Gayanthika, Indunil clinch Gold in Taipei

Two middle distance runners, Indunil Herath and Gayanthika Abeyrathne dazzle the track with late sprints to clinch gold medals in their pet event , 800m while Nimali Liyanarachchi finished third in the Asian Grand prix third and final leg held in Chinese Taipei on Sunday (30th) .

After finishing outside the podium in the previous leg Gayanthika Abeyrathne was determined to for better performance and she was challenged early by Indian Olympian Tintu Luka who was off to a flier running away from the bunch. It was only Gayanthika who kept pace with Titnu about 10m behind her while the rest of the bunch lagging behind as Gayanthika came hard in final 100m passing Tinu to clinch the gold with a time of 2 minutes 03.87 seconds. Nimali too came hard in the last 200m finishing third with a time of 2 minutes 06.30 seconds.

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Few minutes later Indunil Herath ran another tactical race in the men’s 800m as he repeated his performance in the first leg to win another gold medal. Herath maintained his place behind the bunch for most of the race and came hard in the last 100m passing Indian Jinson Johnson on the line to clinch the win in a photo finish.

Sprinter Himasha Eashan finished fourth in the 100m after two podium finishes in last two legs with a time of 10.41 seconds. It was pathetic that high jumper Tharanga Vinodani couldn’t clear her starting height of 1.65m in any of the legs so far with nine attempts in the three legs.
Sri Lanka had secure three Gold, two Silver and three Bronze medals from the three legs of the Asian Grand Prix. Out of these two gold medals were won by Indunil Herath and two silver by Himasha Eashan. Two of the bronze medals were won by Nimali Liyanarachchi with Gayanthika winning in the bronze medal in the first leg before racing for the Gold yesterday.
Meanwhile in the 200m US World Championship silver medallist sprinter Mike Rodgers was beaten by host Taipei athlete Chun-Hang in a time of 20.80 seconds with Rodgers finishing second in a time of 20.84 seconds.

Results of Sri Lankans:
Gayanthika Abeyrathne (800m) 2:03.87 sec -Gold
Indunil Herath (800m) 1:51.34 sec -Gold
Nimali Liyanaarachchi (800m) 2:06.30 sec -Bronze
Tharika Fernando (Shot Put) 14.15m -7th
Rumeshika Rathnayake (100m) 11.87 sec -5th
Himasha Eashan (100m) 10.41 sec -4th
Tharanga Vinodani (High Jump) -No Mark (Failed to clear starting height)
Sumedha Ranasinghe (Javelin Throw) 72.23m- 7th
Sanjaya Jayasinghe (Triple Jump) 15.23m -6th
Ajith Premakumara (400m) 47.89 seconds -5th

photo credit-Asian AA facebook and Prince Gunasekara (Dinamina)