Sports
Vinoj, Randi win best athlete titles at Diyagama

CT & FC Athletics Championships
by Reemus Fernando
Former national record holder of the 100 metres, Vinoj Suranjaya and reigning national triple jump champion Randi Cooray won the best athlete titles in the open category while Lyceum International Wattala athletes Janadi Chamya and Heshan Dulanjana grabbed the top awards in the most competitive age group of the CT & FC Athletics championships concluded at Diyagama on Sunday.
The two-day championship was taken part by hundreds of athletes despite wet weather hampering both days. Suranjaya who was not in his best form during recent competitions came up with an impressive 10.3 seconds feat to win the men’s 100 metres.
It was adjudged the best feat in the men’s open category.
In the women’s category, Randi Cooray won the award for her feat of 13.07 metres in the triple jump.
With almost all provincial level competitions concluded, many junior athletes took the opportunity to test their skills ahead of next month’s All Island Schools Games. Of all age categories, the Under 16 age group was the most competitive.
Lyceum duo Heshan Dulanjana and Janadi Chamya won the awards for the best efforts in that age category. While Dulanjana cleared 6.12 metres to win the Under 16 long jump, Chamya cleared 9.99 metres in the girls’ triple jump.
The best athlete awards in the Under 18 age category too were won by jumpers.
Svindi Denethra of Saman Athletics Academy won the girls’ Long Jump with a feat of 4.87 metres, while D.M.H.K. Dissanayake of Gnanodaya Central, Wariyapola cleared a distance of 6.83 metres in the Under 18 boys’ long jump.
It was the 58th edition of the championship conducted by the Ceylonese Track and Field Club, which is one of the oldest track and field clubs affiliated to Sri Lanka Athletics.
According to organizers close to thousand athletes took part in the championships at Diyagama despite wet weather.

Athletes and their representatives with the awards they won at the CT & FC Athletics Championships.
Most Outstanding Athletes of Various Categories
Under 14 Girls’: Haroon Hasan of Saman Athletics Academy (100m 13.3 secs)
Under 14 Boys’:
H.D.O.Y. Wijeratne of Taxila College, Horana (long jump 5.46 metres)
Under 16 Girls’:
H.A. Janadi Chamya of Lyceum International, Wattala (triple jump 9.99 metres)
Under 16 Boys’:
V.P. Heshan Dulanjana of Lyceum International, Wattala (long jump 6.12 metres)
Under 18 Girls’:
M.A.D. Svindi Denethra of Saman Athletics Academy (long jump 4.87 metres)
Under 18 Boys’:
D.M.H.K. Dissanayake of Gnanodaya Central, Wariyapola (long jump 6.83 metres)
Under 20 Girls’:
Ranindi Pehansa Gamage of Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya (high Jump 1.65 metres)
Under 20 Boys’:
K.P. Ravindu Ashen of Sangabodi Central, Nittambuwa (triple jump 15.06 metres)
Open Women’s:
Randi Cooray of Sri Lanka Army (triple jump 13.07 metres)
Open Men’s:
Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva of Sprinters Sri Lanka (100 metres 10.3 secs)
Latest News
Starc six-for, Boland hat-trick consign West Indies to 27 all-out and 0-3 defeat

