Fierce Battles at Trials with many Slots to be Filled -Men’s events preview
The first National track and field trials will be held Friday (22) and Sunday (24) at the Sugathadasa Stadium Colombo. These will be worked off as the first selection trials for the Asian Athletics Championship to be held in April 21 to 24 in Qatar.
The trials will be also become useful when making the pool for the forthcoming South Asian Games to be held later this year in Nepal. Local athletes will also have the chance to achieve the qualifying standards of the forthcoming IAAF World Athletics Championship to be held at the same venue as the Asian Athletic Championship.
There will be several interesting battles to be seen during the trials.
Men’s 100M
South Asian and National record holder Himasha Eashan will be up against the National 200m record holder Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva in the 100m which will be a battle to be seen during the trials. Himasha and Vinoj, who used to train under same Coach Chaminda Perera, now train under different coaches, Vinoj now is under the wings of Vimukthi de Soyza who moved to National athletics training in late 2017 with Vinoj as his only National athlete but now trains half dozen of top National sprinters. Vinoj has shown improvement since then, and shattered Sugath Thilakaratne’s record in 200m clocking 20.68 seconds, while clocking 10.27 seconds in the 100m last year, which by the way, stands as the best by a Sri Lankan athlete since 2016.
It’s been little more than a year since the duo last met. That was on 27 January 2018 during the Commonwealth Games. Vinoj turned out to be the winner in that race clocking 10.29 seconds while Himasha finished second with 10.32 seconds in the worn out track of Diyagama stadium. Both Himasha and Vinoj had their share of troubles too, last year when Himasha went through an injury while Vinoj suffered from Dengue however both of them have come back strongly by the end of the year where Himasha won the National Championship and Vinoj winning at the National Sports Festival.
The Men’s 100m also will be important for the selection of the 4x100m relay team for the forthcoming Asian Athletics Championship where a good time by top four athletes may see them flying to Japan later this year to compete at the IAAF World Relays.
In 200M it will be mostly a one sided contest as Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva is clear cut favourite been only athlete to clock under 21 seconds in the event. Eashan , the closest contestant will mostly give up contesting 200m due to scheduling as unlike other trials 200m heats scheduled before the finals of 100M .
100M Men 2018 Top List
| Performance | Wind | Name | Venue | |
| 1 | 10.27 | +0.9 | M. Vinoj Suranjaya de Silva | Kuala Lampur |
| 10.28 | 1.1 | de Silva | Jakarta | |
| 2 | 10.31 | +0.5 | Yupun Abeykoon | Colombo |
| 3 | 10.32 | -1.4 | Himasha Eshan | Diyagama |
| 10.34 | -0.5 | de Silva | Kuala Lampur | |
| 4 | 10.56 | +0.5 | Shehan Ambepitiya | Colombo |
| 5 | 10.57 | +0.5 | W.P.D.K. Wijerathna | Colombo |
| 6 | 10.62 | +0.1 | B.D. Chanuka Sandeepa | Colombo |
| 7 | 10.63 | -1.4 | A.L.M. Ashroff | Colombo |
| 8 | 10.63 | -1.9 | K.S.L. Wickramasinghe | Diyagama |
| 9 | 10.67 | +0.8 | H.S.S. Kumara | Colombo |
| 10 | 10.73 | +0.1 | R.V.T.F. Udayar | Colombo |
Men’s 400m
Aruna Darshana will be the firm favorite to win the event especially in the absence of his closest rival Kalinga Kumarage, who is serving a provisional suspension due to a failed drug test last year. Dilip Ruwan who was Sri Lanka’s number one quarter miler during the period 2015-2017 was largely off colour during last year mainly due to his fair share of personal problems. He again went through an injury last month and Ajith Premakumara seems to be the closest competitor for Aruna during the finals.
