Sports
Ushan scales new heights in US
Olympian Ethir predicts more record breaking feats
by Reemus Fernando
Former Maris Stella College jumper Ushan Thivanka achieved his personal best performance of 2.25 metres in the high jump on Saturday at an indoor competition held in Texas, USA where he is pursuing higher education.
The impressive performance, which is a new Sri Lanka Indoor record, indicates bright prospects as he reached standards set by Sri Lanka Athletics to enter country’s ‘Elite Pool’ of athletes.
Sri Lanka Athletics had set 2.22 metres as the standard to enter the Elite Pool.
Olympian and Asian Games high jump gold medallist Nagalingam Ethirveerasingam, who has helped a number of Sri Lankan high jumpers, including current national record holder Manjula Kumara, pursue higher education and sports in US Universities, believes that Thivanka has the potential to break Manjula Kumara’s outdoor record soon rather than later.
“Ushan has the potential to break or equal Manjula’s record by April or May at an outdoor competition,” Ethirveerasingam who is currently in the US told The Island when asked for his comments on the achievement.
Manjula’s outdoor national record (of 2.27 metres) which is 14 years old now has been equaled only once and that was also by the record holder himself.
Ushan had an outdoor personal best of 2.24 metres achieved in Colombo in 2018 and a seasonal best of 2.21 metres achieved last month (Crimson & Gold Invitational) before entering the competition on Saturday.
Ushan had been considered a potential successor to Manjula Kumara ever since he started scaling heights over 2.20 metres.
His new personal best mark is now level with the 17th position in current indoor world rankings shared by Tihomir Ivanov, Falk Wendrich, Tejaswin Shankar and Jeron Robinson.
In outdoor competitions this year, Hamish Kerr of New Zealand has the best performance of 2.31 metres and all other outdoor performances are below the 2.22 metres mark.
Ushan’s improving standards are a welcome sign to local athletics enthusiasts who are yearning to witness athletes achieving qualifying standards for Tokyo Olympics within the next few months. They have so far witnessed only one athlete (steeplechase athlete Nilani Ratnayake) performing within qualifying standards for the Tokyo Olympics.
The Tokyo Olympics will offer only 32 spots for men’s high jump and the qualifying standard set for the discipline is 2.33 metres.
Royal College defeated S. Thomas’ College by four wickets in the 48th Mustangs Trophy cricket encounter played at the SSC today [15]
Scores:
S. Thomas’ 220 in 49.1 overs
Royal 223/6 in 46.4 overs
Is it 2023 again ? Mumbai Indians [MI] and Delhi Capitals [DC], two consistently good teams with all-star line-ups, meet again in the WPL final. While DC have breezed into the final this season, MI are coming in battle-hardened, having had to take the circuitous route by playing three matches in four days to get there.
DC have been strong in most departments, and have got their selection calls right throughout the season. Their captain Meg Lanning hit form late in the tournament, Shafali Verma has continued to churn out the runs at the top of the other, and the move to promote Jess Jonassen to No. 3 has paid off. But for DC to look more threatening, they’d want their middle order to step up further. Their middle order (Nos. 4 to 7) collectively averages 17.50, the lowest this season, and have struck at 116.66, which is the second-lowest among all teams.
MI’s line-up also drips with power and strength. Powerplay bowling has been one of DC’s strongest suits, but only MI have bettered that. DC’s bowlers have taken 50 wickets at 23.84 in this phase, while MI have 61 wickets at 22.68.
For MI,Nat Sciver-Brunt has been at her brutal best, Hayley Matthews has delivered with both bat and ball, and captain Harmanpreet Kaur has hit high tempo. The rest of the line-up, though, has blown hot and cold.
But MI will be playing at their home ground – a venue where they’ve lost just once in seven games – and that tilts the scales in their favour. DC, though, have had a good seven days break, and will be coming in without the pressure of having had to scramble for a place in the final. Two heartbreaking finals later, will third time be the charm for them?
MI had promoted Amelia Kerr to the opening slot, and pushed Yastika Bhatia down the order for a couple of games. While Yastika was able to make quick runs from her new position, Kerr, who hasn’t been in the best of form with the bat, wasn’t able to capitalise on her starts. The order went back to what it was in the Eliminator against Gujarat Giants (GG), but neither player made an impact. Will MI switch their positions again to get the best out of Yastika?
MI had also brought in left-arm spinner Saika Ishaque in place of Parunika Sisodia for the Eliminator. Will they pick Ishaque again for the final after she bowled just one over against GG?
DC, who were last in action on March 7, are unlikely to make any changes to their line-up.
Mumbai Indians (probable): Hayley Matthews, Amelia Kerr, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), Amanjot Kaur, Yastika Bhatia (wk), S Sajana, G Kamalini, Sanskriti Gupta, Shabnim Ismail, Saika Ishaque
Delhi Capitals (probable): Meg Lanning (capt), Shafali Verma, Jemimah Rodrigues, Annabel Sutherland, Marizanne Kapp, Jess Jonassen, Sarah Bryce (wk), Niki Prasad, Minnu Mani, Shikha Pandey, Titas Sadhu
[Cricinfo]
Dinara de Silva secured a place in the singles semi-final and also booked a spot in the doubles final at the ITF Junior Circuit J30 Week 1 tournament continued at the Sri Lanka Tennis Association clay courts on Friday.
Dinara de Silva overcame a first set defeat to beat Gwen Emily Kurniawan of Indonesia 2-1 (4-6, 6-0, 6-1) in the quarter-final.
Dinara is set to meet Shivali Gurung of Nepal in the semi-final.
In the doubles semi-final Dinara joined China’s Yijia Zhao to beat Japan’s Sakino Miyazawa and Eyuyo Shida 6-4, 4-6, 10-5.
Royal defeat S.Thomas’ by 4 wickets in 48th Mustangs Trophy encounter
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