Sports
Tharanga shatters national record to earn direct qualifying standards for World Championship
Rumesh Tharanga shattered the national record in the men’s javelin throw and earned direct qualifying standards for the World Athletics Championship in his very first throw at the World Athletics Bronze lable meet in Bhubaneswar India on Sunday.
When this edition went to press he had made only one attempt. The former St. Peter’s College athlete cleared 86.50 metres to shatter the record held by Sumeda Ranasinghe(85.78m), who too was scheduled to compete in the same event.
Tharanga became the first Sri Lankan to clear the 86 metres mark in history.
In the other events, Dilhani Lekamge and sprinter Chamod Yodasinghe won silver medals.
Yodasinghe clocked 10.43 seconds to finish second behind Malaysia’s Muhammad Azeem (10.35) to claim silver in the men’s 100 metres which saw multiple disqualifications due to foul starts.
In the women’s javelin throw, Lekamge cleared a distance of 54.96 metres to win silver behind India’s Annu Rani (62.01 m).
Elsewhere, Italy based sprinter Yupun Abeykoon clocked his seasonal best, a blistering 10.17 seconds to win the heat of the men’s 100 metres at the Sestriere International Meeting in Italy.
The Sri Lanka National record holder and the only man to run sub 10 seconds in the 100 metres in the entire South Asia region, Abeykoon beat 2023 European Indoor Champion in 60 metres to second place to win the heat.
He was expected to compete in the final later on the day where a faster performance was expected.
The Commonwealth Games medallist, fighting for a place in the Sri Lanka team for the World Championship in Tokyo next month is in the 145th position in the World Athletics ‘Road to Tokyo 25’ rankings and needs to clock 10.00 seconds if he is to earn direct qualifying standards for the Tokyo event.
The 100 metres will see 48 athletes being selected for the Tokyo World Championships based on performance and rankings.
- Chamod Yodasinghe
- Dilhani Lekamge
by Reemus Fernando ✍️
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President and Exco of Sri Lanka Cricket step down
Sri Lanka Cricket has announced today (29) that the President of Sri Lanka Cricket and members of the Executive Committee have tendered their resignations.
The decision has been formaly communicated to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports.

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Ferreira, Shubham, Rajasthan Royals openers hand Punjab Kings their first defeat
Shubham Dubey underlined the importance of an Impact Player, Donovan Ferreira proved why Rajasthan Royals were keen to have him traded in, while Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Sooriyavanshi continued their stellar run as RR handed Punjab kings their first defeat of IPL 2026. In another run-fest in New Chandigarh, where 222 played 228, Ferreira and Dubey added 77 runs off 32 balls for the fifth wicket to turn what looked like a tricky chase at one point into a cakewalk and secured victory with four balls to spare.
Yuzvendra Chahal picked up 3 for 36, while Marcus Stoinis bludgeoned an unbeaten 62 off 22 balls but their returns weren’t enough as RR moved to third place on the points table.
Priyansh Arya was coming into the game with a powerplay strike rate of 260.27. Within his first five balls, he showed why he is one of the most fearless batters going around. He started with a spliced pull off Nandre Burger, before flat-batting him through midwicket and then following up with two of the most audacious strokes. Burger bowled a back-of-a-length ball outside off stump and Arya stood tall and played a nonchalant on-the-up aerial back-foot punch over covers for a clean six. The next ball was carved over backward point, before some luck got him another four. RR had raced to 29 for 0 after two.
At the other end was Jofra Archer. He started the third over with a hard length outswinger, which Arya edged to the vacant slip area. Archer nearly yelled at his captain for not having a slip, but soon got his reward as Arya sliced a 150kph thunderbolt for mid-on. Prabhsimran Singh took on Burger but wasn’t his fluent self. Despite that, PBKS raced to 65 in the powerplay.
Cooper Connolly was off quickly, scoring 30 off 14 balls but he misread a Yash Raj Punja googly and shanked him straight up. Prabhsimran, meanwhile, reached his fifty off 35 balls, but the RR bowlers controlled the middle overs, majorly through their two spinners, Punja and Ravindra Jadeja. Through overs seven to 16, PBKS scored 95 runs, while losing Connolly and Prabhsimran.
Coming into this game, Stoinis had faced 26 balls this IPL. But he showed off once he got his chance. He smashed Archer for two sixes in the 19th over, but reserved his best for the last. Fast bowler Brijesh Sharma had gone for just 18 runs off his first three overs, his slower balls were gripping and hard to hit. But Stoinis smashed the bowler for 24 to power PBKS past 220 as they scored 62 in the last four overs.
