Sports
Final qualifying opportunities for SL athletes as deadline nears for Olympic qualification
by Reemus Fernando
The 102nd National Athletics Championship starting on June 25 and the National Stage II competition on June 30 will provide final qualifying opportunities for the top-notch athletes vying to book Paris Olympic berths.
With no Sri Lankan athlete achieving direct qualifying standards, the top two local competitions will provide the top athletes a stage to improve their positions in the ‘Road to Paris 24’ rankings.
The 800 metres specialist Tharushi Karunaratne (47) and javelin thrower Dilhani Lekamge (30) are the only Sri Lankan athletes who are within the required range in the Olympic qualifying rankings currently but they need to produce performances almost close to their personal best performances at the last two local meets to have hopes of qualifying for the Olympics
Karunaratne’s record breaking (Asian Continental record in the 600m) feat in Spain on Tuesday and Lekamge’s medal winning achievement at the Asian Throwing Championship have stood in good stead to maintain the current ranking positions but they do not guarantee berths in the Olympics as their counterparts from other countries too will be aiming to produce their best before the deadline closes on June 30.
The stakes will be high in the men’s 400 metres at the National Championships as sprinters Aruna Dharshana and Kalinga Kumarage will battle it out to earn the maximum points available to improve their current positions in the ‘Road to Paris 24’ Olympic rankings.
Dharshana is currently ranked 53rd in the men’s 400 metres in the ‘Road to Paris 24’ rankings and Kumarage is ranked 54th. The Asian Games medallists have to be within the top 45 in the ranking to punch their tickets to Paris.
Rumesh Tharanga the new national record holder in the men’s javelin missed the direct Olympic qualifying standard by just five centimeters when he threw the javelin to a distance of 85.45 metres to win gold at the Asian Throwing Championship. An athlete needs five top performances during the Olympic qualifying period to enter the Olympic rankings. Tharanga had only the Asian event to shine. He has to clear a distance of 85.50 metres in the last two competitions if he is to qualify.
Virat Kohli has communicated his desire to retire from Test cricket to the BCCI ahead of the big five-match series in England starting June 20, for which he is expected to be a part of the squad. ESPNcricinfo understands that Kohli has been having these conversations with officials of the BCCI for the past month or so.
If Kohli doesn’t change his mind, he will bring the curtain down on a glorious career that has spanned 14 years and included 123 Tests – 68 of them as captain – in which he has 9230 runs at an average of 46.85.
But it hasn’t been a particularly fruitful time in the format for Kohli of late. When he scored 100 not out in the Perth Test in November 2024, it was his first century in Tests since July 2023 (against West Indies in Port of Spain), and his average, 55.10 at its peak after he scored his career best of 254 not out vs South Africa in Pune in 2019, has been 32.56 over the last 24 months.
(Cricinfo)
The remainder of PSL 2025 has been postponed indefinitely. The PCB cited the “worsening of the situation” at the Pakistan-India border as the reason, saying the board had acted on advice from the Pakistan prime minister Shahbaz Sharif.
The board said it had “sincere regard for the mental well-being of participating players and the sentiments of our foreign players, and we respect the concerns of their families who want to see them back home” and that was considered when making the decision.
The development came less than 24 hours after the PCB had announced that the remaining eight games of the PSL would be played in the UAE, without specifying the dates or the venues, with the expectation that it would take about a week to resume.
Overseas players as well as Pakistani players who currently hold visas to the UAE were scheduled to leave on Friday night, with the remaining visas being applied for over the weekend. That, however, has changed, and the teams have begun disbanding with immediate effect, with travel back home being arranged for foreign players.
There is no word yet on when, or if, the remaining games will be played. The postponement came hours after the IPL was temporarily suspended owing to the tensions between the two countries.
The PSL held an emergency meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, and involved the PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi meeting with foreign players, who overwhelmingly expressed a desire to relocate the league to the UAE.
“The PCB recognises the efforts and support of its partners, franchises, participating players, broadcasters, sponsors, and organisers in having ensured the smooth conduct of the tournament thus far, however; cricket while being a unifying force and a source of joy, must take a respectful pause…” the PCB statement said.
[Cricinfo]
World Relays 2025
A ‘full strength Sri Lanka 4×400 metres mixed relay team’ will compete against formidable European powerhouses when they take part in the first heat of the relay on day one of the World Relays in Guangzhou, China on Saturday.
“We will field our best four for the heats,” said W.M.G. Thushara, the mamager cum coach of the Sri Lanka team in an interview with The Island after reaching Guangzhou yesterday.
There is one junior athlete in the six member team but Sri Lankan authorities have decided to field the full strength team in the heats.
“It will be Nadeesha Ramanayake, Nishendra Fernando, Kalinga Kumarage and Aruna Dharshana as we are planning to produce our best performace,” Thushara said.
Ramanayake, Kumarage and Dharshana were part of the team that established a new national record in the mixed relay at the Asian Athletics Championship in 2023. Only missing member from that team is Tharushi Karunaratne.
Sri Lanka team will compete in the first heat where Switzerland, France, Belgium, Germany and hosts China are the others. The first two from the heats will directly qualify for the World Relays and also the World Championships to be held in Tokyo.
Sri Lanka fielded only the mixed relay team for the World Relays despite the men’s 4×400 team qualifying for the event. The World Relays starting today is the main qualifying competition for relay events at the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25.
by Reemus Fernando
Virat Kohli tells BCCI that he wants to retire from Test cricket
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