There was a feeling that the stars had aligned for Mitchell Starc, playing his 100th Test with the pink ball he has so often dominated with, but few could have imagined the carnage that unfolded on the third day at Sabina Park as he claimed three wickets in his first over and the quickest five wicket haul in history including his 400th.
Yet that was not the end of it. Scott Boland claimed a hat-trick, removing Justin Greaves, Shamar Joseph and Jomel Warrican, leaving West Indies 26 for 9 and in danger of equaling the lowest ever Test total – made by New Zealand against England in 1955. They edged past it courtesy of a Sam Konstas misfield in the gully, but only by one run when Starc ended the text next ball to finish with a career-best 6 for 9. West Indies were all out in 14.3 overs.
Starc’s incredible performance propelled Australia to a 176-run victory and a 3-0 series margin after they had set West Indies 204 for victory in another match dominated by the quick bowlers. Alzarri Joseph, with a career-best 5 for 27, and Shamar shared nine wickets as Australia’s last four wickets fell for 22 runs but that was nothing compared to what followed.
Starc produced one of the great opening overs. He removed John Campbell first ball, the fourth time in his career he had struck with the opening delivery of an innings, when the left-handed edged a perfect outswinger to substitute wicketkeeper Josh Inglis who was standing in for the concussed Alex Carey.
Four balls later, Kevlon Anderson shouldered arms as the ball swung back to strike his shin in front of middle stump yet he reviewed the plumbest of lbws. Next delivery, another one arched back between Brandon King’s bat and pad to demolish the stumps. It was the sixth time in Test history a team had been 0 for 3.
Mikyle Louis survived the hat-trick ball at the start of Starc’s second over, but fittingly his 400th wicket came with another trademark inswinger as he trapped Louis lbw becoming the fourth Australian bowler to the landmark after Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and Nathan Lyon.
The extraordinary scenes continued when, two balls later, he added Shai Hope lbw to bring up a five-wicket haul in just 15 deliveries, the fastest from the start of an innings – beating the previous record of jointly held by Ernie Toshack, Stuart Broad and Scott Boland by four deliveries.
Starc’s monopoly ended when Josh Hazlewood had Roston Chase caught behind to leave West Indies on a scarcely believable 11 for 6. In the eighth over, Greaves became the first batter into double figures as he and Alzarri managed to reach the tea interval which at one stage had been in doubt.
After the interval, Boland got into the act as Greaves edged to slip and Shamar was lbw via the DRS. Then, with the hat-trick delivery, he speared one through Warrican. Few would have bet against four-in-four, but Starc ended with the honour of wrapping up one of the wildest passages of play imaginable.
The ball had dominated from the very start of the day when Cameron Green shouldered arms to one from Shamar, which shaped back to cannon into off stump. Green had played superbly the previous evening to given Australia a cushion for the fourth innings, although in the end they didn’t come close to needing it.
Shamar took his series tally to 22 wickets at 14.95, the most for a West Indies bowler against Australia since Courtney Walsh in 1999, but not long later there was only one quick bowler being talked about.
Brief scores:
Australia 225 in 70.3 overs (Steven Smith 48, Cameron Green 46; Shamar Joseph 4-33, Justin Greaves 3-56, Jayden Seales 3-59) and121 in 37 overs (Cameron Green 42; Alzarri Joseph 5-27, Shamar Joseph 4-34) beat West Indies 143 in 52.1 overs (John Campbell 36; Scott Boland 3-34) and 27 in 14.3 overs (Justin Greaves 11; Mitchell Starc 6-9, Scott Boland 3-2) by 176 runs
[Cricinfo]
Sports
Asalanka vows to bounce back after Dambulla drubbing

Skipper Charith Asalanka has promised a swift turnaround after Sri Lanka’s crushing defeat in the second T20I against Bangladesh left the three-match series level at 1-1.
The hosts were blown away for just 94 in a calamitous run chase at Dambulla on Sunday, their lowest T20I total on home soil and heaviest defeat to Bangladesh in the format, as the tourists romped home by 83 runs.
“Very disappointed with the batting effort. But these collapses can happen in T20 cricket,” Asalanka told reporters. “What matters is how you bounce back. We’ve done it before in the ODI series. We’ll dust ourselves off and come back hard in Colombo.”
Bangladesh had posted a competitive 177 for seven after being put into bat, but Sri Lanka’s response never got out of the blocks. The top order floundered and the innings fell apart like a house of cards.
“Once you restrict the opposition to 180 on that wicket, it should be a gettable target,” said a visibly frustrated Asalanka. “But we were nowhere near it. The batting was a big letdown.”
The team’s brittle middle order has long been a soft underbelly, with Chamika Karunaratne batting at number seven and Avishka Fernando, under scrutiny, struggling at four.
“We need to sit down and sort this out,” Asalanka said. “Number four and six have been problem positions. With the World Cup coming up, we can’t afford to shuffle without clarity. We’ve got to lock down our best XI.”
Despite the debacle with the bat, there were a few silver linings. Left-arm seamer Binura Fernando delivered a probing spell, returning career-best figures of three for 31. However, Sri Lanka’s sloppy fielding let the game slip further from their grasp.
Litton Das, who top-scored with a fluent knock, was handed two lives, once on 30 when Kusal Mendis fluffed a stumping and again on 56 when Maheesh Theekshana spilled a regulation chance. Both reprieves came off the bowling of leg-spinner Jeffrey Vandersay.
“Binura was excellent — he bent his back and dragged us into the contest during his second spell,” Asalanka said. “But we let ourselves down badly in the field. You can’t afford to gift chances at this level.”
A full house witnessed the Dambulla encounter, and another sell-out crowd is expected in Colombo for the series decider. Tickets for the final game were snapped up a week in advance, and with the series now on a knife edge, fans are hoping for a blockbuster finish.
by Rex Clementine
Sports
Idupa joins sub 46 club, bags best athlete title

