Sports

Sri Lanka Athletics to seek private sector support to send team for World Junior Championships

Published

3 years ago

2022/05/21

Ambagamuwa Central hurdler Dhanuka Dharshana has bettered the World Junior Championship qualifying standard on several occasions.

Junior Nationals Athletics Championships rescheduled to June 7-10

by Reemus Fernando

Sri Lanka Athletics will seek support from the private sector to meet the massive costs involved in sending all athletes reaching qualifying standards for the World Junior Championships which will be held from August 1-6 in Cali, Colombia.The track and field governing body, which met this week to reschedule the Junior National Championship which was postponed due to the curfew imposed on May 9, also discussed ways of finding funds to send all athletes who reach qualifying standards for the World Junior Championships.

Sri Lanka Athletics has been sending all athletes reaching qualifying standards for the World Junior events in recent years. But the massive cost of airfare in the midst of the prevaling economic crisis has made it difficult for the sport’s governing body to bear the full cost involved in sending a strong team.So far nine athletes have reached qualifying standards for the biennial event and there is opportunity for other athletes to reach entry standards for the event when the postponed Junior National Athletics Championship is held from June 7 to 10 at the Sugathadasa Stadium.

“There is a massive cost involved in sending athletes for the Cali event. With the increased airfare it will cost around 1.5 million rupees per athlete. If we opt to send only the top two athletes and those who can find funds by their own it will not be fair by the others who reach qualifying standards. Because of that we will seek private sector support to send the full team,” a senior official of Sri Lanka Athletics told The Island on Friday.

Earlier there were plans to send a pruned down team but a couple of athletes have obtained private sponsorships for their travel compelling athletics officials to find sponsorships for others as well.Of the nine athletes who have reached qualifying standards so far, four are from three schools in Colombo. At least one athlete from outstations and an athlete from a school in Colombo have received the support of sponsors to meet their expenses during the meet.

“We will request leading private sector firms to support junior athletes. We will also seek the support of friendly sports federations like Sri Lanka Cricket to support us at this difficult moment,” said the official.

Tharushi Karunaratne (800m, 400m), Jayeshi Uththara (400m) and Amesha Hettiarachchi (400m hurdles) in the girls’ category and Sithum Jayasundara (400m), Dhanuka Dharshana (400m hurdles), Kaveesha Bandara (110m hurdles), Pasindu Malshan (triple jump), Hirusha Hashen (long jump) and Rumesh Tharanga (javelin throw) in the boys’ category are the athletes who have reached qualifying standards for the Cali event. Incidentally, Tharushi Karunaratne and Sithum Jayasundara will be taking part in their second consecutive World Junior Championships after having represented the country at the last edition in Nairobi. Sri Lanka did well to reach the final in the mix relay in Nairobi where they were ranked fifth with a time of 3:26.39 secs.

Junior National Championships from June 7 to 10

The Junior National Athletics Championship which was postponed after the morning session on May 9 will commence from where it stopped on June 7. According to athletics officials the events which could not be completed on May 9 will be held on June 7 and there will not be any changes to the schedule of the next three days.

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Sports

St. Anthony’s record third consecutive victory

Published

7 hours ago

2025/02/25

Sahan Weerasooriya

Under 19 Division I Cricket

Spinner Ryan Gregory led the bowling attack with a five wicket haul as St. Anthony’s College Katugastota registered their third consecutive victory in the Under 19 Division I tier ‘A’ limited overs cricket tournament at Katugastota.

The home team did well to defend a total of 179 runs as Gregory took five wickets to restrict Lumbini to 118 runs.

Match Results

St. Anthony’s win by 61 runs at Katugastota

Scores

St. Anthony’s

179 all out in 38.1 overs (Sanuka Kalpana 51, Nedan Ebert 55, Charuka Ekanayake 20; Kanishka Rangana 3/31, Thidas Perera 3/37, Dineth Bimsara 3/22)

Lumbini

118 all out in 34.4 overs (Dineth Bimsara 24, Jayanitha Mendis 44; Bimash Samarasinghe 2/22, Ryan Gregory 5/16)

St. Aloysius’ beat Tissa Central at Kalutara

Scores

Tissa

116 all out in 35.1 overs (Ashen Silva 38, Malindu Dilshan 25; Prabash Nirwan 2/25, Sasindu Randeepa 5/31, Emalsha Pabasara 2/12)

St. Aloysius’

118 for no loss in 14.4 overs (Deneth Dewminda 52n.o., Vinod Danushka 62n.o.)

