Sri Lankan champion thrower Rumesh Tharanga created history with yet another world-leading effort when he shattered his own national record at the Champions Track and Field event held at Diyagama Mahinda Rajapaksa Stadium on Saturday.

‎Tharanga produced a massive throw of 89.37 metres in his final attempt, a distance which, once ratified by World Athletics, is expected to stand as the fourth-longest throw ever recorded in Asia. The outstanding performance further cemented his status as one of the region’s leading javelin throwers.

‎Despite facing little competition from his rivals at the meet, Tharanga displayed the composure and determination of a true champion. Rising above the field, he delivered the record-breaking throw in dramatic fashion with his final effort of the competition.

‎Coming into the meet, Tharanga already held the world-leading mark of 83.07 metres for the season. Saturday’s performance elevated him to a new level, strengthening his reputation as a strong medal prospect for Sri Lanka on the global stage this year.

‎Tharanga first attracted widespread international attention when he set a Sri Lankan national record with a throw of 86.50 metres, a performance that earned him the gold medal at an international meet and secured direct qualification for the World Athletics Championships.

‎The former athlete of St. Peter’s College Colombo has continued to impress since then, producing consistent world-class performances while competing against some of the best javelin throwers in the world. Among his major achievements is reaching the final of the 2025 World Athletics Championships, becoming the first Sri Lankan male javelin thrower to reach the final stage of the event.

‎With his latest record-breaking performance, Tharanga has once again demonstrated that he is ready to shine and carry Sri Lanka’s hopes at the highest level of international athletics.

By Reemus Fernando

Sri Lanka’s trailblazing 1996 World Cup-winning side will roll back the years when they take on a World XI in Kuala Lumpur, marking three decades since their watershed triumph that changed the game’s field settings for good.

The exhibition match, hosted by the historic Royal Selangor Club, an institution that has been part of Asia’s sporting fabric since 1884, will be preceded by a gala dinner before the old warhorses lace up their boots once more against a Rest of the World XI.

It promises to be more than a nostalgic lap around the park.

“Some of the players took the initiative and I thought it was a splendid idea,” Arjuna Ranatunga, the captain who marshalled his troops like a seasoned general in 1996, told Telecom Asia Sport. “It helps us come together again and more importantly, inspire the next lot coming through.”

Beyond the boundary ropes, the legends will don the coach’s hat, conducting sessions aimed at passing on the baton to aspiring youngsters.

Former Malaysian cricketer Devindran Ramanathan, one of the chief architects behind the event, is keen that this is not just a walk down memory lane but a springboard for the future.

“This isn’t only about celebrating a World Cup win,” Ramanathan said. “It’s about showing young players what’s possible when you dare to dream.”

“When players of that calibre turn up, it shouldn’t end with autographs and photographs. It must open doors and broaden horizons,” he added.

In a heartening initiative, around 20 youngsters from Malaysia’s interior, players who have been making steady strides despite limited facilities, will be brought to the capital on May 15 and 16 to witness the action up close.

For many of them, it will be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rub shoulders with giants of the game, a chance to trade dusty nets for the bright lights and perhaps believe that they, too, can one day play on the big stage.

“The real impact is not the match or the dinner,” Ramanathan noted. “It is whether a young player walks away believing they can go further.”

Malaysia, steadily padding up as a regional cricket hub, has already hosted events like the Under-19 World Cup and continues to expand its footprint in the game. In a sporting landscape dominated by motor racing, racquet sports and football, visits from former world champions in cricket could well help the sport get a firmer grip.

All 14 members of Sri Lanka’s 1996 squad are expected to travel to Malaysia in the second week of May, even as life has taken many of them to different corners of the globe.

Their famous triumph over Australia in Lahore remains one of cricket’s most defining moments, a victory that didn’t just tilt the balance of a final, but shifted the axis of the modern game itself.

(telecomasia.net)

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