Sports

A tough challenge awaits track and field athletes

Published

4 years ago

2022/07/28

Thilina Walpola

Commonwealth Games 2022

by Reemus Fernando

Track and field is one of only four Olympic sports to have earned Sri Lanka medals of all colours in the history of the Commonwealth Games, though the sport has not achieved much success during the last two decades at the quadrennial event. But when the latest edition of the multi sports event commences in Birmingham today, the six member track and field team are in a slightly better position to challenge their counterparts than most of their predecessors who took part in the last two decades.

The team consisting of sprinter Yupun Abeykoon, 400 metres specialist Kalinga Kumarage, thrower Sumedha Ranasinghe, long jumper Sarangi Silva, middle distance runner Gayanthika Abeyratne and steeplechaser Nilani Ratnayake are the smallest track and field team to a Commonwealth Games since the solitary participation of A. Premachandra at the 1978 Edmonton Games.

There had top athletes including Olympic medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe featuring in SL teams from 2002 Manchester to the 2018 Gold Coast but none could emulate the feats of former medal winners, namely Duncan White (1950 Auckland: gold in 440yard hurdles – 52.5 secs), Shriyani Kulawansa (1998 Kuala Lumpur: Silver in 100m hurdles- 12.95 secs) and Sugath Thilakaratne (1998: Bronze in 400m- 44.64secs) during the last two decades.

With the sport’s new poster boy Yupun Abeykoon making vast strides from his base in Italy, fans are looking forward to exciting performances in the men’s 100 metres. After Shehan Ambepitiya featured in the 2010 Delhi Games, Abeykoon is the first 100 metres runner representing Sri Lanka. Ambepitiya, a superb sprinter, with several Commonwealth Youth Games medals against his name was not even among the top 100 athletes when he went to India for the Games. But today, thanks to the determined efforts made by Abeykoon and his coaches, the South Asian record holder is among the top performers in the world. His 9.96 effort recorded prior to the World Championships is ranked among the best 16 in the world. There are at least eight Commonwealth athletes who have done better than Yupun this season, but the Olympian’s pre season plan of reaching the final looks a realistic target.

Rio Olympic participant Sumedha Ranasinghe failed to make an impression at the Gold Coast Games in 2018. But with a seasonal best of 82.18 metres, the athlete trained by Pradeep Nishantha is in better shape. His best effort this season is ranked among the top 30 performances in the world. With some of the best athletes in this discipline not among Commonwealth nations he has less than half a dozen top contenders to compete against. However, they are inclusive of several leading athletes including newly crowned World Champion Anderson Peters.

Long jumper Sarangi Silva skipped the recently concluded World Championships to concentrate on the Games. Her seasonal best of 6.65 metres has given her confidence as it is better than the gold winning feat of the 2014 edition. In 2018 it was a different story as Canada’s Christabel Nettey won with a feat of 6.84 metres. She has a seasonal best of 6.80 metres. She is not the only athlete from Commonwealth nations to have cleared that distance this season as several others including at least one from the hosts too have hopes of reaching the podium.

The strong Kenyan presence will present Nilani Ratnayake a huge challenge in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase, but her training partner Gayanthika Abeyratne has a chance of bettering her performance at the 2018 Games. Abeyratne clocked 2:04.72 seconds to be eliminated in the 800 metres heats at the last edition. With a national record feat of 2:01.44 seconds against her name (from April) she is expected to do well in the heats.

Kalinga Kumarage too will have a huge challenge as he carries a seasonal best of 45.88 seconds to the men’s 400 metres competition. It took Sugath Thilakaratne an outstanding effort of 44.64 seconds to clinch a bronze at the Kuala Lumpur Games way back in 1998. It will be an accomplishment if Kalinga could advance from the heats.

With the Commonwealth Nations representing some of the power houses of track and field, Sri Lankans are presented with the challenge of competing against the world’s best athletes at these Games. Take the case of Olympic medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe’s 11.08 seconds feat in the 100 metres final, her seasonal best that year, at the Manchester edition. She was the eleventh fastest athlete in the world that year but that 11.08 seconds effort was found to be a millisecond slower than that of Bahamian bronze medallist Sevatheda Fynes as Debbie Ferguson stopped the clock in a Games record of 10.91 seconds to win gold.

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Sri Lanka to face India in semi-finals after washout

Published

28 mins 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

35 mins 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

5 hours ago

2026/09/29

Sahan Weerasooriya

Rumesh Tharanga reached Japan as the overwhelming favourite

by Reemus Fernando

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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.

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‎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.