St. Anthony’s Wattala pull off seven runs win at Moratuwa

Scores

St. Anthony’s Wattala

221 all out in 45 overs (Chamod Sandeepa 20, Harsha Weerasooriya 85, Chethin Dilsaru 47; Malith Shehan 4/42, Sandun Sudharshana 2/57)

Moratu Vidyalaya

214 all out in 43.2 overs (Sanjana Senaviratne 84, Sandun Sudarshana 28, Sithum Silva 35; Kavindu Senadi 3/35, Vishmitha Saroj 2/27, Shanel Yogarathna 3/40) (RF)

Sports

Bowlers’ show as Thurstan cruise to ten wickets win

Published

1 day ago

2025/02/24

Thilina Walpola

Thurstan college celebrate after beating their arch rivals Isipatana college at the annual big match.

62nd Battle of the Brothers

Rachintha de Silva in the first innings and spinner Sethru Fernando in the second innings produced the much needed special bowling performances to lead Thurstan to massive ten wickets victory over arch rivals Isipatana at the 62nd Battle of the Brothers big match at the SSC ground on Sunday.

The team captained by Thanuga Palihawadana scored their first victory of the series in six years as openers Dunal Induwara and Thanuja Rajapakse kept their wickets intact to reach the target in eight overs.

The two teams could not be separated when they met in the three-day semi-final last week at Sooriyawewa. But at the SSC Rachintha gave them the edge taking six wickets in the first innings to dismiss Isipatana for 203 runs.

In their essay Dinal Induwara (42), Pathum Dananjaya (42) and Janitha Rukshan (77) scored the bulk of runs for Thurstan to post 257 for nine wickets declared.

The third day belonged to spinner Sethru Fernando as he rattled Isipatana top order with a five wicket haul.

Sri Lanka Under 19 skipper Vihas Thewmika took three wickets.

It was Thurstan’s seventh victory in the series as they added the big match victory to their recent success in the Tier ‘B’ tournament.It was the first time the two teams met in a three-day Big Match.

Latest News

Kohli 100* headlines India’s comprehensive win against Pakistan

Published

1 day ago

2025/02/24

Priyan

Virat Kohli brings up his 51st ODI century [Cricinfo]

In the biggest match of the year, with his mortality showing more than it ever used to, Virat Kohli proved he’s still got it, that maybe, just maybe, the little he’s lost isn’t going to define him. He ticked off 14,000 runs in ODI cricket, brought up his 51st ODI century, set up India for a semi-final spot and essentially crossed out Pakistan from the 2025 Champions Trophy. The holders and the hosts need other results to go their way to stay alive in the tournament now.

India went into the game as favourites. They were worthy of that seeding, limiting Pakistan to 241 with Hardik Pandya putting in the kind of performance that should make him illegal. An allrounder capable of dismissing the opposition’s best batter, and then coming back to take down their top-scorer, isn’t just a name on the sheet. He is the secret sauce.

And Kuldeep Yadav was the spice. His left-arm wrist-spin is so rare and he made it rarer by finding a way to be quick through the air without compromising on turn or accuracy. So that means unless batters pick him out of the hand, they are always going to be guessing. Three Pakistan batters guessed wrong. All three were end-overs wickets. Pakistan were setting up to explode at the death. Kuldeep just wouldn’t let them. The injury hasn’t affected his menace.

Pakistan were able to produce moments. Shaheen Shah Afridi sending down a 143kph inswinging yorker to shatter Rohit Sharma’s stumps. Abrar Ahmed conjuring a carrom ball from hell to get rid of a rampaging Shubman Gill. But when it came to capitalising on them, they just couldn’t. The result was a world champion side that was renowned for pulling games out of the fire now seems to do the first part right – they definitely got into trouble in Dubai – but the other part, the important part is going so very wrong. Pakistan were 151 for 2 in the 34th over before they were bowled out for 241 with the most inexperienced member of the India side dictating terms, Harshit Rana and his slower balls were just impossible to hit.

