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Revisiting National Athletics Championships of 1945

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by Reemus Fernando

Sri Lanka Athletics is set to conduct its 98th National Athletics Championships at the Sugathadasa Stadium from Saturday, as it looks forward to provide the competition-starved national athletes an opportunity to weigh in their strengths after being in the sideline for more than a year due to Covid 19 pandemic. In two years Sri Lanka Athletics will celebrate the centenary year. Today we review a National Championship which was held 75 years ago.

Sri Lanka Athletics which was then called the Amateur Athletics Association conducted the National Championships of 1945 over two days on October 14 and 15 at the Police Ground, Bambalapitiya.

According to Sri Lanka Athletics records, men competed in 15 events while the women’s competition had only four disciplines. Apart from the senior events there had been an invitational school boy event of 440 yards won by G.A. Van Twest of St. Sylvester’s College (56.3secs.)

At a time when distances of track events were measured in yards and miles and performances of field events in feet and inches, a feat of 10.1 seconds in the 100 yards had been adjudged the Best Performance of the meet. Sri Lanka Athletics statistics record 2/Lt. B.C. Henricus of Navy as the winner of the 100 yards.

The event witnessed G.D. Peiris, who would later become a member of the country’s first ever team to an Olympics in 1948, winning both the long jump and the triple jump. The athlete represented Y.M.C.A. and cleared 22 feet for his long jump victory. His performance for the triple jump title is registered as 45 feet and 9 ¾ inches. Peiris who competed unsuccessfully at the 1948 London Olympics long jump improved the National triple jump record thrice (1940, 1942, 1948).

A.C. Dep who later became a vice president of the athletics governing body was the winner of both the 120 yards hurdles (16.8 secs) and the pole vault. It was a time when jumpers would land on sawdust or coir dust pits after clearing. Dep who cleared 11 feet 2 ½ inches to win the pole vault at the 1945 edition held the national record for 26 years from 1936 to 1962. His national record was 12 feet and 7.5 inches.

He was not the only athlete from this competition to have become an athletics official. Upali S Gooneratne who also later became a vice president was placed second in the 100 yards. Gooneratne was a national record holder in the 100 yards. He established the record (10.1 secs) in 1938.

Another athlete of note was Chandra Senanayake who won the Discus throw for Police Sports Club with a feat of 112 feet and three inches. He was placed second in the shot put. Senanayake held the national discus throw record for 28 years, improving it ten times from 100 feet to 130 feet.

H.M.P. Perera who later became a medical doctor was probably the most prominent athlete of all. Perera representing Nemeans Sports Club won both the 220 yards (23.6 secs) and the 440 yards (51.4 secs). Perera held the national record of the 440 yards for 23 years from 1939 and produced Asia’s fastest time of the distance 49.5 seconds at an Indo-Lanka dual in 1946. At the same meet which was held in Bangalore, Duncan White ran an Asian record time of 54.9 seconds to win the hurdles.

The quarter mile specialist Perera was unbeaten at National Championships. His name appears as the winner of nationals in 1938, 39, 41, 42, 43, 45 and 50.

The event was also notable for G.D.H. Karunaratne as he clinched his third consecutive 880 yards title.

The women’s competition was dominated by Shirly Thomas and Olga Walker who won two events each. Shirly Thomas, a national record holder in both the 100 yards and the 200 yards won the sprints, while Walker won the two field events. Thomas’ records in the two sprint events were 12.2 seconds and 28.4 seconds. (Statistics for this story were provided by Sri Lanka Athletics statistician Saman Kumara Gunawardena)

Results of the 1945 National Athletics Championship

MEN

100 yards: 1. B.C. Henricus (Navy) 10.1secs., 2. Upali S Gooneratne (Prisons Sports Club), 3. W.T. Saunders (Jaffna College)

220 yards:

1. H.M.P. Perera (Nemeans Sports Club) 23.6secs., 2. W.T. Saunders (Jaffna College), 3. F.H. Brohier (Ace Athletic Club)

440 yards:

1. H.M.P. Perera (Nemeans Sports Club) 51.4secs., 2. J. Xavier (Navy), 3. P. Raymond (Army)

880 yards:

1. G.D.H. Karunaratne (Johnians Sports Club) 2:08.0secs., 2. J.S.L. White (Government Services SC), 3. K.W. Piyasiri (Vidyartha College)

1 Mile:

1. J.W.S.T. Gunasekara (Army) 4:50.4 secs., 2. L.A. De Soysa (Ace Athletic Club), 3. M.B. Rathnayake (Prisons Sports Club)

3 Miles:

1. L.A. De Soysa (Ace Athletic Club) 16:33.9secs., 2. M.B. Rathnayake (Prisons Sports Club), 3. R. Suithaly (Army)

120 yards Hurdles:

1. A.C. Dep (Police Sports Club) 16.8secs., 2. T.L. Blaze (Nemeans Sports Club), 3 T. Fillil (Police Sports Club)

440 yards Hurdles:

1. A.M. Xavier (Navy) 59.0secs. 2. R.R. Scott (Police Sports Club), 3. T.L. Blaze (Nemeans Sports Club)

High Jump:

1. R.R. Peiris (Ace Athletic Club) 5 ft 10 ¼ ins, 2. E.W. Labrooy (Excise Department), 3. D.J.C. Jayamaha (Excise Department)

Pole Vault:

1. A.C. Dep (Police SC) 11 ft 2 ½ ins, 2. K. Chelvadurai (Nemeans Sports Club), 3. T.M.T. Gunawardene (Nemeans Sports Club)

Long Jump:

1. G.D. Peiris (Y.M.C.A.) 22 ft 0 ins, 2. J.P.K. Fernando (Excise Department), 3. J.V. Wijeratne (Y.M.C.A.)

Triple Jump:

1. G.D. Peiris (Y.M.C.A.) 45 ft 9 ¾ ins, 2. C.S. Joseph (Old Josehepians SC), 3. J.P.K. Fernando (Excise Department)

Shot Put:

1. C.P.O. Atherton (Navy) 38 ft 10 ins, 2. Chandra Senanayake (Police Sports Club), 3. D.S. Thambiyah (Police Sports Club)

Discus Throw:

1. Chandra Senanayake (Police Sports Club) 112 ft3 ins, 2. L.C. Goonaratne (Ace Athletic Club), 3. C.P.O. Atherton (Navy)

Javelin Throw:

1. B.C. Da Silva (Nemeans Sports Club) 171 ft 1 ins, 2. L.C. Goonaratne (Ace Athletic Club), 3. V.R. Fernando (Silverline SC)

 

WOMEN

100 yards

: 1. Shirly Thomas (Unattached) 12.6 secs., 2. Y. Menzies (Navy), 3. Olga Walker (University)

220 yards:

1. Shirly Thomas 28.6secs. , 2. Y. Menzies, 3. Olga Walker

High Jump:

1. Olga Walker 4 ft 2 ins, 2. E.Garrett (W.R.N.S.), 3. Silvia Vanderziel (Unattached)

Long Jump:

1. Olga Walker 15 ft 3 ins, 2. Shirly Thomas, 3. M. Nathanielsz (Methodist College)

440 yards (Invitation School Boys):

1. G.A. Van Twest (St. Sylvester’s College) 56.3secs., 2. S. Suntharalingam (Hartley College), 3. Norton Perera (St. Joseph’s)



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MLC 2025: Boult’s sixes help MI New York eliminate Unicorns in thriller

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Trent Boult's sixes turned the game back in MINY's favour [Cricinfo]

MI New York and San Francisco Unicorns rode a rollercoaster in Dallas with unending twists and turns, till inaugural champions MINY edged last year’s runners-up Unicorns to a two-wicket win. In a game that featured several small but crucial contributions from various players, Trent Boult stood out with his returns of 2 for 19, and even more the back-to-back sixes towards the end of the tense chase of 132, which took MINY to victory and to Qualifier 2 and eliminated Unicorns.

MINY will now face Texas Super Kings to decide who takes on Washington Freedom in the MLC 2025 final.

Unicorns were lagging behind in the game almost from the start, when they were reduced to 16 for 5 in the powerplay. The twist came when No. 8 Xavier Bartlett powered them to a respectable 131 with a 24-ball 44.

MINY were then cruising in their chase with an opening stand of 43, before Mathew Short’s three strikes started their slide and Hasan Khan’s two double-wicket overs added to the Unicorns comeback. MINY were left needing 24 to get off 19 balls but with only two wickets in hand. The final twist came when Boult smashed two sixes off Hassan to turn the equation into a comfortable five to win from nine balls. MINY did not falter thereafter.

MINY made the most of their decision to bowl, with Boult and Nosthush Kenjige removing Unicorns’ top four for single-digit scores. While Boult had Tim Seifert and Jake Fraser-McGurk edging behind, Kenjige had Short and Sanjay Krishnamurthi out caught. The last wicket was thanks to a sharp running catch, with Boult running backwards from short third and finishing with a juggle.

Unicorns’ problems were compounded when Hassan Khan was involved in a mix-up with Cooper Connolly, falling short to a direct hit from Nicholas Pooran while on a golden duck.

