Connect with us

Sports

Tough selection standards announced for Asian Games

Published

on

Sri Lanka Athletics sets plans to end medal drought

by Reemus Fernando

Sri Lanka Athletics announced tough qualifying standards for next year’s Asian Games yesterday as the track and field governing body intends to form a formidable team to end more than a decade old medal drought at the quadrennial event in Hangzhou, China.

The selection criteria compiled by the coaching committee require athletes to be in the bronze medal winning standards of the past Asian Games to be eligible for selections. The tough standards explained in a comprehensive 18-page document make it compulsory for national record performances to warrant selections in a number of disciplines.

Tough standards

To make it simple, Italy based sprinter Yupun Abeykoon, who is one of country’s top athletes has to slash five milliseconds from his national record to earn a slot to represent the country in the men’s 100 metres individual event as the qualifying standard is set at 10.10 seconds.

Despite being ranked third in Asia currently in the women’s 800 metrers, Dilshi Kumarasinghe has to break her national record with a performance of 2:01.40 seconds or faster if she is to qualify in her pet event. Nilani Ratnayake who almost qualified for Tokyo Olympics too has to produce a record-breaking feat to qualify for the 3,000 metres steeplechase.

The leading men’s 400 metres sprinter Kalinga Kumarage who reached his personal best of 45.73 seconds in Patiala in June has to further slash some 0.03 seconds from his best if he is to qualify.

Looks easy for Ushan

Based on this year’s performances an athlete who is almost certain to secure a place in the team is the US based high jumper Ushan Thivanka whose national record performance of 2.30 metres in May is above the qualifying standard (2.25m).

The performances achieved at competitions conducted by the Sri Lanka Athletics and at events recognized by the World Athletics between February 2022 and April 2022 will be considered as the deadline for entries closes on April 30, 2022.

Sri Lanka Athletics will conduct Trial meets in February and March before going for the centenary National Championships (April) which will be considered as the final selection trial.

The track and field governing body has also announced a standard to qualify for the Asian Games and Commonwealth Games pools. Athletes qualifying for both the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games will also have to face compulsory trials and fitness tests where set standards have to be achieved. In the event athletes fail to reach qualifying standards the selectors will fill the given quota with the top performers closest to standards.

Sri Lanka Athletics has set a bold target of five medals to end the medal drought at the Asian Games.

While Sri Lanka failed to win medals in any sport at the last Asian Games in 2018 the country’s last medals in athletics were won at the 2006 Doha Games. While Rohan Pradeep Kumara, Rohitha Pushpakumara, Prasanna Amarasekara and Ashoka Jayasundara combined to win men’s 4×400 metres bronze, the last individual medals in athletics, women’s 100 metres silver and 200 metres bronze were won by Susanthika Jayasinghe in Doha.



Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Sports

Yuhansa, Ashlin record first round victories

Published

on

Ashlin de Silva

ITF Junior Circuit J30 Tennis Tournament

Yuhansa Peiris and Ashlin de Silva registered first round victories in the girls’ and boys’ segments respectively of the ITF Junior Circuit J30 week II Tennis Tournament at the SSC courts in Colombo.

Yuhansa Peiris (Pix by Kamal
Wanniarachchi)

Yuhansa beat her Chinese opponent Zhuo Chen 7-6, 6-2.

Ashlin de Silva beat Ayaan Mohammod (India) 6-3, 6-1.

The tournament which began on April 28 will run till May 4.

Continue Reading

Sports

British School’s Avyn bags tennis double

Published

on

Avyn Abeywardene in action (Pic by Kamal Wanniarachchi)

Avyn Abeywardene of the British School in Colombo completed a fine double at the SKA Challenge Slogan Stars Novices Tennis Championship held at the Army Tennis Courts in Narahenpita.

Avyn was in excellent form throughout the tournament as he clinched the Boys’ Green Ball Singles title and followed up by claiming the Doubles event in the same category.

In the Boys’ Green Ball Singles final, Avyn defeated Anuhas Athukoralage 4-1 after having outplayed Rehan Jayakody 4-0 in the semi-final encounter.

Anuhas made it to the final by overcoming Jenul Mendis 4-1 in the second semi-final fixture. Both Avyn and Jenul received a bye in their respective quarter-finals.

In the Boys’ Green Ball Doubles, Avyn partnered with Jenul, recorded a 4-2 win over the pair of Chanuga Rajapaksa and Kevon Serasinghe.

In the deciding encounter Avyn and Jenul completely outplayed the combination of Chathum Perera and Thinula Yugeeth 4-0 to emerge champions.

The tournament was conducted under the supervision of the Sri Lanka Tennis Association.

Continue Reading

Latest News

IPL 2025: 14 year old Suryavanshi, shatters records to keep Rajasthan Royals alive

Published

on

By

It was a barely believable century from 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi [BCCI]

In his third IPL match, the 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi brought down to their knees seasoned pros from the best bowling unit in the tournament, some of whom have been playing for longer than he has lived.

