Sri Lanka secured nine gold medals, nine silver medals, and 17 bronze medals at the South Asian Athletics Federation (SAFF) Junior Championship, which concluded at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai, on Friday (13).

In doing so, Sri Lanka also shattered four meet records. Team leader Lesandu Arthavidu from Ananda College stunned the arena on the final day as he cleared a massive personal best of 2.17m in the high jump, winning the gold medal with a new meet record. Tharusha Mendis, just 17, finished second for the silver medal, clearing 2.10m.

Sri Lanka once again sealed both the 100m and 200m men’s events during the championship, with two Ananda College athletes, Merone Wijesinghe and Indurasa Vidushan, winning the 100m and 200m respectively, while also setting new meet records in the process. They came together once again, along with Malith Thamel and Dineth Induwara, to secure the 4x100m gold medal.

While the 4x100m men’s relay gold medal was expected, Sri Lanka’s 4x400m team ran their hearts out to beat India, who had individual gold and bronze medalists in the team. Hasindu Methsara, Omel Shashintha, Jathya Kirulu, and Sadev Rajakaruna clocked 3:09.28 seconds for the gold medal. Kirulu, who finished outside the medals in the 400m in Chennai despite being a World Junior semifinalist, ran his heart out, giving the lead to Sri Lanka, where Sadev, who wasn’t included in the individual 400m, ran the race of his life to secure the gold medal.

Meanwhile, two 16-year-olds excelled in the 800m, with Davindu Awishka clocking a new meet record of 1:49.83 seconds to win the men’s 800m gold medal, while Tharushi Abhisheka clocked 2:10.17 seconds to win the women’s 800m gold medal.

The other gold medal came from 110m hurdler Sandun Kosala, who clocked 14.06 seconds to win the gold medal.

Sri Lanka fielded a team of 53 athletes for the 4th edition of the SAFF Junior Championship, which served as a steppingstone for budding athletes towards their senior careers.

India won the overall championship with 21 gold medals, 22 silver medals, and five bronze medals. Apart from Sri Lanka and India, none of the other participating countries were able to win a gold or silver medal. Bangladesh finished third with three bronze medals, while the Maldives secured two bronze and Nepal one. Bhutan and Pakistan failed to win any medals.

The Athletics Federation of India (AFI) promises to bring more frequent South Asian Athletics Championships, with the last SAFF Junior Championship held in 2018. The AFI stated that they will be holding the SAFF senior and junior championships in alternate years in a budget competition model, allowing regional athletes to gain international exposure at a lower cost.

Gold Medals

• Merone Wijesinghe: 100m Men – 10.41 seconds (Meet Record)
• Savindu Awishka: 800m Men – 1:49.83 seconds (Meet Record)
• Tharushi Abhisheka: 800m Women – 2:10.17 seconds
• Sandun Kosala: 100m Hurdles Men – 14.06 seconds
• Kavinda Dissanayaka: Triple Jump Men – 15.09m
• Lesandu Arthavidu: High Jump Men – 2.17m (Meet Record)
• Indusara Viduhan: 200m Men – 21.33 seconds (Meet Record)
• 4x400m Men’s Team (Hasindu Methsara, Omel Shashintha, Jathya Kirulu, Sadev Rajakaruna) – 3:09.27 seconds
• 4x100m Men’s Team (Malith Thamel, Dineth Induwara, Indusara Vidushan, Merone Wijesinghe) – 40.28 seconds (Meet Record)

Silver Medals

• Dineth Weerarathne: 100m Men – 10.49 seconds (Better Previous Record)
• Kashmika Jayarathna: High Jump Women – 1.65m
• Nethra Samadhi: High Jump Women – 1.65m
• Omel Shashintha: 400m – 47.17 seconds
• Hansaka Sandeepa: Triple Jump Men – 14.92m
• Tharusha Mendis: High Jump Men – 2.10m (Better Previous Record)
• Dilki Nehara: Triple Jump Women – 12.32m
• 4x400m Women’s Team (Jithma Wijethunga, Pravindi Dunusinghe, Sashini Bhagya, Takshima Nuhansa) – 3:49.99 seconds
• 4x100m Women’s Team (Dhananjana Ranasgalla, Dhanani Kodithuwakku, Dilanma Ransini, Shanella Senevirathne) – 45.08 seconds