Bartlett then rebuilt the innings in partnerships with Hammad Azam and Brody Couch, smashing towering sixes down the ground. He helped Unicorns race from 50 to 100 in just four overs after the halfway mark, and finally fell when he slapped a slow and short delivery from Kieron Pollard straight to midwicket in the 18th over. Rushil Ugarkar dismissed Liam Plunkett and Couch on either side of Bartlett’s wicket to finish with 3 for 19.

A rain break delayed the start of the chase but didn’t reduce any overs. Monak Patel and Quinton de Kock were going steady, scoring 37 runs in the powerplay. But then came Short’s double blow: he trapped de Kock lbw from around the wicket, and four balls later struck the top of middle stump by going through Pooran’s bat and pad.

Monank led the chase, going at just over a-run-a-ball. But he soon pulled a Short delivery to deep square leg and MINY were 81 for 3. The alarm bells went off when Pollard, who had scored two fifties in the last three games, chipped an innocuous delivery to long-on. Fraser-McGurk took a diving catch, and suddenly, Pooran was looking worried in the dugout.

The alarm bells rang much louder when Hassan struck on consecutive deliveries, first going through Michael Bracewell’s pull to knock his stumps over, and then drawing an outside edge from Heath Richards that stuck in Seifert’s gloves. MINY were now 98 for 6, still 34 adrift with 31 balls to go.

Hassan struck two more times in the 17th over. MINY were in a lot more trouble, with the equation soon reading 19 to get from 12. Boult stepped up with consecutive sixes off Hassan and even farmed the strike to deny Kenjige much exposure.

In the end, Kenjige himself went on to hit the winning runs with three balls to spare.

Brief scores:
MI New York 132 for 8 in 19.3 overs (Quinton De Kock 33, Monank Patel  33,  Michaell Bracewell 18, Trent Boult 22*; Xavier Bartlett 1-27, Hassan Khan 4-30, Mathew Short 3-22) beat  San Francisco Unicorns 131 in 19.1 overs (Cooper Connolly 23, Hammad Azam 11, Xavier Bartlett 44, Brody Couch 19; Rushil Ugarkar 3-19, Trent Boult 2-19, Nosthush Kenjige 2-43, Tristan Luus 1-32, Kierron Pollard 1-11 )  by two wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Spinners set up historic series win for India Women

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Radha Yadav was named the Player of the Match [Cricinfo]

After their 3-0 ODI series sweep in 2022, India Women achieved another milestone with their first T20I series victory on English soil. The result is especially significant, coming less than a year before they return to these shores in pursuit of their maiden T20 World Cup title.

Wednesday’s victory at Old Trafford was shaped by India’s spinners – Radha Yadav and Shree Charani – who picked up a combined 4 for 45 in eight overs to restrict England to 126 for 7 after they chose to bat for the second match in a row.

Four overs are all it took for India’s openers – Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana – to prove those runs were hardly adequate. Where England hit all of eight fours in their innings, they conceded nine in four overs alone. India’s openers put on 56 in seven overs to set the tone for a dominating win.

India applied early pressure with spin, removing both England openers inside the powerplay. After being struck for a four and a six by Sophia Dunkley in her first three deliveries, Charani hit back in the same over, as Danni Wyatt-Hodge miscued a slog to long-on.

Dunkley, looking in fine touch, fell in the sixth over as she was lured into an uppish drive by Deepti Sharma, who cleverly deceived her in flight with Radha completing a sharp diving catch at point. The wicket was a significant one, taking Deepti past Nida Dar’s tally to become the leading wicket-taker among spinners in Women’s T20Is. Overall, Deepti is now only six behind Megan Schutt’s tally of 151.

Tammy Beaumont showed glimpses of a revival, as she took the attack to Sneh Rana in hitting her for two well-placed cuts to split a packed off-side ring in the eighth over. But her counterattack was short-lived; she holed out to long-on attempting to go big off Radha. India soon had a double-strike five balls later when Alice Capsey was lbw attempting a reverse sweep off the hugely impressive Charani. England slumped from 68 for 2 to 93 for 5 by the 15th over.

The innings stagnated through the middle overs, with no boundaries coming off the bat from the middle of the 10th over until the end of the 19th, for 56 deliveries. Poor running between the wickets added to England’s struggles, including a costly mix-up that led to Charlie Dean’s run-out from backward point. India’s ground fielding, catching and cutting off angles was massively impressive. Arundhati Reddy proved pivotal in the deep, taking three well-judged catches at long-on during this dry spell.

Right towards the end, marking her 100th T20I in front of a home crowd, Sophie Ecclestone finally broke the boundary drought in the 19th over, shoveling Amanjot Kaur to the midwicket fence. She topped that off with two slog sweeps for sixes off Deepti, taking advantage of the wind, to give England a late surge. They closed on 126, the final over producing 16.

