys’ 400 metres hurdles. Reigning champion of the Under 18 400 m hurdles in all three major national events, namely, the Junior Nationals, Sir John Tarbat Senior Championships and the All Island Schools Games, Akalanka bettered the locally set qualifying standard by nearly two seconds to book the ticket to Uzbekistan where the fifth edition of the Asian Youth Championship will be held in April.
Akalanka is the latest hurdler from his school to earn qualifying standards to represent Sri Lanka at an international event. He follows in the footsteps of Yamani Dulanjali who won gold in the girls’ 400m hurdles at the inaugural edition of the Asian Youth Championships in Doha in 2015 and Dhanuka Dharshana, who represented the country at last year’s World Junior Championships.
Akalanka had little competition in winning yesterday as the second-placed Shashintha Silva of St. Sebastian’s College, Kandana clocked 55.98 seconds.
D.S.Senanayake College,Colombo athlete Lesandu Arthavidu who won a medal at the last edition of the Asian Youth Championships cleared the two metres mark to reach qualifying standards in the boys’ high jump. Nilupul Pehesara Thenuja of Vijitha Central, Dickwella also cleared the same height to emerge as yet another prospect.
In the boys’ pole vault, Maris Stella College,Negombo athlete Malindarathna Silva cleared 4.65 metres to match standards.
In the girls’ category, Nirmali Wickramasinghe of Wickramabahu National School Gampola came almost close to matching the qualifying standard in the girls’ 800 metres as she finished in a time of 2:15.80 seconds (qualifying standard 2:15.50secs).
She will be competing to match standards in the 1500 metres today.
Colombo Kaps defended 197 runs to win the 12th match of the Lanka Premier League by restricting Dambulla Sixers to 176/8 at the Dambulla International Cricket Stadium on Saturday [25] night.
SCORES:
Colombo Kaps 197/5 in 20 overs [Rubin Hermann 39, Sadeera Samarawickrema 16, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 12, Kamindu Mendis 88*, Ben McDermott 14, Janith Liyanage 17; Fazalhaq Farooki 1-41, Dushmantha Chameera 1-41, Ramesh Mendis 1-05, Gulabdin Naib 1-15]
Dambulla Sixers 176/8 in 20 overs [Pavan Rathnayake 50, Marques Ackerman 40, Gulabdin Naib 28, Maheesh Thhekshana 13; Shahnawaz Dahani 2-20, Wanuja Sahan 1-34, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 2-33, Malsha Tharupathi 1-26, Milan Rathnayake 1-26]
Kandy Royals’ bowlers led by Nuwan Thushara were able to defend their score of 165 to win the 11th match of the Lanka Premier League by defeating Galle Gallants by 11 runs at Dambulla on Saturday.
SCORES:
Kandy Royals 165/6 in 20 overs [Lahiru Udara 16, Dale Phillips 34, Wanidu Hasaranga 16, Moeen Ali 41, Angelo Mathews 28, Vijay Shankar 15; Pramod Madushan 2-41, Akif Javed 2-26, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 2-36]
Galle Gallants 154/8 in 20 overs [Sam Harper 14, Charith Asalanka 14, Chamika Karunarathne 52, Dasun Shanaka 57*; Nuwan Thushara 3-33, Asitha Fernando 2-33, Moeen Ali 1-11, Wanidu Hasaranga 1-26]
Innovative Production Group (IPG), the tournament rights holder of the Lanka Premier League (LPL), in consultation with Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), has terminated the franchise agreement with Sports Commune, which was granted franchise rights of the Jaffna Kings.
The termination follows the franchisee’s inability to fulfil its financial obligations under the terms of the franchise agreement. As a result, all rights relating to the Jaffna Kings franchise have reverted to IPG, which, together with Sri Lanka Cricket, has assumed full operational control of the team.
IPG confirms that the 6th edition of the LPL will proceed as scheduled and Jaffna Kings will continue to participate in the tournament under the same nomenclature, with no changes to the squad, tournament format, or match schedule.
To ensure the uninterrupted operation of the franchise, IPG and Sri Lanka Cricket have taken complete responsibility for all player, coaching staff, and support staff contracts. The organizers also confirm that all logistical arrangements for the team have been secured, ensuring the squad is intact for the tournament.
Furthermore, approximately 90% of all player and staff payments have already been completed, with the remaining payments to be settled in accordance with contractual commitments.
IPG and Sri Lanka Cricket remain committed to delivering a successful sixth edition of the Lanka Premier League while upholding the highest standards of professionalism, integrity and transparency for players, teams, commercial partners, and fans.
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