Schoolboy Kalhara Idupa Silva joined an elite group of Sri Lanka’s 400 metres sprinters when he achieved a massive personal best time of 45.99 seconds to win the men’s 400 metres at the Western Province Athletics Championship of the National Sports Festival concluded at Diyagama on Sunday.
In the 100 year old track and field history in Sri Lanka only six men had run the one lap race under 46 seconds according to official counts. Idupa became the seventh athlete to accomplish the target and proved beyond doubt that the impressive performance displayed at the last selection trial was not a fluke.
Eyebrows were raised when he clocked 46.62 seconds in April to get selected to the Asian Championship in Gumi.
He also became the second athlete in the Under 20 age category to run the distance under 46 seconds. Reigning national champion Aruna Dharshana was the first.
Commenting on his achievement his coach Sumith Jayantha said that Idupa was groomed carefully to achieve success at senior level. “He did not get deceived by the talent scouts of Colombo schools. When he started winning podium places there were interest from Colombo schools. We have seen many talented athletes failing at senior level after peaking at junior level in those schools,” Jayantha said in an interview with The Island.

Sumith Jayantha (Coach)
“He deserves the support of a sponsor. He could not get the Mas Holding sponsorship as he could not attend the trial. I am hopeful the authorities would act swiftly to aupport him,” said Jayantha.
Idupa and national sprinter Sayuri Lakshima Mendis stole the limelight at the weekend when they bagged the best athlete titles of the Western Province Athletics Championship.
The 400 metres specialists were adjudged the most outstanding athletes for their impressive performamce during the two day meet where the winners of the three district meets of Colombo, Kalutara and Gampaha clashed for supremacy.
Indupa from Ananda Sastralaya Kotte excelled in both the men’s 200 metres and the 400 metres as he established new meet records in both events. The up and coming athlete who formed country’s 4×400 metres relay team with seasoned campaigner Kalinga Kumarage in Gumi, slashed nearly one second off the meet record when he stopped the clock under 46 seconds to win the 400 metres. In the 200 metres Idupa returned a time of 21.10 seconds.v
Lakshima clocked 53.93 seconds to win the 400 metres. She was adjudged the best athlete in the women’s category ahead of H.R.D. Sithmini who cleared 6.10 metres in the long jump.
by Reemus Fernando
-
News3 days ago
Dates for A/L and O/L exams announced
-
Latest News5 days ago
Search for survivors after Houthis sink second Red Sea cargo ship in a week
-
Business2 days ago
SLIC Life among Asia’s Best: Finalist in 3 key categories at 10th Trusted Life Awards
-
News5 days ago
Sri Lanka back to its high poverty levels
-
Features2 days ago
Afghanistan:Broken promises, burning nation
-
News3 days ago
Utilize capital allocated by the government effectively to reach targeted economic development goals – President
-
Business6 days ago
Maldives HC expresses deep concern over growing disconnect with Sri Lanka
-
Editorial2 days ago
Navigating tariff shocks