Shafali came out firing, matching England’s short-pitched attack with fearless aggression. Hard lengths and deliveries dug into the pitch posed no threat as she simply backed away to swing, shovel and slap her way to three fours and 14 runs in the second over off Lauren Filer, setting the tone for India’s chase. Coming off two low scores at the start of the series and left out of the ODI squad, this was a crucial knock for her confidence.

Not to be overshadowed, Mandhana joined the charge as she took the attack to Dean with a clean strike over mid-on. The pair raised the half-century of their partnership in the seventh over to keep the pressure on England. Ecclestone fell just short of catching Shafali on 29, running back from mid-off at the end of the powerplay. But England didn’t have to pay for it, as Shafali hacked one to deep square on 31.

India soon lost Mandhana too as she sliced a catch to short third, and the visitors went boundary-less for 40 balls from overs 7.2 to 13.6, Jemimah Rodrigues breaking the drought with a lofted hit off Lauren Bell. Harmanpreet Kaur too struggled for timing, and was nearly worked over on a number of occasions by Ecclestone, as she teased her in flight, loop and guide in a terrific exhibition of spin bowling – her figures reading 3-0-11-1 at one stage.

It wasn’t until India needed 27 off 34 that Harmanpreet managed a boundary, off her 20th delivery – a lofted hit over extra cover off Dean. The struggle was over as she put the next ball away to the deep square leg fence. Victory wasn’t far away from there on.

Harmanpreet and Rodrigues put on 48 off 42, along the way ensuring India didn’t slip up like they did earlier in the week. While Harmanpreet wasn’t around to see her team home, Rodrigues remained unbeaten on 24, bringing up the winning runs with a paddle as India cruised home with 18 balls to spare.

Brief scores:
India 127 for 4 in 17 overs (Smriti Mandhana 32, Shafali Verma 31,Jemimah  Rodrigues 24*, Harmanpreet Kaur 26; Charlie Dean 1-29, Sophie Ecclestone 1-20, Issy Wong 1-18) beat England Women 126 for 7 in 20 overs  (Sophia Dunkley 22, Alice Capsey 18, Tammy Beaumont 20, Paige Scholfield 16, Sophie Ecclestone 16*, Issy Wong 11*;  Amanjot Kaur 1-20, Deepti Sharma 1-29,  Radha Yadav  2-15, Shree Charani 2-30) by six wickets

[Cricinfo]

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Sri Lanka eye T20 climb as Bangladesh series begins

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Dasun Shanaka is set to feature in the Sri Lankan side after almost a year in the first T20 International against Bangladesh that gets underway today at Pallekele.

Having turned the corner in One-Day Internationals with seven series wins out of nine since the Champions Trophy heartbreak, Sri Lanka now shift focus to the shortest format where their progress has been more of a stop-start affair.

Ranked seventh in T20 Internationals, Sri Lanka begin their three-match series against Bangladesh at Pallekele today aiming to tighten screws ahead of next year’s T20 World Cup, which they will co-host with India.

“We’ve made headway in ODIs, but T20s still remain a work in progress,” skipper Charith Asalanka told reporters on the eve of the game. “Our target is to get into the top five. The key is consistency and for that we need to get our combination right.”

Sri Lanka have done changes to the middle order. Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Chamindu Wickramasinghe were given a go, but both have been sidelined for the series. In their place return the seasoned campaigners: Chamika Karunaratne and former captain Dasun Shanaka.

Shanaka is expected to bat at number six, but may float up the order depending on the situation, while Karunaratne slots in at number seven.

“We’re trying to be flexible. Shanaka can be used as a floater if we need early acceleration,” Asalanka explained.

Sri Lanka have about 15 games left to fine-tune their plans before the World Cup and Asalanka stressed the need to back players with extended runs rather than short-term trials.

“With seven months to go, we have time on our side. Managing workloads and keeping players in form is vital,” he said. “If the LPL goes ahead before the World Cup, that will give us another window to assess options.”

Among the key tactical moves is a role change for Avishka Fernando, who has been moved down the order after years at the top.

“Avishka batted at number four for Jaffna in the LPL and did a good job. We’ve earmarked that role for him. He’s no longer just an opener,” Asalanka revealed.

Sri Lanka, however, have been dealt a blow with the absence of Wanindu Hasaranga. The talismanic leg-spinner suffered a hamstring injury in the final ODI and has been ruled out of the series.

“Wanindu is our white-ball superstar, so missing him is a big setback,” Asalanka admitted. “But Jeffrey Vandersay has been quietly effective in recent years, and this is his chance to step up.”

The three-match series will be played across three venues – Pallekele, Dambulla and RPS – which Asalanka believes is a good thing.

“World Cups don’t happen at one ground. Playing across three different venues helps us adapt. It’s good preparation,” he said.

Rex Clementine at Pallekele

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