400M Men 2018 Top List
| Event | Name | Venue | Date |
| 45.78 | S. Aruna Darshana | Colombo | 31.10 |
| 45.99 | H.K. Kalinga Kumarage | Jakarta | 25.08 |
| 46.39 | H.M. Dilip Ruwan | Colombo | 28.04 |
| 46.65 | P.M.P.L. Kodikara | Colombo | 4.08 |
| 46.66 | M.G.A. Premakumara | Colombo | 3.08 |
| 46.83 | P.M.W.G. Tharusha Dananjaya | Jakarta | 11.02 |
| 47.17 | Pabasara Niku | Colombo | 26.04 |
| 47.19 | Y.M.W.G.A.M. Gunarathna | Colombo | 12.05 |
| 47.31 | A.M.L.P. Gunarathna | Colombo | 12.05 |
| 47.37 | H.E.M.I.G. Indunil Herath | Nairobi | 22.06 |
Middle Distance
In 800m , Indunil Herath the Sri Lankan record holder who trains in Kenya last year is the favorite . Two closest rivals will be from Rusiru Chathuranga and Kupun Kushantha but neither of them haven’t beaten Herath even once before.
In 1500M, Rusiru will be favourite to grab the top position but will be closely challenged by the likes of Kasun Fonseka , Sanjeewa Lakmal and Hemantha Kumara . In fact Kumara was only athlete to run under 3 minutes 50 seconds last year but since then he could not match that performance.
800M Men 2018 Top List
| 1:47.14 | H.E.M.I.G. Indunil Herath | Kasarani | |
| 1:47.54 | Indunil Herath | Jakarta | 27.08 |
| 1:48.00 | Indunil Herath | Colombo | 14.09 |
| 1:49.83 | G.R. Chathuranga | Ho Chi Minh | 26.07 |
| 1:49.97 | Indunil Herath | Colombo | 30.10 |
| 1:50.20 | M.M. Kupun Kushantha | Bangkok | 6.05 |
| 1:50.31 | W.N.S.K. Wedagedara | Colombo | 14.09 |
| 1:50.97 | W.A.D. Kumara | Colombo | 27.04 |
| 1:51.03 | H.M.S. Kumara | Colombo | 30.10 |
| 1:51.16 | H.K.T. Fonseka | Diyagama | 21.02 |
1500M Top List 2018
| 3:45.89 | R.A.D.Hemantha Kumara | Colombo | 12.05 |
| 3:49.03 | H.K.T. Fonseka | Colombo | 27.04 |
| 3:50.05 | R.A. Sajeewa Lakmal | Colombo | 3.08 |
| 3:52.97 | R.K.C.S. Somawardane | Colombo | 27.04 |
| 3:54.25 | HA Rukshan Habarakada | Colombo | 4.08 |
| 3:54.39 | G.R. Chathuranga | Colombo | 31.10 |
| 3:54.48 | M.M. Kupun Kushantha | Diyagama | 22.02 |
| 3:54.59 | RM Nifras | Colombo | 4.08 |
| 3:56.09 | MTMK Sameera | Colombo | 3.08 |
| 3:57.30 | G.K.S.K. Perera | Diyagama | 22.02 |
Long Distance
K. Shanmugeswaran will be one of the favourite to do a distance double. In 5000M he will be challenged by RMS Pushpakumara (Blacky ) who has the best timing of the event in last year . In 10000m ,Lionel Samarajeewa who won the event for several years before Shanmugeswaran broke the shackle last year will wanted to make an statement.
