Sports
Isuru sprints to record as Lyceum, Ratnayake win titles
Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championships
by Reemus Fernando
Sprinter Isuru Kaushalya Bans of Ananda Sastralaya, Matugama produced a stunning 46.96 seconds finish to win the Under 20 boys’ 400 metres and the best athlete title in the boys’ category as the Sir John Tarbat Senior Athletics Championships came to a close with Lyceum International, Wattala and Ratnayake Central Walala winning the boys’ and girls’ titles respectively at Diyagama on Friday.
Lyceum became the first International school in history to win the title of this meet which was once called the public schools championships. In the girls’ category Ratnayake Central were helped by their Under 20 girls’ to retain the title as they won points in relays and long-distance events. They capped the four-day event with their star athlete Tharushi Karunaratne running the anchor leg of the 4×400 metres to establish a new record (3:57.86secs).
Isuru Kaushalya’s performance fetched him the highest points in the World Athletics points table to be crowned the best athlete of the meet. The athlete trained by Dhanushka Rajitha Munasinghe came almost close to matching his personal best as he become the only athlete to have run 400 metres under 47 seconds at these championships. He shattered Ratnayake Central athlete Manoj Pushpakumara’s long-standing 400 metres record which had stood unchanged since 2003.
Hurdler Dhanuka Dharshana who is the fastest in the Under 20 category over that distance this year finished third with a time of 49.30 seconds while Sithum Jayasundara, who had almost quit athletics after being dumped from the World Junior Championships team made a return to win the second place with a time of 48.35 seconds.
The Under 18 boys’ 400 metres final witnessed Salamuthu Jayathilaka (48.49 secs) of Thurstan and Theminda Rajapaksha (48.57) of Sir John Kothalawala College, Kurunegala sharing the gold and silver respectively and reaching qualifying standards for the Asian Youth Athletics Championships to be held in October.
In field events, Razwin Carrim of Lyceum International, Panadura and Oshini Kodikara of St. Lawrence’s Convent, Wellawatta established new meet records.
Carrim created a new record in the Under 18 boys’ long jump. He cleared 7.20 metres to erase Richmond athlete Isuru Malinda’s 2016 record. Kodikara won the Under 16 girls’ triple jump with a new meet record distance of 11.64 metres yesterday. It was her second gold medal after having won the long jump earlier. In the 100 metres she was placed fourth.
The four-day event’s most promising performance in the girls’ category was produced by long jumper Nethmika Madushani Herath of Nannapurawa MV on day three. She cleared 6.09 metres, the best long jump performance by a Sri Lankan junior athlete in history. Her record-breaking mark will also be the new national junior record. The premier athletics championship of the Sri Lanka Schools Athletics Association saw history’s highest participation as the event was held after a lapse of two years. However, the big numbers also resulted in delays in completing events during the first three days.
The final week of the year is like a Roman feast for the Test cricket fan, and Boxing Day this year promises mouth-watering contests in Melbourne and Centurion but look this way too, will you? Bulawayo is set to host Zimbabwe’s first Boxing Day Test 8n 28 years too, and with unpredictable Afghanistan on the other side, a real tussle is expected between the two teams, who despite their recent underwhelming performances, would feel like they’re favourites. After all, the last time either side won a Test was against each other.
But that was way back 8n 2021. Since then, they have not found a way to win. And one look at the Zimbabwe and Afghanistan squads for this two-Test series suggests that they’re both looking to change that by taking a different direction for 2025 and beyond. A splattering of Test debutants are expected – theoretically, there could be as many 15 debuts across the two XIs – and this series could very well be the one that births a new generation.
Under 19 Cricket
by Reemus Fernando
Mahinda College, Galle took firm control of their two-day Under 19 Division I Tier ‘B’ cricket encounter as they reached 213 for nine wickets at stumps after restricting Moratu Vidyalaya to 96 runs at Galle on Wednesday.
After Arosha Udayanga grabbed five wickets to trouble the visitors, the home team topped 200 runs thanks to a century by open batsman Dulsith Darshana and a half century by Senuka Dangamuwa.
While Darshana scored 13 fours and a six in his 106 which came in 143 balls, Dangamuwa hammered nine fours and a six in his 50 which came in 51 balls.
Mahinda are in search of their first outright victory in the tournament proper after having earned first innings points in two out of the three matches in their group.
Moratu Vidyalaya too have completed three matches and have scored first innings points on one occasion.
Scores
Moratu Vidyalaya
96 all out in 45.2 overs (Sanjana Senavirathna 31, Shehara Fernando 20; Arosha Udayanga 5/35)
Mahinda
213 for 9 in 52 overs (Dulsith Darshana 106, Senuka Dangamuwa 50; Isuru Nidharshana 2/64, Nishitha Fernando 5/45)
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka Athletics has suspended track and field official S. W. Nimalsiri for four years after a three member committee appointed by the sports governing body found him guilty of manhandling leading athletic official G.L.S. Perera within the Sri Lanka Athletics premises in Torrington.
“The executive committee of Sri Lanka Athletics decided to hand Nimalsiri a four year suspension after the three member committee concluded that he was guilty of manhandling the respected official,” Saman Kumara Gunawardhana, the secretary of Sri Lanka Athletics told The Island.
At the time of the suspension Nimalairi was a committee member of Sri Lanka Athletics and is the president of the Ace Athletics Club and secretary of the Colombo District Athletics Association.
The three member committee that inquired the incident involving Nimalairi and Perera was headed by retired district court judge Upali Samaraweera. Others in the committee were former director of sports Padma Siriwardana and disciplinary committee chairman of Sri Lanka Athletics Chandana Ekanayake.
Nimalsiri has also been suspended from officiating in track and field competitions.
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