Sports
Yasiru, a gem of an athlete yet to be admired at Kahawatta
by Reemus Fernando
Asian Junior Athletics Championship hopeful Malith Yasiru delivered a fitting climax to the 63rd Junior National Athletics Championship as he produced a record-breaking feat in the Under 20 boys’ triple jump to claim the award for the most outstanding performance of the meet on the final day at Diyagama.
The Kahawatta Central athlete trained by former national triple jump champion Nihal Wickramasinghe cleared a distance of 15.89 metres in his very first attempt to break the Under 20 Boys triple jump meet record held by current national record holder Shreshan Dananjaya. Dananjaya had cleared 15.78 metres to set the record in 2016.
Yasiru has made steady improvement during the last three months. He had a jump of 15.43 metres at the first selection trial held in March before reaching the qualifying standard for the Asian Junior Championships with an effort of 15.58 metres in April.
Yesterday, Yasiru justified his selection with jumps of 15.89 (+1.15), 15.83 (+3.0) and 15.49 metres. He stopped after three jumps. “I asked him to stop as he is getting ready for the Asian Junior Championships,” Wickramasinghe who is also the Physical Training Instructor of Kahawatta Central told The Island on the sidelines of the event.
Incidentally, Yasiru is the first athlete from Kahawatta Central to be selected to represent Sri Lanka in athletics. However, despite the news of his selection going public, the athlete is yet to receive the support of the people of Kahawatta, a place famous for its gems and wealth.
Kahawatta Central started producing medal-winning athletes after Wickramsinghe joined the school but the track and field training project steered by a team of four inclusive of Wickramasinghe, Buddhi Dammi, Dilani Galappaththi and Pasindu Rajapaksa has not summoned the public support it richly deserves.
“School Principal Athula Kumara Rathnayake has been a source of strength. But for an athletics project like ours to run properly there should be public support. I see the generous people of Kahawatta offering tens of thousands of rupees as prize money at softball cricket matches at Kahawatta. If such generosity could be shown to a successful project like ours as well that will be a real boost for athletes like Yasiru,” said Wickramsinghe.
Yasiru was not the only athlete to break records on the final day as Vimalathas Nitharshan of Hartley College, Jaffna (35.19m) in the Under 18 boys’ hammer throw, sprinter Dananjana Fernando of Lyceum International School, Wattala in the Under 16 girls’ 100 metres (12.58 secs) and D.R. Madushan of Sri Lanka Army in the Under 23 men’s 400 metres (47.06) created new meet records.
Delhi Capitals’ (DC) signing of Bangladesh fast bowler Mustafizure Rahman for the remainder of IPL 2025 has hit a snag, with the BCB stating that it hasn’t been approached for a no-objection certificate (NOC).
Usually, the IPL only announces signings after a player has received an NOC from his home board. According to its CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury, however, the BCB had yet to receive a request for one.
“Mustafizur is supposed to go with the team to the UAE according to the schedule,” Chowdhury told ESPNcricinfo on Wednesday. “We have not received any communication from IPL officials. I have also not received any such official communication from Mustafizur either.”
Mustafizur is part of the Bangladesh T20I squad that is due to play back-to-back away T20I series against UAE and Pakistan, both of which clash with the IPL. On Wednesday, hours after the IPL announced his signing as a replacement for Jake Fraser-McGurk, Mustafizur flew out to Dubai with the rest of Bangladesh’s squad.
Bangladesh are due to play two T20Is in the UAE on May 17 and 19, followed by five in Pakistan on May 25, 27 and 30, and June 1 and 3. Those two series are in conflict with the IPL; DC are set to play their last three league matches on May 18, 21 and 24, followed by the playoffs should they get there.
ESPNcricinfo has sought a response from DC on this development.
[Cricinfo]
Sprinter Aruna Dharshana who is undergoing treatments for an injury he sustained during the World Relays, is racing against time to recover for the Asian Athletics Championships which will be held in South Korea later this month.
The 400 metres specialist is one of the two sprinters slated to compete in the one lap race. He is also a key member of the men’s 4×400 metres and 4×400 metres mixed relays alongside Kalinga Kumarage.
“Currently Dharshana is undergoing treatments. We are hopeful that he will recover in time for the Asian Championships,” Dharshana’s coach Asanka Rajakaruna told ‘The Island’.
“Sri Lanka Athletics will conduct a fitness test before the Asian Championships. Hopefully he will be ready by that time,” said Rajakaruna.
Sri Lanka Athletics earlier said that a fitness test will be held to assess the strength of the 20 strong team selected for the biennial event.
Sri Lanka fielded only a mixed relay team for the recently held World Relays in Guangzhou, China where an injury to Dharshana cost them a chance to achieve a top performance and a probable ticket to the World Championships in Tokyo later this year.
Sri Lanka won a historic gold medal in the men’s 4×400 metres at the last edition of the Asian Athletics Championship in Bangkok Thailand where the team inclusive of Dharshana beat India to the second place with a new championship record time of 03:01.56 seconds.
Kalinga Kumarage who did the anchor leg and Dharshana are the only members from that gold winning team selected for the upcoming event.
Dharshana is the only Sri Lankan athlete to have clocked sub 45 seconds in the 400 metres after legendary Sugath Thilakaratne.
Dharshana and Kumarage hold the second and third places respectively in the list of fastest times achieved in the 400 metres by Sri Lankan athletes. Dharshana has a personal best of 44.99 seconds achieved during the last Olympic games.
by Reemus Fernando
110th Colombo Championships
Dinara de Silva bagged her second title of the Colombo Championships as she partnered Inuki Jayaweera to record straight sets victory in the women’s doubles final played at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Wednesday.
Dinara and Inuki beat Venuli Jayasinghe and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi 6-2, 6-3 in the doubles final.
Incidentally, it was the second title of the tournament for both Dinara and Inuki.
While Dinara won the women’s singles and doubles titles, Inuki was the winner of the mixed doubles and the women’s doubles.
Women’s doubles results
Semi-finals
Dinara de Silva and Inuki Jayaweera beat Dulkini Ranasinghe and Tania Doloswala 6-3, 6-2
Venuli Jayasinghe and Sandithi Usgodaarachchi beat Bovindee Imihamy and Siyara Devappriya 6-3, 6-0.
Quarter-finals
Venuli Jayasinghe and S. Usgodaarachchi beat Tuvini de Alwis and Hasali Gajaba 6-4, 5-7, 10-3.
Dinara de Silva and Inuki Jayaweera beat Nimasha Shehara and Arushi Thomas 6-1, 6-3.
Dulkini Ranasinghe and Tania Doloswala beat Diyansa de Silva and Lihini Jayakody 4-6, 6-3, 10-6.
Bovindee Imihamy and Siyara Devappriya received a walkover from Gehansa Methnadi and Akeesha Silva.
NOC issue, fixture clash put Mustafizur’s IPL participation in doubt
Presidential secretariat launches initiative to install sanitation facilities at fuel stations under “Clean Sri Lanka”
Financial assistance from the President’s Fund for next of kin of victims of the Kotmale bus accident disbursed through Divisional Secretariats
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