Ishara, Anitha ,Charith set new SL records
Ajith clocks 46.38 seconds in 400m
Vinoj dazzle with 10.30 seconds
Dhanuka leaps 7.89m
Rumeshika equaled personal best with 11.60 seconds
Two pole vaulters Ishara Sandaruwan and Anitha Jaganethwaran together with Charith Kapukotuwa (Shot Put) renewed their own Sri Lanka records while several impressive marks were set in the second National Selection trials for Asian Championship started on Thursday (June 1).
Sandaruwan renewed the record he set in Jaffna with a 5.11m clearance under rain affected difficult conditions where the worn-out track did not help him clear the mark he wanted. Sandaruwan the SAG Gold medallist and record holder was eyeing a clearance towards 5.20-5.30m though he had to cut short his progress here.
Anitha skip University for athletics
Jaffna’s Vaulting queen Anitha Jaganethwaran who was selected to the University of Sabaragamuwa had decided against going there, instead she is focusing more on training as she cleared 3.46m to renew her own record for the third time after first setting it at the Junior Nationals 2016.
Trained under Jaffna’s vaulting coach C. Subashkaran, Anitha keeps improving throughout and AASL will send them for the Thailand Open Athletics Championship mid-June for further encouragement as they will get better conditions and better competition there.
Kapukotuwa returns from USA to set new record
Charith Kapukotuwa who trains and works in the USA now after completing his Masters degree, returned to Sri Lanka without knowing exact dates of this trial but managed to renew his own record with a performance of 17.55m.
“Didn’t exactly plan this, but very happy about the results, fellow athletes weren’t that happy about the conditions but I believe it’s up to us to use available conditions for its best use,” said Kapukotuwa after the trials. Kapukotuwa is currently training by himself said at this moment he does not think he needs a long term coach though short time expertise is always welcome.
Fastest 100m in Sri Lanka
SAG 200m Gold medallist, Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva dazzled the track clocking the fastest 100m time set by a Sri Lankan in Sri Lanka when he clocked 10.30 seconds in the 100m heats and eventually won the finals with 10.32 seconds. Both of his times are under Asian Championship qualifying standard (10.34 sec). Suranjaya de Silva who is employed at Hela clothing now is the training partner of South Asia’s fastest man Himasha Eashan as both sprinters trained under Chaminda Perera. But this year it’s Vinoj who is at his best with Himasha struggling with his event where he is planning to train in Italy prior to the Asian Championship.
Rumeshika equals Personal best
After More than a year since Rumeshika Rathnayake clocked that personal best 11.60 seconds at the SAG, she returned to her near best once again equaling her personal best of 11.60 seconds in the heats and won the final with time of 11.74 seconds.
Fastest 400m time in years
Army’s Ajith Premakumara stunned the rest when he clocked 46.38 seconds in the 400m heats and won the final in 46.66 seconds. Premakumara trains under Major Hennayaka who is presently in China, clocked the best 400m time by a Sri Lankan since Prasanna Amarasekara and beat the favourite Dilip Ruwan who also clocked his personal best 46.41 seconds in heats and finished second in finals with 46.81 seconds
Nirmali stunning run in 400 women
Air women Nirmali Madushika hailing from Kathaluwa, Galle clocked her personal best of 54.16 seconds as she sealed the 400m running from lane eight beating her senior Upamali Rathnakumari. Nirmali’s time is just 0.02 seconds behind AASL’s Asian Championship qualifying standards was (52.14 seconds) and she is hoping that AASL will include her in the team as the 20 year old is proving that she will do better in the future.
Lone run in 1500m
Gayanthika Abeyrathne who set new 800m SL record in the last trial, eyed the Sri Lanka record in the 1500m at this trial but surprisingly she was the only contender in the race yet she able to clock 4 minutes 22.75 seconds to win the race running in rain affected warn-out track.
Dhanuka leaps 7.89m
Dhanuka Liyanapathirana once again sealed the men’s long jump with 7.89m leap which is second best by a Sri Lankan and best leap with legal wind assist. He also achieved the Asian Championship qualifying mark of 7.78 m. In the women’s long jump Anjani Pulwansa sealed her main senior win with personal best leap of 5.95m.
In the other events of the day Aravinda Chathuranga was once again beaten by Asanka Rathnasena with a time of 51.57 seconds as Rathnasena who won in Jaffna National Sports Festival was beaten by Aravinda in the first trials and Asanka returned to take the title yesterday. In the men’s 800m, Indunil Herath once again sealed the title with 1:49.21 seconds. In the Women’s Javelin throw, Dilhani Lekamge achieved Asian Championship qualifying mark with a throw of 56.30m. Emma de Silva who came to SL form USA for the trials won the discus with a 44.16m throw.
