Vinoj, Rumeshika complete sprint doubles
-Two sprinters clocked personal bests in 200m
-Sanjaya leaps 16.26m in triple jump
Sprinters Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva and Rumeshika Rathnayake once again stole the lime light with new personal bests in 200m as both of them completed sprint doubles on the second of the National Athletics selection trials concluded at Diyagama on Friday.
Vinoj the SAG champion in the 200m clocked 10.30 seconds in 100m, on Thursday and he dazzled in the 200m with a time of 20.84 seconds and now is only behind Sugath Thilakarathne (20.66 sec) and Prasanna Amarasekara (20.80 seconds) in the 200m. In doing so he also achieved the Asian championship qualification standard (21.14 seconds).
Vinoj who is the leading 200m runner in the country was beaten by Ajith Premakumara at the Army Athletics championship last year where Ajith completed a 200m, 400m double. Vinoj made sure he took revenge in the most emphatic fashion as he made a gesture towards Ajith at the end where Vinoj was well ahead of him finishing second in 21.40 seconds. Nevertheless, there was no wind measurement for 200m finals.
Rumeshika went below the 24 seconds mark in the 200m for the first time in 23.85 seconds as she raised the islander’s hopes for some more international medals in women’s sprinting. The 2016 South Asian Games’ fastest women wasn’t up to her mark in 2016 following the SAG as the 21 year old focused was on her Advance Level exams and it seems she is returning to her near best in both 100m and 200m now. On Thursday Rumeshika equalled her 100m personal best with 11.60 seconds.
Waruna Lakshan Dayarathne once again sealed the win in the javelin throw with his second 80m plus throw, 80.34m in a worn-out track which kept damaging throw after throw. Waruna had a disappointing tour during the Asian Grand Prix as he couldn’t do much in first two legs while the airport drama prevented him from travelling to the third leg.
The women’s 100m hurdle brought some excitement after long years with Heptathlon SL record holder, Lakshika Sugandi dazzling with a new personal best of 14.27 seconds. Vidusha Lakshani once again sealed the triple jump with a wind aided 14.54m leap while Ayesha Madhuwanthi won her pet event with 46.52m.
Sanjaya Jayasinghe once again excelled in the triple jump with a leap of 16.26m as Atheetha Karunasinghe finished behind with 16.07m. Mohammed Ahamed too leapt past 16m as he finished third with 16.05m. SL record holder Eranda Dinesh finished in fifth place with a disappointing 15.67m leap.
In the women’s 800m Nimali Liyanarachchi had to run a solo race as the only other competitor, Pramodha Abeysinghe gave up the race after the first 300m giving pace run for Nimali, where she clocked 2:06.33 seconds to win the race.
The two day championship saw three new Sri Lanka records being set in the men’s and women’s pole vault and shot put with Ishara Sandaruwan, J. Aneetha and Charith Kapukotuwa respectively eclipsing their own SL records. There were more than a dozen athletes who achieved Asian Championship qualifying standards and the AASL will finalize the team for Asian Championship within the coming few days.
Results: (Men)
200m: 1. Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva 20.84 sec, 2. Ajith Premakumara 21.40 sec, 3. Mohammed Rajaskhan 21.45 sec
5000M: 1. Saman Kumara 15:17.98 sec, 2. SR Wijewickrama 15:30.53 sec, 3. KM Wijerathne 15:33.53 sec
Javelin Throw: 1. Waruna Dayarathne 80.34m, 2. Sampath Ranasinghe 74.70 sec, 3. Sumedha Ranasinghe 70.37 sec
High Jump: 1. AK Pathirana 2.18m , 2. Ushan Thiwanka 2:14m, 3. KK Guruge 2.00m
Decathlon: 1. DS Perera 6696 points, 2. DP Kumara 5536 points, 3. PD Fernando 5527 points
Hammer Throw: 1. Sisira Kumara 49.54m, 2. EP Alanson 46.37 m , 3. SR Kumarasiri 46.02 m
Triple Jump: 1. Sanjaya Jayasinghe 16:26m , 2. Atheetha Karunasinghe 16:07m , 3. MNS Ahamed 16:05m
110m hurdles: 1. Hasith Nirmal 14.43 sec, 2. GD Illangakoone 14.88 sec, 3. SS Amarathunga 14.90 sec
Women
1000M: 1. Nilani Ariyadasa 37:23.05 sec, 2. Velu Krishanthi 38:01.62 sec, 3. HT Priyadarshani 38:31.72 sec
Hammer Throw: 1. Ayesha Madhuwanthi 46.52m, 2. Manoji Amarasinghe 46.08 sec, 3. Ayesha Lakshika 43.27 sec
100m hurdle: 1. Lakshika Sugandi 14.27sec, 2. IS Rajasinghe 15.20 sec, 3. DP Mohottala 15.50 sec
200m: 1. Rumeshika Rathnayake 23.85 sec, 2. Nirmali Madushika 24.81 sc, 3. Omaya Udayangani 25.40 sec
Triple Jump: 1. Vidusha Lakshani 13.54m(+3.3), 2. AS Dulanjani 12.97 m, 3. HD Weerasekara 12.68m
Heptathlon: 1. Harshani Jayakantha 4061 points, 2. SN Fernando 4026 points, 3. AN Navodani 3974 points
High Jump: 1. Dulanjali Ranasinghe 1.77m , 2. Jayamali Gunarathna 1.74m , 3. Saumya Sooriyampala 1.55m
3000m St. ch: 1. DD Kumari 10:52.90 sec, 2. IT Udayakumari 11:45. 99 sec, 3. NA Kumaru 12:38.67 sec
Shot Put: 1. Tharika Fernando 14.96m, 2. ND Muthunayaka 12.48m, 3. AP Kumari 11.53m
800m: 1. Nimali Liyanarachchi 2:06.33 sec