Bronze Medals

• Jayavi Alwis: Shot Put Men – 15.62m
• Shanella Senevirathne: 100m Women – 12.04 seconds
• Thevindu Sandil: Long Jump Men – 7.22m
• Cristian Dabarera: Discus Throw Men – 39.24m
• Dulanjana Pradeepani: 3000m Women – 10:39.39 seconds
• Dulanjana Pradeepani: 1500m Women – 4:39.01 seconds
• Miyuni Gunathilaka: 100m Hurdles Women – 15.32 seconds
• Dhananjana Ranasgalla: Long Jump Women – 5.73m
• Nisansala Madubashi: Javelin Throw Women – 35.02m
• Malkethmi Silva: Shot Put Women – 10.68m
• Prashan Buddika: 1500m Men – 4:03.79 seconds
• Malith Thamel: 200m Men – 21.44 seconds (Better Previous Record)
• Dilhara Danasinghe: Javelin Throw Men – 62.22m
• Takshika Nuhansa: 400m Women – 55.27 seconds
• Vishwa Tharuka: 110m Hurdles Men – 14.27 seconds
• Sansala Himashani: 800m Women – 2:12.13 seconds
• Savindhi Gunarathne: Discus Throw Women – 37.95m

The post SL Athletes shine at SAFF Junior Championship with 35 Medals and Five Meet Records appeared first on Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portal | Fixtures | Results.

The South Asian Athletics Federation (SAFF) Under-20 Championship will commence today with six finals scheduled for the evening. The competition will feature the 100m finals, where Anandian Merone Wijesinghe and Gateway College’s Shanella Senavirathne will be vying for the crown. Merone, who competed in the semifinals of the World Athletics Junior Championship in Peru last month, is the fastest athlete in this competition.

In addition to the 100m, the 800m finals, men’s shot put, and women’s high jump finals will also be held in the evening.

The South Asian Athletics Federation (SAFF) Under-20 Championship will commence today with six finals scheduled for the evening. The competition will feature the 100m finals, where Anandian Merone Wijesinghe and Gateway College’s Shanella Senavirathne will be vying for the crown. Merone, who competed in the semifinals of the World Athletics Junior Championship in Peru last month, is the fastest athlete in this competition.

In addition to the 100m, the 800m finals, men’s shot put, and women’s high jump finals will also be held in the evening.

Schedule (Day 1- 11th September)

17.00 Shot Put Men Final ( Rahinda Alwis )

17.10 High Jump Women final (Kashmika Timeshi, Nethara Samadhi)

17.10 100m Men Heats (Merone Wijesinghe, Dineth Induwara)

17.35 100m Women Heats (Shanella Senavirathne, Danani Kodithuwakku)

18.00 800M Women Final (Tharushi Abisheka, Sansala Himashani)

18.10 800M Men Final (Savindu Avishka , Dineth Liyanage)

20.00 100M Men Final

20.10 100m Women Final

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New Delhi : India’s promising 3,000m steeplechase runner, Sharuk Khan, will be among 55-member national team, including 27 in women’s group selected by Athletics Federation of India (AFI) that will compete at the September 11 to 13 South Asian Athletics Federation (SAAF) Junior Championships scheduled to be held in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

Sharuk Khan twice improved the U20 national 3,000m steeplechase record at the just concluded World Athletics U20 Championships held in Lima, Peru. He finished 10^th in the final with a time of 8:42.06 seconds.

Quarter-miler Jay Kumar is another prominent athlete in the national team.

Teams from Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Pakistan have also confirmed their entries for three-day competition in Chennai.

Indian team: Men: Varun Oori Manohar, Mrutyam Jayaram Dondapati (100m), Partik Maharana, Mrutyam Jayaram Dondapati (200m), Jay Kumar, Rihan Ch (400m), Vinod Kumar, Bopanna Klappa (800m), Rahul Sarnaliya, Priyanshu (1500m), Sharuk Khan, Mohit Choudhary (3,000m steeplechase), Hariharan Kathiravan, Nayan Pradip Sarde (110m hurdles), Sagar Roy, Juwel Thomas (high jump), Mohd Atta Sazid, RC Jithin Arjunan (long jump), Bhupendra Bisht, Raviprakash (triple jump), Anurag Singh Kaler, Siddharth Choudhary (shot put), Ritik, Atul (discus throw), Dipanshu Sharma, Rohan Yadav (javelin throw) and 4x100m relay (M Jayaram Dondapati, Mahendra Santa, Karthikeyan S, Varun Oori Manohar, Vallipi Himateja).

