97th National Athletics Championship -MEN’S EVENTS PREVIEW
The 97th National Athletics Championship scheduled to be held on 16–18 August at Sugathadasa Stadium Colombo will also double as the final selection trials for the upcoming South Asian Games 2019 to be held on 01-10 December in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Since the newly instituted SAG ruling intended to curb the dominance of Sri Lanka and India on the winners’ podium limits participation in any and all events to one athlete per country (excluding the host nation), the competition will be stiffer and more severe than ever before as only the first place winner will get the chance to represent the country in the SAG – guaranteeing titanic clashes among top-class athletes to cull the cream of the crop.
100m
The three-way battle for the gold among defending SAG champion and record holder Himasha Eashan, defending SAG 200m Gold medalist Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva and Yupun Priyadarshana will be an absorbing race to watch.
Eashan was flying high early this year, clocking a wind-aided 10.11 and 10.12 seconds and setting a new South Asian and national record of 10.22 seconds while competing in his third Asian Championship. Former training partner and closest competitor de Silva too was in prime form, clocking 10.27 seconds early this year; but following a training accident he was sidelined for months. Italy based sprinter Yupun clocked an easy 10.31 seconds, relaxing towards the end, in May 2018; but he too missed out on the Asian Games and his third Asian Championship due to injury.
All three sprinter will meet for the first time since 2017, promising a classic battle, and though Himasha looks the favourite on the cards both Vinoj and Yupun are capable of toppling him from the top spot: both having beaten him in the 100m dash before.
200m
This is national record holder Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva’s pet event and he is the firm favorite to win it. He clocked 20.68 seconds last year to overturn the long-standing national record set by Sugath Thilakarathne, and is the only one in the field to clock a sub-21 seconds timing. According the Himasha’s coach Chaminda Perera, Eashan is also set to compete in the 200m event – which will follow the 100m – and his inclusion will add some much-needed competition that will contribute to a better winning time.
400m
The Men’s 400m has always provided stiff competition in the past, but this year’s final is shaping up to be one of the slowest in recent years. Aruna Darshana – with a personal best of 45.78 seconds – will be favoured to win the final, but injury earlier this year has seen him unable to register even a sub-47 seconds since then. Asian Championship participant Ajith Premakumara has not been practicing for the past two months due to personal reasons, while former champion Dilip Ruwan is still not at his best. Kalinga Kumarage, the other athlete with sub-46 seconds personal best will not feature in the race either: since he is currently serving a doping ban.
800m
After a disastrous start to the season, former SAG gold medalist Indunil Herath has returned to training with his longtime coach V. Rathnakumara and is reaching his best form: foreshadowing a fierce battle with seasonal leader Rusiru Chathuranga for the top spot and title. Chathuranga was the go-to 800m runner this year, representing Sri Lanka in both the Asian Championship and Asian Grand Prix, with a personal best of 1:48.10 seconds achieved in the absence of Herath to spur an even greater effort. Meanwhile, Kupun Kushantha will also be eyeing the national 800m title with a strong finish, which he has lacked thus far compared to his rivals: both of whose customary sprint towards the finish has consistently propelled them ahead of Kushantha in the past.
1500m
Damitha Hemantha has stood out in the 1500m during last two years, clocking several sub-3 mniutes 40 second timings in the event; but he will be strongly challenged by the likes of Kupun Kushantha, defending champion Tharanka Fonseka and 2016 SAG medalist Sanjeewa Lakmal.
3000m Steeplechase
RMS ‘Blacky’ Pushpakumara should ace this event without any problem provided he is not shackled by injury or a lapse in training, since no one close to seriously challenging his supremacy in the event. However, the NAC has a way of springing surprises, and he should not rest on his laurels.
