Sports
Dilhani Lekamge is primed for top performances this year – Coach
by Reemus Fernando
Former national javelin champion and coach Pradeep Nishantha believes that his charge Dilhani Lekamge has primed to accept big challenges in a year loaded with international competitions. Nishantha, who enjoyed unprecedented success last year when his trainee Dinesh Priyantha Herath won gold at the Paralympics, said that Lekamge will be an athlete to watch this year as she would be looking to reach her best performances.
“I firmly believe that Lekamge has improved to produce some outstanding throws. The first trial will be the opportunity to see how she has improved,” said Nishantha in an interview with The Island on the eve of the Sri Lanka Athletics First Selection Trial.
The selection trial conducted by Sri Lanka Athletics will commence at the Sugathadasa Stadium today and will conclude on Saturday.
The track and field governing body set tough selection standards for this year’s international competitions and it would be a huge challenge for some of the top athletes to accomplish those targets as it requires record breaking performances.
In Lekamge’s case a throw of 58 metres is the standard to be eligible for Asian Games selection, though she is required only to clear a distance of 56 metres to prove her readiness at today’s meet. Sri Lanka Athletics set several standards to be achieved at each trial. A gradual improvement from 56.00 metres to 56.30m, 57.00m and 58.00 metres is required if Lekamge is to book a place in the team for the Asian Games. It is only a year since Lekamge has come under the guidance of Nishantha.
Lekamge was the country’s leading female thrower last year with a distance of 56.94 metres achieved in June. She threw nearly three metres further than Nadeeka Lakmali, who holds the national record. Lekamge has a personal best of 58.41 from 2018.
Her most outstanding achievement so far at international arena is the silver medal she won at the Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar, India in 2017. There she cleared a distance of 58.11 metres. She was first coached by the late A.J. Rodrigo who was also the coach of Asian Championship silver medallists Sachith Maduranga and Nadeeka Lakmali.
Nishantha is also confident this his other charges including Olympian Sumedha Ranasinghe too would do well at this meet.
The three-day meet starting today will be the first track and field competition conducted by Sri Lanka Athletics in its centenary year. This will be followed by the Second Selection Trial to be held in March and the National Championships which will be regarded as the final selection trial.
The event will be held under two categories with juniors too being given an opportunity to compete. However, some of the junior athletes are likely to skip events due to the A/L Exam clashing with their schedule. Umanga Surendra, the coach of junior sprinter Medhani Jayamanne said that his charge would skip the 200 metres due to the exam. He said Jayamanne however, would take part in the 100 metres today.
Apna Perera won his third title of the 110th Colombo Championships as he partnered Dhilvan Herath to beat Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando in the open men’s doubles final.
Apna and Dhilvan registered 6-2, 6-2 win in the final.
Apna, the open men’s singles champion, was also the winner of the mixed doubles which was played according to round robin method. In the mixed doubles Apna partnered Inuki Jayaweera.
Results
Men’s doubles semi-finals
Apna Perera and Dhilvan Herath beat Ashen Silva and Lithum Jayabandu 6-1, 6-2
Dumindu Dilum and Chehan Fernando beat Methika Wickramasinghe and Vichinthya Nilaweera 6-3, 2-6, 10-4.
Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) recently carried out a Fast Bowling Talent Search program in the Polonnaruwa District as part of its ongoing efforts to identify and nurture emerging cricketing talent across the country.
The program, held at the Royal College Ground, Polonnaruwa, attracted over 60 promising young players—both boys and girls—including school cricketers of the district. Each participant underwent skill assessments to evaluate their fast bowling potential.
Following the evaluations, 20 talented bowlers were selected for further development.
The selected players will now receive structured training under the guidance of Provincial coaches of Sri Lanka Cricket, with a focus on refining their techniques and enhancing their overall performance.
Those who continue to demonstrate consistent improvement will be given the opportunity to join SLC’s district squads, thereby becoming part of the official National Pathway Program.
This initiative is a part of SLC’s ‘Cricket Gamata’, program which aims to find talent from rural areas across Sri Lanka.
The talent assessments were conducted by Lasantha Lakmin, SLC Talent Scout for the North Central and North Western Provinces; Lakshitha Herath, North Central Provincial Women’s Coach; and Saman Senanayake, North Central Provincial Fast Bowling Coach.
The event was organized by the North Central Provincial Cricket Association under the guidance of Sri Lanka Cricket. It was managed by Krishan Anandakumar, Manager of the Center of Excellence, Dambulla.
PSL 2025 will resume on May 17, with the final on May 25. While there hasn’t yet been a public decision on the fixture list or venues, the announcement confirms the league will end a week after it was originally scheduled to.
This was announced on X (formerly Twitter) by PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi. “HBL PSL X picks up from where it left off,” he wrote in the post. “6 teams, 0 fear. Get ready for 8 thrilling matches starting 17th May, leading up to the Grand Final on 25th May. Best of luck to all the teams!”
PCB is expected to announce further details shortly, and though Naqvi’s tweet did not officially confirm it, the remaining matches are expected to be played in Pakistan. The league, which was postponed due to increasing cross-border tensions with India, has eight games left and the PCB, as well as several franchises, have been eager to conclude the season as early as possible.
The PSL held meetings with the franchises on Monday to discuss specific dates and venues. The most pressing issue is the availability of overseas players, with ESPNcricinfo understanding a significant number are unlikely to return. The asymmetry of player availability may also impact squads, with some franchises more confident about overseas players rejoining than others. To mitigate that, PCB has also considered a replacement draft to make up the numbers.
This also confirms that Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan will not stick to its original schedule. The final of the PSL takes place on the day Bangladesh were to play their first T20I against Pakistan, in Faisalabad. BCB has said it is in active and ongoing discussions about the tour.
(Cricinfo)
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