Women: Abinaya Rajarajan, V Sudheeksha (100m), Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland, Neeru Pathak (200m), Neeru Pathak, Sandra Mol Sabu (400m), Laxita Vinod Sandilea, Tanvi Malik (800m), Laxita Vinod Sandilea, Vinita Gurjar (1,500m), Prachi Ankush, Shilpa Dihora (3,000m), Unnathi Aiyappa Bolland, Sabita Toppo (100m hurdles), Pooja, Mohur Mukerjee (high jump), Prathiksha Yamuna, Lakshanya SN (long jump), Rishika Awasthi, Prathiksha Yamuna (triple jump), Tamanna, Pooja Kumari (shot put), Amanat Kamboj, Anisha (discus throw), Deepika, Poonam (javelin throw), 4x100m relay (Abhinaya Rajarajan, V Sudheeksha, Nancy, Neole Anna Cornelio, Rujula Amol Bhonsle).

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Sri Lankan athletes Tarushi Karunaratne and Kalinga Kumara represented Sri Lanka in the 19th BILBAO REUNIÓN International Athletics Meet held in Spain.

In the women’s 600 meters event, Tarushi finished in second place, clocking a time of 1 minute, 24.84 seconds. Her performance in this event is particularly significant as the points scored in the 600 meters are also applicable to the 800 meters event, enhancing her chances of qualifying for the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, in the men’s 400 meters event, Kalinga Kumara finished in third place, completing the race in 45.91 seconds.

Both athletes’ performances have contributed valuable points towards their Olympic qualification aspirations, marking a proud moment for Sri Lanka in international athletics.

The post Tarushi Secures Second Place, Kalinga placed Third in Spain appeared first on Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portal | Fixtures | Results.

Aruna Darshana clocked 45.88sec to finish 2nd behind Yuki Joseph of Japan (45.49sec) the favorite Emmanuel Bamidele of Nigeria placed third (45.90sec)who owns a Personal best of 44.88sec (Aruna Darshana’s Rank unchanged)
NACAC New Life Invitational meet – WA Continental Tour – Silver Meet
බහාමාස් හි පැවති NACAC ආරාධිත මලල ක්‍රීඩා තරගාවලියේ පිරිමි මීටර් 400 ඉසව්වේ දෙවන ස්ථානය හිමිකර ගැනීමට අරුණ දර්ශන (45.88) සමත්වෙයි.
තරගයේ ජය ජපානයේ යුකී ජෝසප්⁣ට (45.49)හිමිවූ අතර පුද්ගලික හොඳම දක්ෂතාව ලෙස තත්පර 44.88 ක දක්ෂතාවක් දක්වා පැමිණි නයිජීරියාවේ Emmanuel Bamidele අරුණ හමුවේ පරාජය විය.

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රුමේෂ් තරංග නව ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාර්තාවක් හා තරගාවලි වාර්තාවක් පිහිටුවමින් මීටර් 85.45ක දක්ෂතාවක් දක්වමින් ආසියානු විසිකිරීමේ ශූරතා රන් පදක්කම හිමිකරගනී.

හිටපු ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාර්තාලාභී සුමේධ රණසිංහ මීටර් 77.57 ක දක්ෂතාවක් සමගින් ලෝකඩ පදක්කම හිමිකරගැනීමට සමත්විය.
රුමේෂ් හට ඔලිම්පික් සුදුසුකම් ලැබීමේ පරිසාධන මට්ටම වන මීටර් 85.50 ක දක්ෂතාව අහිමිවූයේ සෙන්ටිමීටර් 5කින්.

ලේකම්ගේට ලෝකඩ පදක්කමක්

මේ අතර කාන්තා තරගයේ දී ශා දිල්හානී ලේකම්ගේ  මීටර් 57.94 ක දක්ශතාවක් දක්වමින් ලෝකඩ පදක්කම හිමිකර ගැනීමට සමත් වූවාය.