5000m/10000m
Shanmugeswaran seems destined to do a distance double. However, he will face stiff competition in the 5000m from RMS Pushpakumara – who boasts the best timing in the event since 2018 – while defending champion A.K. Tharanga will also be gunning for another win. In 10000m Lionel Samarajeewa, who won the event for several years prior to being ousted by Shanmugeswaran in 2017 will be eager to regain his lost title.
110m Hurdles
Roshan Dammika Ranathunga is the favourite to win this title, as he did last year. A high jumper who later turned into a hurdler, Ranathunga had good seasons both last year as well as this year and has set his sights on getting into his first SAG team. He will be contending with fierce competition from rivals Hasith Nirmal, Saliya Randeewa and Woshin Ilham.
400m Hurdles
Defending champion Asanka Rathnasena is once again the favourite to win the title, but will face challenges from a trio of talented athletes comprising Aravinda Chathuranga, young Navod Sankalpa and his brother Asitha Rathnasena.
Javelin Throw
After a slip in performance since 2016, Olympian Sumedha Ranasinghe returned to 80m-plus distances and represented Sri Lanka in the Asian Championship this year. He will be strongly challenged by former national champion Waruna Lakshan Dayarathne, who represented Sri Lanka in the 2017 World Championship and Sampath Ranasinghe, who represented Sri Lanka in the 2018 Commonwealth Games. But with a personal best of 83.04m and a World Championship qualification mark of 83m, Sumedha will be eyeing a berth for a second SAG as well as participation in the World Championship.
Long Jump
Janaka Prasad Wimalasiri was the star jumper last year, representing Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games and finishing within the top 8 on both those occasions. He leapt 8.14m during the Nationals, setting up a new meet record, and is the favourite to take the NAC title. His closest competitor, Danushka Sandaruan will not be participating at the Nationals due to personal reasons, leaving Amila Jayasiri and H.G. Sampath his most dangerous rivals. National record holder Jayasiri did not have a good outing last year or early this year, and will be eyeing a turbo-charged performance. Meanwhile, national triple jump record holder Greshan Dhananjaya, too, has entered the long jump and has a realistic chance of bagging the honours in both events.
Triple Jump
With a record-breaking 16.71m leap during the National trials early this year followed by another 16m-plus leap during the Asian Championship under his belt, Greshan Dhananjaya is the only Sri Lankan triple jumper to have leapt more than 16m outside Sri Lanka and is the clear favourite to walk off with the title. He will be up against defending national champion and former record holder Sanjaya Jayasinghe, Eranda Fernando and Safeen Ahmed.
High Jump
For the first time in 9 years, Sri Lanka record holder and Olympian Manjula Kumara Wijesekara will not be featuring in the Nationals: opening the field for defending national champion Ushan Thiwanka and fourth-placed Youth Olympian Seniru Amarasinghe to go head to head for the high jump honours. 18-year old Seniru beat Thiwanka early this year during the National trails with leap of 2.15m, while the champion could attain only 2.10m compared to his 2.24m best last year.
Pole Vault
After a quiet year, defending SAG gold medalist and record holder Ishara Sandaruwan returned to winning ways by clearing 5.00m during this year’s Asian Championship trials. If he can repeat that performance he will be miles ahead of the rest; but the fact that the SAG organizers are scrapping his pet event from the schedule for this edition may demotivate him in this competition.
Discus Throw
Gayan Jayawardene broke his own national record last year with a throw of 56.40m to win the national title, and will be aiming to defend it against all comers. He will not face much of a problem, as there’s no one else who has thrown more than 50m in the event during the last two seasons.
Shot Put
Samitha Jayawardene won last year’s National with a new meet record of 16.23m, but at this year’s trials he was bested by S.M. Fernando with a distance of 15.89m against his own 15.45m. Jayawardene will be aiming to defend his title with another new meet record, while Fernando will be eyeing a repetition of his earlier success.
Hammer Throw
S.R. Kumarasiri was the national champion with 48.79m, while Sisira Kumara who finished second with 45.70m is set to give him stiff competition for the national title.
