National thrower Dilhani Lekamge produced her season’s best performance to emerge victorious in the women’s javelin event on day two of the Selection Trial held at Diyagama on Friday.

‎Fresh from winning the silver medal at the recently concluded Asian Throwing Championships in Mokpo, Lekamge delivered an impressive throw of 58.57 metres to comfortably secure first place. Her nearest challenger, D.H. Maduwanthi, could only manage a distance of 51.32 metres.

‎Meanwhile, reigning national champion Madushani Herath continued to stamp her authority in the horizontal jumps with another notable performance, clearing 6.18 metres. Competing in the Under-23 age category, Herath further strengthened her position as the country’s leading long jumper.

‎In the open women’s long jump event, which featured several junior athletes, G.S. Ranaweera emerged victorious with a leap of 5.83 metres.

‎The women’s 400 metres final saw experienced sprinter Nadeesha Ramanayake being pipped to second place by G.A. Sathsarani, who clocked an impressive winning time of 53.71 seconds.

‎In the men’s events, Y.W. Kumara claimed the triple jump title with a leap of 16.28 metres, while Janindu Lakvijaya won the 110 metres hurdles in a time of 14.25 seconds, adding further excitement to an eventful second day of competition at Diyagama. (RF)

The inaugural game of the Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played between the Jaffna and Galle teams, who emerged as the Champions and Runners-up respectively in the 2024 season.

The opening game is scheduled to be played on 17th July at the SSC Grounds, commencing at 7.30 p.m.

Prior to the start of the tournament opener, a spectacular opening ceremony will be held at the SSC Grounds in Colombo.

The Lanka Premier League 2026 will be played from 17th July to 8th August across four venues: SSC, Colombo; RDICS, Dambulla; PICS, Pallekele; and RPICS, Colombo.

The tournament is conducted by Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the owner of the LPL, in partnership with The IPG Group, the event rights holder.