Amazing Nadeesha shines with 53.03

Janaka, Nadeesha best athletes

Army wins championship

Sarangi, Vidusha shine in long jump

Army dominates with 34 out of 46 Golds 

 

Long Jumper Janaka Prasad Wimalasiri (8.07m) and quarter miler Nadeesha Ramanayaka were adjudged best athletes for their impressive performances at the Defence Services Athletics Championship concluded at Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday.

Army dominated the three day event as they won 34 Gold medals, while Air Force finished second with seven Gold medals. Navy only managed five Gold medals. Army collected 158 points, while Air Force (40) and Navy (28) lagged far behind.  Wimalasiri also won the best performance award (men’s) in the field event.

A total of 16 new meet records were set during the three days, including one Sri Lanka record by Lakshika Sugandhi in the heptathlon.

Southern quarter miler Nadeesha’s performance was the most impressive during the day as she clocked an outstanding 53.03 sec to win the women’s 400m. She also became the fourth all time fastest female 400m runner in Sri Lanka behind Damayanthi Darsha, Chandika Subashini and Menaka Wickramasinghe.

Nadeesha won the National Championship last month with another sub 54 second performance and she has improvement her time further during this meet. It may not be so far away before she runs the distance under 53 seconds. Her performance also sealed her the best performance on the track (women) award. Best performance of the field event (women) award was won by triple jumper Vidusha Lakshani.  Indunil Herath won the best performance on the track (men) award for his 1 minutes 48 seconds in the 800m.

In the other events of the day, former junior long jump star Sarangi Silva marked her return after injury with an impressive 6.09m leap. The injury kept her away from the track for nearly two years. Sarangi’s distance of 6.09m is the best leap by a female long jumper this year. Triple jump champion Vidusha Lakshani too leapt 6.09m but finished second.

The triple jump was won by the National champion Sanjaya Jayasinghe with a new meet record of 16.25m after a tough competition with Safreen Ahmed, who leapt a personal best 16.22m.

Discus thrower Gayan Jayawardene won a rare Gold medal for Navy with a new meet record of 54.33m.

Lakshika Sugandhi who set a Sri Lanka record in the heptathlon, had another multi-event day as she won the 100m hurdle with a new meet record of 14.08 seconds and finished second in the 100m with a time of 12.05 seconds.

She later ran the starting lap of the mix 4x100m relay which was introduced for the first time by the organizers. She joined 100m Sri Lanka record holder Himasha Eashan, Yupun Priyadarshana and Rumeshika Rathnayaka to win the event for the Army by a significant margin.

RMS Pushpakumara marked his return to his pet event, the 3000m steeple chase, after an injury. He won the event with a new meet record of 9 minutes 04.52 seconds. Javelin Thrower Sampath Ranasinghe won the event with a distance of 78.11m, which was new meet record.

Army dominated the relays and won all of them. The women’s 4x400m relay team comprising Nadeesha, Upamalika Rathnakumari, Shayama Dulani and Kaushalya Madushani clocked 3 minutes 39.11 seconds which was a new meet record.

Rumeshika Rathnayaka and Himasha Eashan became the fastest man and woman of the track, but their times were not so impressive compared to their previous performances.

 

Men

100M: 1. Himasha Eashan (Army) 10.62 sec, 2. Surendra Kumara 10.78 sec, 3. Mohammad Ashroff (Army) 11.10 sec

400M: 1. Ajith Premakumara (Army) 46.90 sec, 2. Dilip Ruwan (Army ) 47.45 sec, 3. Dasun Silva (Air Force) 47.58 sec

1500M: 1. RAS Lakmal (Army) 3:53.66 sec, 2. Kasun Fonseka (Army) 3:54.82 sec, 3. Habarakada (Army) 3:56.54 sec

10,000M: 1. Shammugeshwaran (Army) 30:57.84 sec, 2. Kumara Bandara (Army) 31:15.78 sec, 3. AP Maduranga (Air Force) 31:26.60

110m Hurdle: 1. Dammika Ranatunga (Army) 14.78 sec, 2. Hasith Nirmal (Navy) 14.73 sec, 3. Saliya Randeew (Army) 14.78 sec

3000m St. Ch: 1. RMS Pushpakumara (Army) 9:04.52 sec, 2. HMS Karunarathne (Army) 9:06.22 sec, 3. GC  Fernando (Air Force) 9:23.05 sec

Triple Jump: 1. Sanjaya Jayasinghe (Army) 16.25m, 2. Safreen Ahmed (Army) 16.22m, 3. DK Fernando (Army) 15.70m

Discus Throw: 1. GU Jayawardana (Navy) 54.33m, 2. DB Rathnayaka (Air Force) 45.28 sec, 3. SM Ashik (Army) 45.16m

Javelin Throw: 1. Sampath Ranasinghe (Army) 78.11m, 2. AP Lakmal (Army) 75.69m, 3. Waruna Lakshan (Army) 71.24m

4x100m Mix Relay: 1 Army  43.56 sec, 2. Air Force 44.77 sec, 3. Navy 47.75 sec

4x400M: 1. Army 3:11.32 sec, 2. Air Force 3:16.68 sec, 3. Navy 3:28.71 sec

Women

100M: 1. Rumeshika Rathnayaka (Army) 11.91 sec, 2. Lakshika Sugandhi (Army) 12.05 sec, 3. Nirmali Madushika (Air Force) 12.15 sec

400M: 1. Nadeesha Ramanayaka (Army) 53.03 sec, 2. Upamalika Rathnakumari (Army) 54.04 sec, 3. Nimali Liyanarachchi (Air Force) 54.29 sec

5000M: 1. Nilani Rathnayaka (Army) 16:46.87 sec, 2. Nilani Ariyadasa (Air Force) 17:16.14 sec, 3. GN Priyadarshanu (Air Force) 17:18.03 sec

100m Hurdle: 1. Lakshika Sugandhi (Army) 14.08 sec, KG Nethmini (Army) 15.11 sec, 3. Hapuarachchi (Army) 15.19 sec

Long Jump: 1. Sarangi Silva (Army) 6.09m, 2. Vidusha Lakshani (Army) 6.09m, 3. CM Thilakarathne (Air Force) 5.87m

Shot Put: 1. Tharika Fernando (Air Force) 14.21m, 2. Nadeeka Muthunayake (Navy) 13.70m, 3. VV Lakmali (Air Force) 38.38 sec

Hammer Throw: 1. Aruni Lakshani (Air Force) 44.89m, 2. Manoji Amarasinghe (Army) 43.58m, 3. MI Sandamali (Air Force) 38.79m

4x400m Relay: Army 3:39.11 sec, 2. Air Force 3:41.11 sec, 3. Navy 4:00.07 sec