Sports

Tharushi shines bright ahead of Asian Games

Published

3 years ago

2023/09/18

By Reemus Fernando

Asian Games hopeful Tharushi Karunaratne excelled producing outstanding performances at the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championships, which turned out to be her last competition ahead of the Asian Games starting on Saturday.

Skipping her pet event of 800 metres to abide by her coach Susantha Fernando’s training plan Tharushi competed only in the 400 metres and the 4×400 metres. The Asian Championship medallist lived up to her reputation in both creating records.

She clocked 52.62 seconds to win the Under 20 girls’ 400 metres with a new national junior record time. She erased Chandrika Subashini’s long standing meet record and became the first school athlete to clock sub 53 seconds.

She was awarded the trophy for the most outstanding athlete in the girls’ category. With her winning time in the 400 metres she overtook Menaka Wickramasinghe to secure the fourth place in the all-time fastest performers in the one lap race.

While Asian Games medallist Damayanthi Dharsha is at the top of the list with her national record time of 51.05 seconds, Subashini (52.36) and Asian Championship gold medallist Nadeesha Ramanayake are the only athletes to have run faster than this schoolgirl.

Such a performance will bode well for her medal ambitions at the Asian Games.

She was also involved in another record-breaking performance in the Under 20 girls’ 4×400 metres. She ran the anchor leg to slash a massive nine seconds off the meet record. She stopped the clock at 3:50.88 seconds.

Tharushi will be aiming for an Asian Games medal in the women’s 800 metres and will play key roles in both the 4×400 metres mixed relay and the women’s 4×400 metres.

Tharushi and her senior Sri Lanka counterpart Gayanthika Abeyratne are the fastest athletes in the Asian region in the two laps race this season. Tharushi established a new Asian Championship record (2:00.66 seconds) in winning the gold medal in Thailand in July. Meanwhile, Asian Junior Championship medallist Malith Yasiru won the best athlete title in the boys’ category at the Sir John Tarbat Senior Championships on Saturday.

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Related Topics:Asian Games Tharushi Karunaratne

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Arachchige, Rathnayake and Malinga pump Jaffna

Published

10 hours ago

2026/07/24

Priyan

A 36 ball 63 by Sahan Arachchige and three wickets each by Eshan Malinga [3-13] and Tharindu Rathnayake [3-19] helped Galle Gallants defeat Jaffna Kings by 60 runs in the 10th match of the Lanka Premier League 2026. Galle Gallants lead the points table with three wins from four outings.

Scores:
Galle Gallants 193/8 in 20 overs [Chris Lynn 46, Sahan Arachchige 63, Dasun Shanaka 12, Dinura Kalupahana 10, Mohammad Nawaz 27; Mohamed Shiraz 1-23, Dunith Wellalage 1-13, Shakib Al Hasan 1-27, Dilshan Madushanaka 2-35, Lizaad Williams 2-37]

Jaffna Kings 133 in 17.5 overs [Kamil Mishara 15, Ibrahim Zadran 11, David Weise 22, Dunith Wellalage 56; Dasun Shanaka 1-21, Tharindu Rathnayake 3-19, Akif Javed 1-22, Eshan Malinga 3-13, Vijayakanth Viyaskanth 1-32]

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Hermann, Liyanage and Mujeeb steer Colombo Kaps to a 23 run win

Published

10 hours ago

2026/07/24

Priyan

Janith Liyanage scored an unbeaten 52 [LPL]

Half centuries by Rubin Hermann and Janith Liyanage and a three wicket haul by Mujeeb Ur Rahman helped Colombo Kaps defeat Kandy Royals by 24 runs in the 9th match of the Lanka Premier League 2026 played at Dambulla on Thursday [23rd July]’

Scores:
Colombo Kaps 192/9 in 20 overs [Rubin Hermann 53, Sharujan Shanmuganathan 14, Janith Liyanage 52*, James Neesham 24, Binura Fernando 21; Vijay Shankar 1-0, Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-34, Nuwan Thushara 1-31, Moeen Ali 2-31, Dushan Hemantha 2-20]

Kandy Royals 169/8 in 20 overs [Kusal Perera 19, Dale Phillips 38, Vijay Shankar 30, Angelo Mathews 39*, Dushan Hemantha 11*; Shahnawaz Dahani 1-35, Wanuja Sahan 1-24, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 3-34, Malsha Tharupathi 1-29, James Neesham 1-07]

Sports

Sri Lanka edge Qatar in Davis Cup opener

Published

17 hours ago

2026/07/24

Thilina Walpola

Hosts Sri Lanka made a winning start to their Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group IV campaign, edging out Qatar 2-1 in a closely contested opening-day tie at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association courts in Colombo on Wednesday.

The visitors struck first when Mubarak Alharrasi defeated Sri Lanka’s Apna Perera 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in a hard-fought opening singles encounter, giving Qatar an early 1-0 lead.

Sri Lanka bounced back in the second singles as Thehan Wijemanne produced a spirited comeback to overcome Mossa Alharrasi 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. After dropping the opening set, Wijemanne showed great composure to win the next two sets and level the tie at 1-1.

The decisive doubles match proved to be a tense affair, with Apna Perera returning to partner Saha Kapilasena. The Sri Lankan duo held their nerve in two tie-breaks to defeat Jabar Al Mutawan and Mossa Alharrasi 7-6, 7-6, sealing the tie 2-1 for the hosts.

Sri Lanka’s ability to recover from the opening singles defeat highlighted the team’s resilience as Wijemanne’s comeback victory and the doubles pair’s clutch performance ensured a successful start to their campaign. The hosts will now look to build on the opening-day victory as they continue their quest for promotion in the Asia/Oceania Group IV competition.