Sports

Record breaking Yupun eyes Olympic qualifying standards

Published

6 years ago

2020/09/10

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.

All News Advertisement

Latest News

Sri Lanka to face India in semi-finals after washout

Published

15 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Rain has been a constant for the past few days (Cricinfo)

Sri Lanka will face India in the semi-finals of Asian Games men’s tournament after their quarter-final clash against Nepal was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Nisshin, Japan. The game was called off prior to the toss, with rain having begun hours prior to the scheduled 9am local start and not looking like abating.

Sri Lanka’s progression was assured by virtue of their higher seeding in terms of the ICC T20I rankings – Sri Lanka, alongside India, Pakistan and Bangladesh are the four seeded teams in the tournament. On Monday, India had qualified over Afghanistan after another washout, again by virtue of their higher. Similarly, Pakistan’s qualification was assured following a rain abandonment in their quarter-final against Hong Kong.

In the 2022 Asian Games, Sri Lanka had been eliminated at the quarter fial stages by Afghanistan. Another washout in the semis against, India though, will see the latter qualify for the final.

A few hours later, the fourth quarter-final between Bangladesh and Malaysia was also washed out. Bangladesh will now face Pakistan in the first semi-final on October 1, followed by India vs Sri Lanka later on the same day

(Cricinfo)

Latest News

Bangladesh to take on Pakistan in semis after another washout

Published

15 hours ago

2026/09/29

Priyan

Litton Das' team is closer to a medal finish (Cricinfo)

The Bangladesh vs Malaysia abandonment on Tuesday completed a quartet of rained off matches in the Asian Games men’s tournament. The match was called off two hours before the toss, with the teams told not to even turn up at the venue.

Bangladesh, by virtue of higher seeding, go through to the semi-finals where they will now face Pakistan on October 1. Earlier in the morning, the Sri Lanka vs Nepal fixture was also called off due to rain, with Sri Lanka advancing into the semi-finals where they will meet India.

There is, however, some good news, as the weather forecast in Nisshin is better for the semi-final and the medal match day, on October 1 and 3, respectively.

In the last edition (2023), Bangladesh had lost to India in the semi-final but won the third-place playoff against Pakistan to take home the bronze medal. They had won the bronze in 2014 as well and Bangladesh’s best finish was winning the gold medal in 2010, when they beat Afghanistan in the final.

(Cricinfo)

Sports

Tharanga seals remarkable season with Asian Games gold

Published

20 hours ago

2026/09/29

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rumesh Tharanga reached Japan as the overwhelming favourite

by Reemus Fernando

‎

World javelin leader Rumesh Tharanga lived up to his billing to win Sri Lanka a highly anticipated gold medal, overcoming wet weather and a slow runway at the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, on Monday.

‎The overwhelming favourite after a string of victories at global level this year, Tharanga made an unlikely start, opening with 73.52m in the first round and trailing his South Asian rivals, including reigning Olympic champion Arshad Nadeem of Pakistan. At the halfway mark he surged ahead with a massive 88.33m, then sealed the contest with 88.55m.

‎”He rose like a true champion at the most crucial moment. It was an incredible performance in these wet conditions,” veteran coach Susantha Fernando, who watched from the stands, told The Island. “I was blessed to see a Sri Lankan win gold at back-to-back Asian Games.” Fernando’s own charge, Tharushi Karunaratne, won the 800m at the last edition. He was one of the team coaches at the venue yesterday.

‎The 23-year-old, trained by Tony Prasanna, arrived in Japan as world No. 1 and the season’s leading thrower. In June he became the first Sri Lankan to throw beyond 90m, launching a national-record 92.62m at the Rome Diamond League. In July he beat India’s Neeraj Chopra to take Commonwealth Games gold in Glasgow, and this month he won the inaugural World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. He also became the first Sri Lankan to win the Diamond League title. He was the only thrower in the field with two throws beyond 92m this season.

‎With such a reputation to carry, a Games record (89.15m) was widely expected, and Tharanga came close, but nearly every thrower struggled in the wet conditions.

‎With Chopra absent, India’s Y. Singh and R. Yadav took silver and bronze with 85.72m and 84.35m respectively. Nadeem finished just outside the podium with 80.29m. Former national record holder and Olympian Sumedha Ranasinghe was sixth with 78.08m.

‎

‎Akalanka impresses in hurdles

‎‎Meanwhile, hurdler Ayomal Akalanka produced one of Sri Lanka’s best performances among those who narrowly missed the podium, finishing fifth in the men’s 400m hurdles.

‎Running from lane two, the 20-year-old clocked 49.37 seconds against an elite continental field. The former Ambagamuwa Central Udubulathgama athlete stayed in contention throughout the final and finished ahead of Japan’s Kazuki Kurokawa, India’s Santhosh Kumar Tamilarasan and Kazakhstan’s Vyacheslav Zems.

‎Qatar’s Bassem Hemeida won gold in 47.82, with Japan’s Taiju Goto taking silver in a personal best of 47.93. Taiwan’s Chung-wei Lin claimed bronze in a personal best 48.74, and his compatriot Jian-rong Chen was fourth in 49.25.