Sports

Waiting for the next Olympic hurdler

Published

5 years ago

2021/07/16

Sahan Weerasooriya

Tokyo Olympics – 7 days to go

By Reemus Fernando

Continued from yesterday

Hurdles as obstacles

A maximum of four athletes advance from each Zonal to the Provincial Competition where they experience their first proper 400 metres hurdles race. An athlete qualifying from the Provincial level will next compete in the All Island Schools Games Athletics Championship. The Sir John Tarbet Athletics Championship, the Sri Lanka Athletics’ Junior National Championship and District meets are the other meets where a schools hurdler could compete on proper hurdles. However, a vast majority of schoolchildren do not witness hurdles races at school level due to the unavailability of hurdles.

What about sports schools? Sadly many Sports Schools which have 400 metres tracks do not have enough hurdles to conduct proper 400 metres hurdles races. Ibbagamuwa Central, one of the Sports Schools from where the country’s most decorated female hurdler in the 100 metres hurdles hailed from, does not conduct 400 metres hurdles races. Even for 100 metres hurdles, they opt for just two lanes.

“Hurdles are a real headache for education officials who conduct athletics events at Divisional and Zonal level. If you are really interested in conducting a hurdles race you can certainly do that. It is not a big deal to collect 80 hurdles from where they are available. It is a matter of managing logistics. Maybe it is the lack of funds and manpower to complete the meet in two or three days that discourage officials from conducting it properly,” says a coach.

“There used to be a time when you could see hurdles set up at St. John Bosco ground, Hanwella all day around. That was the time when Rev. Fathers trained athletes. During that time Hanwella had the best hurdlers in the country. Children who pass by the hurdles would make attempts to clear the hurdlers. Those sights are rare nowadays,” says Saman Kumara, Sri Lanka Athletics statistician.

Setting up hurdles and removing them after training is a time consuming endeavour. Sports Instructors at schools that promote more than one sport find it difficult to leave hurdles at the ground for the next training session when the ground is also used for other sports.

However, dedicated coaches and their athletes have often overcome the unavailability of facilities. When St. Joseph’s Balika, Kegalle was producing the fastest female sprinters at school level nearly a decade ago A.D. Nandawathie’s trainees would carry hurdles from the school to the ground in Kegalle on foot. After the training session in the morning, they would return to school on foot carrying the hurdles. One of Nanda’s trainees, Amali Harshani went on to win at the national level. That was in the 100 metres hurdles. She had a wind-aided personal best of 14.08 seconds in 2012.

To be continued……..

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Latest News

Jacks out with illness as Sri Lanka bat against England

Published

3 hours ago

2026/01/22

Priyan

Charith Asalanka and Harry Brook with the series trophy

Sri Lanka won the toss and chose to bat first in the opening ODI in Colombo, a venue that has historically been difficult for chasing teams. England captain Harry Brook said his team would have batted first as well.

England made one change to the XI they had named on the eve of the match, with allrounder Will Jacks having taken ill overnight. Jacks, an offspin-bowling allrounder, has been replaced in the XI by legspinning allrounder Rehan Ahmed.

Sri Lanka, meanwhile, have opted for a young attack, perhaps with a view to resting the more experienced bowlers for the T20Is coming up. There is no Wanindu Hasaranga or Maheesh Theekshana in the XI. Left-arm spinner Dunith Wellalage and legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay will lead the spin attack instead, with the likes of Dhananjaya de Silva and Charith Asalanka also able to bowl.

Asitha Fernando and Pramod Madushan are the frontline seamers.

Although conditions were warm and fair at the toss, there is a chance showers could roll through later.

England: Zak Crawley, Ben Duckett, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook (capt.), Jos Buttler (wk), Sam Curran, Rehan Ahmed, Jamie Overton, Liam Dawson, Adil Rashid

Sri Lanka: Pathum Nissanka, Kamil Mishara, Kusal Mendis (wk), Dhananjaya de Silva, Charith Asalanka, Janith Liyanage, Pavan Ratnayake, Dunith Wellalage, Pramod Madushan, Jeffrey Vandersay, Asitha Fernando

[Cricinfo]

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ICC T20 World Cup Trophy tour in Sri Lanka launched under President’s patronage

Published

9 hours ago

2026/01/22

Priyan

The official tour showcasing the ICC T20 World Cup trophy, which will be jointly hosted by India and Sri Lanka in 2026, was formally inaugurated on Wednesday (21) at the Presidential Secretariat under the patronage of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

The trophy will be displayed in several major cities across the island from Wednesday 21st until Saturday 24th, over a period of four days. Cricket fans will have the opportunity to see the golden trophy up close during the Sri Lanka vs England One-Day International match at the R. Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo.

Subsequently, plans are in place to take the trophy to the cities of Kandy, Dambulla and Jaffna, providing cricket enthusiasts in those regions as well with the opportunity to take commemorative photographs with the World Cup trophy and view it. The primary aim of this tour is to generate excitement and build spectator interest in the lead-up to hosting a World Cup tournament in the country.

The ICC Men’s T20 World Cup is scheduled to be held from 7th February to 8th March 2026 co-hosted by Sri Lanka and India. This World Cup is the largest tournament Sri Lanka will host since the T20 World Cup held in 2012.

The tournament schedule was revealed on 25th November 2025 in India, where the International Cricket Council (ICC) selected the R. Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo, the Pallekele International Stadium and the Colombo SSC Ground as the venues for matches in Sri Lanka.

Accordingly, 8 matches are scheduled at the R. Premadasa International Stadium, 5 matches at the Colombo SSC Ground and 7 matches at the Pallekele International Stadium.

