Sarangi and Sreshan fly to Turkey today

Long Jumper Sarangi Silva and Triple Jumper Sreshan Dhananjaya who train in Doha, Qatar, will fly to Turkey today where they will train for 30 days, said President of Sri Lanka Athletics, Maj.Gen.Palitha Fernando. The duo has not competed in World Athletics recognized competition since 2020 December, and while in Turkey they are set to compete in three competitions.

The two jumpers were selected to train in Qatar through a National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka Scholarship earlier this year, but hadn’t participated in a single competition recognized by World Athletics since then, while they participated in two competitions in Sri Lanka prior to their departure.

Sarangi, the 24-year-old South Asian Games Gold medalist, leapt a personal best of 6.38m during SAG and 6.33m during the 2020 National Championship, before she received the scholarship. She is not in the Road to Tokyo ranking purely due to lack of competition, and needs at least three more competitions to get a higher ranking, or leap 6.82m for direct qualification.

Sreshan, also 24, is the Sri Lanka record holder in the triple jump with a leap of 16.71m. He is ranked 61st in the Road to Tokyo ranking, and has to make it to the first 32 to get in to world ranking quota, or leap 17.14m for direct qualification. (AK)