Sooryavanshi was quick off the blocks (again), smashing 43 off just 16 balls. After jamming two yorkers, he went 6, 4, 4 against Arshdeep Singh to close the opening over in style. Lockie Ferguson, playing his first match of the season, took time to find his rhythm. Sooryavanshi wasn’t giving him the time. He got a thick outside edge over slip before whipping a 145.1kph scorcher over deep midwicket and then going straight down the ground for six more. RR crossed 50 in just 19 balls but Arshdeep’s around-the-wicket worked as Sooryavanshi sliced him straight up and Shreyas Iyer ran back from mid-off to take a comfortable catch.
Yashasvi Jaiswal was all this while the silent spectator. As soon as Sooryavanshi departed, he went on the offensive against Arshdeep as RR raced to 66 for 1 after four overs. Harpreet Brar, the Impact Player, bowled a two-run fifth over, but Ferguson was taken for runs again with RR racing to 84 for 1 after six.
With the early punches in, PBKS fought back with the help of their spinners. Brar’s four overs cost just 25 runs, which included just one four and one six. Chahal removed Dhruv Jurel with a juicy full toss that was mistimed only as far as wide long-on. Jaiswal reached his fifty off 26 balls but soon sliced Chahal straight to long-off. Riyan Parag also started well but also holed out off Chahal for 29 off 16.
The required rate was exactly 12 when Parag holed out, with RR needing 72 off 36. But the PBKS spinners were done after conceding just 61 off 48 balls, and Dubey and Ferreira cashed in. After Arshdeep’s opening two overs went for 37, his final two went for 31. Dubey crashed Jansen for a four and six in the 16th, Ferguson was smoked for 16 in the 19th and the game had turned in five overs. Ferreira hit the winning runs with a six over long-on to bring up his second IPL fifty and help RR secure two important points. The PBKS fast bowlers leaked 166 off 68 balls, an issue that has been plaguing them for a while.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 228 for 4 in 19.2 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 51, Vaibhav Sooriyawanshi 43, Dhruv Jurel 16, Riyan Parag 29, Donovan Ferreira 52*, Shubham Dubey 31*; Arshdeep Singh 1-68, Yuzvendra Chahal 3-36) beat Punjab Kings 222 for 4 in 20 overs (Prabhsimran Singh 59, Priyansh Arya 29, Cooper Conolly 30, Shreyas Iyer 30, Marcus Stoinis 62*; Jofra Archer 1-40, Mandre Burger 1-59, Yash Raj Punja 2-41) by six wickets
[Cricinfo]
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Dulani and Samarawickrama set up Sri Lanka’s victory in T20I series opener
Half-centuries from Harshitha Samarawickrama and Imesha Dulani propelled Sri Lanka to a 25-run win in the first T20I against Bangladesh. The home side’s batting woes continued as they failed to chase down 162 against an efficient bowling effort by the visitors in Sylhet.
Malki Madara, Mithali Ayodhya and captain Chamari Athapaththu picked up two wickets each as Sri Lanka restricted Bangladesh to 136 for 7 in the chase. Athapaththu was outstanding with her accuracy, conceding just 19 runs in her four overs for the two wickets. Bangladesh had been put in early trouble when they slipped to 44 for 4 in the sixth over, despite starting off rapidly with 39 for no loss in the first 3.3 overs.
Shorna Akter then struck 60 off 45 balls, with six boundaries including two sixes, but her knock was for a losing cause. There was no help from batters at the other end. Shorna stuck around even as Bangladesh kept losing wickets and was the last batter dismissed off the final ball of the innings.
Earlier, Sri Lanka were powered by Athapaththu, who cracked five boundaries and a six in her 32. After her dismissal in the tenth over, Dulani and Samarawickrama added 80 runs for the third wicket. Samarawickrama struck five fours and two sixes in her 61 off 35 balls, while Dulani slammed seven fours in her 55 off 40 balls.
Their approach derailed Bangladesh’s bowlers, with only offspinner Sultana Khatun putting in an impressive bowling display: she took 2 for 29. The remaining two T20Is in the series will also be held in Sylhet.
Brief scores:
Sri Lanka Women 161 for 4 in 20 overs (Chamari Athapaththu 32, Imesha Dulani 55, Harshitha Samarawickrama 61; Marufa Akter 1-37, Sultana Khatun 2-29, Nahida Akter 1-26) beat Bangladesh Women 136 for 7 in 20 overs (Dilara Akter 23, Juairiya Ferdous 16, Shobhana Mostary 16, Shorna Akter 60; Malki Madara 2-31, Mithali Ayodhya 2-34, Chamari Athapaththu 2-19) by 25 runs
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