The youngest T20 centurion,  among the youngest handful centurions in all representative cricket, the second quickest century in the IPL in 35 balls, joint-most sixes – 11 – for an Indian in an IPL innings, highest boundary percentage in a T20 ton, with 94 of his runs coming in boundaries, Suryavanshi knocked off plenty of records. Oh, did we mention that it sealed the chase of 210 in 15.5 overs, the fastest successful chase of 200-plus in an IPL match, after Rajasthan Royals (RR) had lost three straight chases despite bossing 35 overs of those matches?

Suryavanshi’s opening partner Yashaswi Jaiswal played a lovely unbeaten T20 innings of 70 off 40, but he was the first one to admit he was left in the background by “one of the best innings I have seen”.

Suryavanshi tried to hit boundaries off 26 out of the 38 balls he faced. He nailed 15 of those attempts, but also got 25 off the 11 false shots when he tried to attack. The most impressive was a six over long-off off a slower hard-length ball from the tall Prasidh Krishna.

A perfect mix of intent, skill and luck. All at an age when most kids are dreaming of doing exactly what he did. Or do they even dare dream so high?

Surely, there must be teams thinking it is a matter of two wickets, and GT can be toppled. Yet their top three keep churning out runs while making them look easy and risk-averse. At the end of the 20 overs, GT had all their top three in the top six run getters in IPL 2025.

B Sai Sudarshan regained his orange cap, but he wasn’t quite at his most fluent. Dropped on nine, he was dismissed for 39 off 30, but thanks to Shubman Gill’s quick start, GT still had 93 in 10.2 overs. This was the fifth stand of 50 or more for the pair in just nine innings.

Sai Sudharsan’s wicket brought a period of lull created by Wanindu Hasaranga’s three boundaryless overs. There was a period of four overs for 23 runs, which Gill broke with two sixes off Yudhvir Singh’s pace in the 14th over. Immediately after that, Jos Buttler  who had got off to a slow start of 7 off 10 balls, laid into Hasaranga first and then compatriot Jofra Archer.

Hasaranga’s figures were rearranged to 4-0-39-0, and Archer went for 19 in the 18th over. Thought RR pulled things back with just 21 runs off the two last overs, not many gave them a chance of avoiding being knocked out.

It might be tempting to think that RR had nothing to lose, which freed Suryavanshi up, but we have seen enough of him in the first two games to know he doesn’t need any external freedom. His first act of disdain came in the first over, off the second legal delivery he faced. Mohammed Siraj, rejuvenated after a break from international cricket, 12 wickets to his name, bowled on a good length, not half-volley, but Suryavanshi launched him over long-on.

At the start of the second over, Jaiswal was dropped, and he celebrated it with a six and three fours by the end of the third over. That was the last time Jaiswal enjoyed any kind of lead. Ishant Sharma was bowling that one extra over to Ricky Ponting in the Perth Test back in 2007-08. Suryavanshi was born in 2011.

Ishant tried to bounce the kid, the kid hooked him for six. He overpitched slightly, and Suryavanshi whipped him over midwicket. Ishant did him in with a slower one, but the momentum of charging down and his amazing bat speed put enough in the mis-hit to clear mid-off. Then he played the regulation cut so hard that the top edge flew over straight third for a six.

Missing Gill because of back spasms in the second innings, GT were being led by Rashid Khan, who went to the offspin of Washington Sundar to the two left-hand batters. At 21, Washington was helping India win the Gabba Test and with that the most ridiculous Test series win of all time. There are levels to it, he was being shown now. Pull, sweep, inside-out drive over cover, and we had the youngest IPL half-centurion of all time, and the quickest this season, in 17 balls.

Prasidh and Rashid brought some sanity to proceedings with ten runs in two overs. Prasidh is the second highest wicket taker this IPL. He is tall and generates disconcerting bounce from hard lengths. He can also bowl a mean slower ball into the pitch. That is exactly what he did. He might have expected some respect, but Suryavanshi hit him for a six over long-off off the back foot. The exclamation mark of the innings.

IPL debutant Karim Janat was just a lamb thrown to slaughter with his gentle medium pace as Suryavanshi hit a boundary off each ball of the 30-run tenth over to take RR to 144. And himself to 94 off 34. The asking rate was now only a trickle above a run a ball.

It was only fitting that the century came through a six. A six off someone who will be on the Mount Rushmore of T20 bowling. Rashid, who bowled four overs for just 24 amid all the mayhem. Just too quick and too accurate to punish. Suryavanshi kept trying without success, but finally broke even Rashid down.

It took a pinpoint yorker from Krishna to send Suryavanshi on a slow walk back. The night he made his debut, Suryavanshi went back with tears in his eyes despite having wowed everyone with a six first ball. He wanted to show more of his batting. Did he ever?

Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 212 for 2 in 15.5 overs (Vaibhav Suryavanshi 101, Yashasvi Jaiswal 70*, Riyan Parag 32*; Prasidh Krishna 1-47,  Rashid Khan 1-24) beat Gujarat Titans 209 for 4 in 20 overs (Sai Sudarshan 39, Shubman Gill 84, Jos  Buttler 50, Washington Sundar 13; Joffra Archer 1-49, Maheesha Theekshana 2-35, Sandeep Sharma 1-33) by eight wickets

[Cricinfo]

Continue Reading

Trending