Sports
Rajakaruna wants Dharshana to reach personal best at Olympics
How SL athletes benefit from repechage round
by Reemus Fernando
Sri Lanka’s two track athletes will look to make the most of the repechage round when track and field events of the Paris Olympics commence on August 1.
Sprinter Aruna Dharshana and 800 metres specialist Tharushi Karunaratne will be looking to gain the maximum when the repechage round comes to effect at the Olympics.
“Our goal is to achieve the personal best performance. That is the realistic goal that we can set. Knowing that there is a repechage round will help athletes not only to stay in the spotlight but also to achieve their realistic goals,” Dharshana’s coach Asanka Rajakaruna said speaking to The Island from Paris on Tuesday.
Dharahana who is ranked 46th among 48 athletes who have qualified for the 400 metres has a personal best feat of 45.30 seconds. The top athletes vying for semi-final spots have all run sub 45 seconds during the qualifying period for Paris Olympics.
Karunaratne is ranked 44th among 48 athletes who have reached qualifying standards or received universality places for the women’s 800 metres. The Asian Games gold medallist has not come closer to matching her personal best feat of 2:00.66 seconds this year.
On such a back drop both Dharshana and Karunaratne are likely to benefit from the repechage round.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games introduced a new format of qualifying for semi-finals with the repechage round in the track events from the 200m to the 1500m.
There will be no fastest qualifiers in terms of time in events. The athletes who do not qualify from heats will get a second opportunity to qualify when they compete in the repechage round, which was introduced in 2022.
According to the new format every event will have four rounds, the preliminary, the repechage round, the semifinals and finals respectively.
Paris Olympics will see every athlete run at least two races, except in the 100 metres and events above 1500 metres. In the 100m athletes will only race in the preliminary, semifinal and final.
The BCB has said that they will rely on the Bangladesh government’s directive before finalising their tour to Pakistan later this month. Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play five T20Is there from May 25 to June 3, but the PSLs schedule was revised following cross-border tensions between Pakistan and India.
According to the revised fixtures, the PSL final will now be held on May 25, when Pakistan and Bangladesh were originally scheduled to play the first T20I.
ESPNcricinfo has learned that the PCB has sent a new schedule for the T20Is between Pakistan and Bangladesh, with the first match now slotted for May 27, and the last on June 5.
BCB’s media committee chairman Iftekhar Rahman said they will rely on information from government security agencies and the Bangladesh high commission in Islamabad to take the final decision.
“Once we receive official communication about the dates and venues [of the tour], we will forward it to the government,” Rahman said. “The BCB is not the decision-maker in this matter. If the government agencies and our embassy declare Pakistan safe for travel, only then will we proceed.
“In our previous meeting, we agreed that any such situation would be referred to the foreign and home ministries. Once we get clearance from all relevant bodies, we will finalise the tour. Security concerns were more significant in the past, but Pakistan has proven it can ensure safety. Still, given the current circumstances, we need to assess whether the situation across the country is stable before sending the team.”
Before playing Pakistan, Bangladesh are scheduled to play two T20Is against UAE in Sharjah on May 17 and 19. They were then supposed to fly to Lahore on May 21.
[Cricinfo]
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.
-
Features4 days agoSAITM Graduates Overcome Adversity, Excel Despite Challenges
-
Business7 days agoJohn Keells Properties and MullenLowe unveil “Minutes Away”
-
News4 days agoDestined to be pope:Brother says Leo XIV always wanted to be a priest
-
Sports4 days agoASBC Asian U22 and Youth Boxing Championships from Monday
-
Foreign News5 days agoMexico sues Google over ‘Gulf of America’ name change
-
Opinion7 days agoRatmalana: An international airport without modern navigational and landing aids
-
Opinion4 days agoDrs. Navaratnam’s consultation fee three rupees NOT Rs. 300
-
Features3 days agoChampioning Geckos, Conservation, and Cross-Disciplinary Research in Sri Lanka