Sports
Amasha smashes Susanthika’s Army record, Roshan dazzles with hurdles feat
57th Army Athletics Championships
by Reemus Fernando
Sprinter Amasha de Silva smashed Olympian Susanthika Jayasinghe’s longstanding Army Athletics Championship 100 metres record and Roshan Dhammika Ranatunga came almost close to breaking his national record in the 110 metres hurdles as they blazed the track on the final day of the Army Athletics Championships at the Sugathadasa Stadium on Friday.
Amasha clocked 11.67 seconds to win the women’s 100 metres final ahead of Susanthika’s niece Medhani Jayamanne in the afternoon. She broke Susanthika’s 1994 hand-timed record of 11.6 seconds. With yesterday’s feat, Amasha has now taken both the 100 and 200 metres records of the Army Championships under her belt. The athlete trained by Sanjeewa Weerakkody has a personal best of 10.55 seconds from 2020 and is the fourth fastest athlete in history in the 100 metres behind Susanthika, Damayanthi Dharsha and Rumeshika Ratnayake.
In the morning, Roshan Dhammika produced the second-fastest legal time ever run by a Sri Lankan in the men’s 110 metres hurdles.
Dhammika, who broke Olympian Mahesh Perera’s 24-year-old 110 metres hurdles record at the National Championships four weeks ago, clocked 13.91 seconds to win the gold in the 110 metres hurdles final. The SLEME athlete’s effort had a minus 1.9 wind reading as he finished the event just two milliseconds slower than his national record.
His coach Thiron Gamage was confident that Dhammika would improve his national record once again and he almost achieved the target running against the wind. “He missed the record but with this feat, Dhammika has proved beyond doubt that his national record was not a fluke,” Gamage told The Island after the new meet record performance.
How much he has got to offer was evident from the time Dhammika ran a relaxed heat in the morning. Despite breaking the second hurdle he was still leading when he cleared the last hurdle but slowed down to finish third in the heat. In the final his only blemish was breaking the last hurdle. Still, he was metres ahead of the rest. With his third sub 14 seconds run (13.97 secs and 13.89 secs at the Nationals) the former Kularatne Central, Godakawela athlete has become the only Sri Lankan to run the distance under that mark legally.
All three athletes who had previously run the distance under 14 seconds, namely Chaminda Fonseka, Supun Viraj Randeniya and Mahesh Perera had wind readings above the legal limit.
Those were not the only impressive track performances as Pabasara Niku produced his personal best with a 46.36 seconds to finish first in the men’s 400 metres final which was minus national champion Kalinga Kumarage and the other leading contender Aruna Dharshana. Dharshana pulled out from the competition due to injury in the semi-finals on Thursday. Harsha Karunaratne who won the 800 metres, finished second behind Niku in a time of 46.83 seconds. In the corresponding women’s event, Nadeesha Ramanayake bagged the gold medal. She clocked 54.54 seconds.
There were two other individual meet record performances from Sarangi Silva in the women’s long jump and Samith Fernando in the men’s shot put.
Sarangi cleared a distance of 6.14 metres to win the long jump. Fernando cleared 16.60 metres to create his record.
Nilani Ratnayake, whose steeplechase feat was adjudged the most outstanding performance in the female category won her third individual gold medal when she clocked 4:25.20 seconds to finish the 1,500 metres. While Samantha Pushpakumara (RMS) won the men’s 10,000 metres in a time of 31:12.28 seconds, H.A.M. Dilrukshi was the winner in the women’s discus throw. Men’s 100 metres winner Himasha Eshan (10.29 secs), who was involved in many victories for the Artillery regiment- the winners of the championship- won the award for the most outstanding performance in the men’s category.
With just one round left in the group stage, Dambulla hit the top of the National Super League (NSL) table like a runaway train, pulling off a breathtaking run chase that left Kandy shell-shocked at the R. Premadasa Stadium. In a high-octane encounter that had lot of twists, Dambulla played out of their skins to snatch victory from the jaws of what looked like certain defeat.
Chasing a towering 392 in just 69 overs, the Dambulla batters threw caution to the wind and came out swinging. They crossed the finish line with 25 balls to spare, making the improbable seem routine.
At the top of the order, Nishan Madushka dropped anchor and played the sheet anchor role to perfection, compiling a masterful 126 off 153 balls. He stitched together a solid 136-run opening stand with Ron Chandraguptha, who chipped in with a stylish 64, laying the perfect foundation for the fireworks to follow.
But the real show-stopper was none other than Dasun Shanaka. Despite being courted by a slew of T20 leagues flashing big bucks, Shanaka stayed loyal to red-ball cricket — and he makes it count. He walked in with the scoreboard ticking and turned the game on its head with a whirlwind century off just 56 deliveries. It was a blitzkrieg that featured nine sizzling boundaries and six towering sixes. When Shanaka’s in the zone, bowlers might as well be bowling with a bar of soap.
From 286 for 1, Dambulla had a minor hiccup, losing quick wickets and stumbling to 326 for 5. But the damage had been done — Shanaka’s thunderous assault had knocked the stuffing out of the Kandy attack. All that remained was for the tail to wag, nudge a few singles, and coast home with room to spare.
Akila Dananjaya, meanwhile, continued to turn heads with a match bag of ten wickets. But while his performance was eye-catching, any talk of a national recall should come with a pinch of salt — his action, having been under the microscope before, will need a clean bill of health before selectors roll the dice.
Down south in Hambantota, Galle all but booked their ticket to the final, thanks to a first-innings win over Jaffna. Unless they somehow manage to shoot themselves in the foot in their last group game, they should be packing their bags for the final.
Ramesh Mendis played the unlikely hero, batting at number eight and top-scoring with a gutsy 124 to take Galle to 374, well past Jaffna’s 305.
Jaffna’s response in the second innings was spirited, with Angelo Mathews rolling back the years and crafting a classy century as they made 354 for five.
Rain played spoil sport with only 6.4 overs possible on day one and a further 55 overs on day two and that left little room for a result.
North Korea has held the Pyongyang International Marathon for the first time in six years, welcoming some 200 foreign runners to the streets of the reclusive country’s capital.
The marathon, which was launched in 1981, took place annually in April to celebrate the birth of its founding leader Kim Il Sung.
Before Sunday’s marathon, the race was last held in 2019, wherein 950 foreigners participated. North Korea sealed itself off the following year, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
North Korea has been slow to reopen since, allowing only Russian tourists into its capital since last year.
Runners have had to enter the country as part of an organised tour group, as was the case before the pandemic.
Koryo Tours, a Beijing-based travel agency listed as an “exclusive partner” on the event website, offers six-day marathon tours at 2,195 euros ($2,406) including flights to and from Beijing.
“The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals,” the agency wrote on its website.
Sunday’s marathon route took participants past landmarks across the city, including the Kim Il Sung stadium, the Arch of Triumph built to commemorate Kim Il Sung’s role in resisting Japanese rule, and the Mirae Future Scientists’ Street said to be a residential district for scientists and engineers.
Pictures online show the stadium – where runners start and finish their race – filled with spectators, many of them cheering and waving gold-coloured paper flags.
Pak Kum Dong, a North Korean runner, told Reuters news agency: “The eyes of our people on me helped me to bear the difficulties whenever I feel tired.”
There is no publicly available information on race results.
North Korea had only statred to scale back Covid-19 restrictions in the middle of 2023.
In Feburary, it allowed some Western tourists into the remote, eastern city Rason, but suspended those tours just weeks after.
[BBC]
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