එම තරගයටම ඒක්වූ යනා මධුවන්තීට හත්වැනි ස්ථානය. දක්ශතාව 48.46

The post රුමේෂ් තරංග නව ශ්‍රී ලංකා වාර්තාවක්; ලංකාවට පදක්කම් තුනක් appeared first on Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portal | Fixtures | Results.

Javelin throwers Nadisha Dilhani, Diana Harshani, Sumedha Ranasinghe and Rumesh Tharanga are included in this team.
Mr. Tony Prasanna will be the coach of this team and Mr. Sameera Perera will be the manager.

Back row (from left)
Dilhani Lekamge, Rumesh Tharanga, Sumedha Ranasinghe and Diana Harahani

Seated (from left)
Tony Prasanna (Team Coach), Saman Kumara Gunawardana (Secretary General of Sri Lanka Athletics), Major General Palitha Fernando (President of Sri Lanka Athletics) and Sameera Lakruwan Perera (Team Manager)

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Amasha Silva, Tharushi Karunaratne, and her brother Harsha Karunaratne have opted to withdraw from the championship due to fitness issues. Amasha informed an injury, while Tharushi and Harsha are both citing illness.

The inaugural Asian Relays Championship will be held on the 20th and 21st of May in Thailand.

Team Sri Lanka is scheduled to leave the island on the 18th of May.

Not in the Photograph:
Kalinga Kumarage , Nadeesha Ramanayake and Muddika Thushara (Coach)

List of Competitors for Asian Relays

4X100m (Men)
1. RP Kavindu Chathuranga
2. Dineth Induwara
3. Chamod Yodasinghe
4. Chanuka Dharmakeerthi
5. DPH Gamlath (Reserve)
6. Dineth Senanayake (Reserve)

4X100m Women

1. Shafiya Yamic
2. Rumeshika Rathnayake
3. Dinara Bandara Dela
4. Anuruddika Muthukumarana
5. Dilushani Silva (Reserve)
6. Medhani Jayamanme (Reserve)

4X400m Men

1. Kalinga Kumarage
2. S. Aruna Darshana
3. Dinuka Deshan
4. Pasindu Kodikara
5. Pabasara Niku (Reserve)
6. Isuru Lakshan (Reserve)

4X400m Women

1. Nadeesha Ramanayake
2. Rumeshika Rathnayake
3. L. Sayuri Mendis
4. Nishendra Fernando
5. Shafiya Yammick (Reserve)

The post More New Faces in National colors for Asian Relay: Amasha, Tharushi, and Harsha Opt to Pull Out appeared first on Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portal | Fixtures | Results.

Kalinga Kumarage, who took part in the 400m Men’s Finals, clocked 45.92 seconds to win, while the hosts’ ITO Rikuya and MORI Masato finished 2nd and 3rd, respectively, clocking 46.09 seconds and 46.61 seconds at the 11th Kinami Michitaka Memorial Athletics Meet, which is a WA Continental Tour’s Bronze competition.

Full Results: https://www.oaaa.jp/results/r_24/kinami/kyougi.html

Nadeesha Ramanayaka, who competed in the UAE Grand Prix last weekend, competed in her pet event 400m and placed 4th, clocking 54.02 seconds, while Australian Laura McShane clocked only 53.56 seconds to win the event. Japan’s favorites, Haruna Kuboyama and Yuna Iwata, clocked 53.65 seconds and 53.73 seconds, respectively, to finish 2nd and 3rd.

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It was a disappointment for all who waiting for Tharushi Karunaratne’s event, as she did not participate, citing illness. She also failed to finish the race at the UAE Grand Prix after completing the 600m mark.

Team Sri Lanka will be taking part next in the Asian Relay Championships on the 20th and 21st of this month in Thailand.

The post Kalinga clocked sub 46, while Tharushi DNS in Osaka Grand Prix (Video) appeared first on Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portal | Fixtures | Results.

Schedule – 12th May 2024
Nadeesha Ramanayake
400m (Women) 09.25am (SL time)
Kalinga Kumarage
400m (Men) 09.45am (SL time)
Tharushi Karunarathna
800m (Women) 10.45am (SL time)

The post SL Trio Nadeesha,Tharushi, Kalinga to compete in 11th Kinami Michitaka Memorial Athletics Meet Osaka live appeared first on Sri Lanka Athletics News & information Portal | Fixtures | Results.