Twenty countries are set to participate in this tournament. Twenty matches of the tournament are scheduled to be held in Sri Lanka, with all matches involving the Pakistan team to be played in Sri Lanka. Furthermore, a special feature is that if the Pakistan team qualifies for the semi-finals and the final, Sri Lanka will also host those two matches.

In that event, the final will be held at the R. Premadasa International Stadium in Colombo, increasing the number of matches scheduled for Sri Lanka to 22.

Apart from the host nations Sri Lanka and India, Test-playing nations England, South Africa, New Zealand, Pakistan, West Indies, Bangladesh, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan will be represented in this tournament. Additionally, the United States of America, Canada, Italy, the Netherlands, Namibia, Nepal, Oman and the United Arab Emirates are the other contributing countries.

The T20 World Cup to be held in Sri Lanka at the beginning of 2026 can be considered an excellent opportunity to deliver effective value to the country’s economy, tourism industry, sports development, international promotion and society.

In particular, the arrival of teams, media groups and thousands of spectators, including foreign tourists, will generate significant foreign exchange earnings for the country. It is also expected to create short and long-term employment opportunities in various sectors including hotel and food & beverage businesses, transport services and technical and operational services.

By Sri Lanka hosting this tournament, long-term benefits such as increased opportunities for new investments as Sri Lanka is recognised worldwide as a tourist destination, the identification of Sri Lanka as a year-round sports tourism hub and the strengthening of Sri Lanka’s international profile leading to an enhancement of the country’s value, will be attained.

Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Sunil Gamage, Deputy Minister of Sports, Sugath Tilakaratne, Director General of Sports, S. Achchudan, Sri Lanka Cricket President, Shammi Silva along with the Executive Committee and a group including Sri Lanka’s T20 World Cup team captain Dasun Shanaka and Head Coach, Sanath Jayasuriya were also present at the occasion.

Latest News

Rasooli, Atal and Mujeeb seal Afghanistan series win

Published

9 hours ago

2026/01/22

Priyan

Mujeeb Ur Rahman's 4 for 21 included his maiden T20I hat-trick [ACB]

A third successive T20I half-century from Darwish Rasooli, an anchoring fifty from Sediqullah Atal and a maiden T20I hat-trick from Mujeeb Ur Rahman helped Afghanistan take an unassailable 2-0 lead over West Indies in the three match series.

Mujeeb grabbed four wickets in five deliveries spread across two different overs – and spells – to wreck West Indies’ pursuit of 190, and their downfall was swift thereafter. They were eventually bowled out for 150.

Before Mujeeb’s 4 for 21, Rasooli and Atal enjoyed a 115-run third-wicket stand to hold Afghanistan’s batting innings together. A late cameo from Azmatullah Omarzai on a turning surface made the total even more daunting.

The win made it a hat-trick of T20I series wins for Afghanistan. The two teams meet again on Thursday for what will be Afghanistan’s final T20I before the T20 World Cup. West Indies will seek a consolation win before their tour of South Africa.

West Indies’ chase started poorly. They lost newly promoted opener Alick Athanaze to a direct hit in the third over, and they could score only 29 in the powerplay, squeezed by Fazalhaq Farooqi’s opening spell.

Mujeeb, who bowled two overs in the powerplay, then returned in the eighth and went around the wicket to skid one straight through and hit No. 3 Evin Lewis’ pad before he could bring out a shot.

When right-hander Johnson Charles walked in next, Mujeeb came over the stumps and got a delivery to drift in beautifully from outside off and through the gate to peg back off stump as the batter drove away from his body. West Indies were 38 for 3.

But they were not going down without a fight, and Shimron Hetmyer’s assault on Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad kept West Indies in the game. Hetmyer pumped six sixes in a 17-ball 46. Farooqi, however, dismissed him in the 14th over, and Rashid brought Mujeeb back for his third, with West Indies needing 68 runs in five overs.

Mujeeb kept his length back, and with West Indies desperate for big shots, Brandon King (50) came down the track and miscued the hat-trick ball down to long on. Mujeeb wheeled away in celebration, having become the third Afghanistan bowler to achieve the feat after Rashid and Karim Janat. Two balls later, T20I newbie Quentin Sampson failed to put bat on a googly, and Mujeeb had his fourth.

The lower order offered little resistance, as West Indies lost their last five wickets for 27 runs.

On Monday, Rasooli had smashed 84 in a 162-run stand with Ibrahim Zadran to set up Afghanistan’s series-opening win, and on Wednesday he combined just as effectively with Atal.

As in the first game, Afghanistan lost both openers inside the powerplay, and Rasooli ensured there were no stutters by taking the aggressive route with his square cuts, drives through the off side and flat-batted shots down the ground.

Helped by let-offs from the West Indies fielders, Rasooli reached his fifty in 22 balls – his third in a row for Afghanistan – while Atal was more watchful.

Rasooli powered along through the middle overs, taking down Khary Pierre and Gudakesh Motie. Atal and Rasooli fell in the 17th and 18th overs respectively, but with the big-hitting Mohammad Nabi and Omarzai walking in next, there was no respite for West Indies. Motie, left to bowl the 20th over, conceded 19 with Omarzai hitting him for back-to-back sixes, and Afghanistan posted 189 for 4.

Brief scores:
Afghanistan 189 for 4 in 20 overs (Ibrahim Zadran 22, Darwish Rasooli 68, Sediqullah Atal 53, Azmatullah Omarzai 26*; Maththw Forde 2-25, Shamar Joseph 1-35, Ramon Simmonds 1-39) beat West Indies 150 in 18.5 overs (Brandon King 50, Evin Lewis 13, Shimron Hetmyer 46, Khary Pierre 11; Fazalhqu Farooki 2-28, Mujeeb Ur Rahman 4-21, Azmatullah Omarzai 2-20, Rashid Khan 1-19) by 39 runs

[Cricinfo]