A game in an ICC event and a rivalry with history bursting out of it eventually became so one-sided that its last few moments were dominated by an individual pursuit. Axar Patel turned down an easy two so Kohli could pursue his hundred. The crowd in Dubai loved that. There were 12 runs to get for India’s victory and 12 runs to get for their hero’s century and they chanted his name over and over. Pakistan were nowhere to be found. Ever since a collapse of 3 for 11 in 19 balls, this game turned pear-shaped for them.

Mohammad Rizwan had banked on the innings going so differently. He came in at 47 for 2 and hit his first ball for four and then decided run-scoring was not for him. He was 24 off 50. He barely hit the ball in anger. He point blank refused to. At the other end, Saud Shakeel was at least making an effort to turn the good balls he was facing into singles. When he got to fifty, he had weathered only 29 dot balls. At the same time, Rizwan at the other end, had racked up 40. India did well by denying him spin to start his innings. But still, this was a better pitch than the opening game in Dubai a few days ago. It wasn’t flat, but it had a little more pace in it, and it got better under lights. Rizwan, though, batted like it was cursed. He was worried bad things would happen if he tried to hit the ball hard.

And it kinda did. Rizwan fell trying to hit Axar out of the ground and his wicket triggered a collapse. Shakeel fell in the next over and Tayyab Tahir followed soon after. India, having spent 320 deliveries across two matches searching for a wicket in the middle overs, had found three in the space of four. Pakistan were 165 for 5. Soon they would be 200 for 7, having to negotiate the last 7.1 overs of the innings with their tail exposed.

India’s discipline never let Pakistan off the hook and leading the way was Hardik, banging the ball just short of a length on a pitch that was offering a bit of grip and some tennis-ball bounce. He took out Babar Azam at a time when India’s lead fast bowler, Mohammed Shami, was off the field with a shin problem and he did Shakeel for lack of pace just after the left-hander had smacked him for four. He always knew what to do to exploit the conditions and make the batter’s life miserable. On the back of his work, Kuldeep and Rana bowled 6.4 death overs for 28 runs and picked up four wickets.

Gill was the star of India’s chase early on, a conscious effort to keep his front foot from moving too far forward and across leaving him excellently placed to take advantage of Afridi and his full length deliveries when there was no swing on offer. When he rammed the Pakistan fast bowler down the ground and then one-upped it by coming down the track and lifting the ball into the sightscreen, it looked like it was going to be his day. Abrar intervened with a ball that drifted in through the air, tempting the right-hander to close the face of his bat, and turned away to rattle middle and off stump. Gill was stunned.

Kohli, too, offered a shrug of his shoulders. He looked vulnerable against Abrar too and was almost bowled playing back to him. But against the quicks, he was vintage. He went past 14,000 runs with a crisp cover drive off Haris Rauf. All of Pakistan’s best bowlers offer pace on the ball. And that is Kohli’s happy place. A batter of his quality needs to be made uncomfortable at the crease when he is new. He had been dismissed five times in his last six ODIs by legspin. Pakistan had one of those and they felt they couldn’t go to him.

Shreyas Iyer helped himself to a half-century. A little change in his technique where he holds his bat higher and waves it as the bowler approaches, creating momentum into his shots, is helping him deal with an earlier weakness against the short ball. He clubbed Rauf for four in front of square to prove it. But there was no taking the spotlight from his senior partner.

Kohli was setting the tempo. Pakistan had allowed to do so. Though he only hit three of his first 62 balls to the boundary, he already had fifty runs to his name. He knows how to score quickly without looking for big shots. The ball wasn’t stopping on the surface as much under lights. Things were working in his favour again. He almost knew he was going to get a hundred. He demanded an explanation when Axar turned down a second run off a wide in the 42nd over when it was clear to everybody else that all he was doing was make sure Kohli had the best chance to get to three-figures with time running out. When he did, off the last ball of the match, Kohli looked to the dressing room and literally said “I told you. Relax”. That was how easy this was. That was how inevitable he was.

Brief scores:
India 244 for 4 in 42.3 overs (Rohit Sharma 20, Shubnam Gill 46, Virat Kohli 100*, Shreyas Iyer 56; Shaheen Shah Afridi 2-74) beat Pakistan 241 all out in 49.4 overs (Saud Shakeel 62, Babar Azam23, Mohammad Rizwan 46, Khushdil Shah 38; Hardik Pandya 2-31, Kuldeep Yadav 3-40)by six wickets

[Cricinfo]