5000M Top List 2018
| 14:26.68 | R.M.S. Pushpakumara | Colombo | 29.10 |
| 14:27.05 | K Shanmugeswaran | Colombo | 29.10 |
| 14:34.18 | WUMV Kumara | Colombo | 29.10 |
| 14:36.27 | A.K. Tharanga | Colombo | 13.09 |
| 14:46.21 | D.M.D.S. Disanayake | Colombo | 13.09 |
| 14:51.41 | P.A.P. Maduranga | Colombo | 13.09 |
| 14:52.03 | D.L. Samarajeewa | Diyagama | 20.02 |
| 14:52.33 | S.A.A.L. Sirimanna | Diyagama | 20.02 |
| 14:53.7 | G.P.A.G.K. Bandara | Colombo | 5.08 |
| 14:57.29 | R.M.Y.G.N.A. Bandara | Diyagama | 20.02 |
| 15.06.47 | S.M.D.M. Samarakoon | Colombo | 3.08 |
Javelin Throw
The battle between the two Ranasinghe’s, Sampath and Olympian Sumedha, for the Javelin crown which was on since last year and Sampath ended by going to the Commonwealth Games with a personal best throw of over 80m. But, since his flopping at the Commonwealth Games it was Sumedha who emerged as the front runner for the title. Sampath again returned to win the Nationals with a new meet record of 78.79 m and Sumedha the National record holder with personal best of 83.03m finished second with 77.21. Yet, Sumedha finished the year on a high, winning the National Sports Festival and Army Athletics Championship. He set a new meet record at the Army Championship with 78.89m to beat Sampath. Waruna Lakshan Dayarathne who was the top thrower for years including 2017 where he competed in the IAAF World Championship and Asian Championship was off colour last year where he was well behind the two Ranasinghe’s. Who will emerge on top in 2019, this will be the battle to watch in the men’s field events.
Javelin Throw top list 2018
| 1 | 81.22 | D.S. Ranasinghe | Diyagama | 27.01 |
| 2 | 78.89 | R.M.S.J. Ranasinghe | Colombo | 29.10 |
| 3 | 75.69 | P.A.P. Lakmal | Colombo | 15.09 |
| 4 | 74.22 | R.P.W.L. Dayarathna | Colombo | 5.08 |
| 5 | 71.00 | R.N. Kumara | Colombo | 3.08 |
| 6 | 70.77 | P.K.P. Sanjeewa | Colombo | 3.08 |
| 7 | 68.99 | H.F.M. Roshan | Colombo | 5.08 |
| 8 | 68.05 | E.K.C.K Padmasiri | Colombo | 28.04 |
| 9 | 67.95 | D.P.C. Pathmakumara | Colombo | 3.08 |
| 10 | 67.64 | GHS Silva | Colombo | 29.10 |
Long Jump
Janaka Prasad Wimalasiri was the star jumper last year, he represented Sri Lanka in the Commonwealth Games and Asian Games finishing within the top 8 on both the occasions. He leapt 8.14m during the Nationals setting up a New Meet Record and he will be the favourite here, to take the title. But, there is a set of jumpers who have excelled as did Wimalasiri, and are sure to challenge him. Amila Jayasiri is one of the closest. Jayasiri, the Sri Lankan record holder with a leap of 8.15m, has been largely inconsistent during his career but did manage to do a leap of 8.02m last year. Then there is H.G. Sampath who leapt a wind aided 8.12(+4.1) and Danushka Sandaruwan also making a close challenge to the title.
Long Jump top list 2018
| 8.14 | +1.8 | D.A.G.J.P. Wimalasiri | Colombo | 5.08 |
| 8.01 | ? | Amila Jayasiri | Colombo | 5.08 |
| 7.99 | +1.1 | G.K.D.S. Piyarathna | Colombo | 27.04 |
| 7.90 | +0.9 | Greshan Dhananjaya | Bangkok | 4.05 |
| 7.82 | ? | J.H.G. Sampath | Colombo | 31.10 |
| 7.65 | +2.0 | M.I.M. Mifran | Colombo | 5.08 |
| 7.63 | +0.9 | K.K.M.K. Karunasekara | Colombo | 27.04 |
| 7.62 | -0.2 | D.M. Liyanapathirana | Jakarta | 12.02 |
Triple Jump
The men’s Triple Jump is one such event where it’s hard to determine a clear cut favourite to win the event. Sanjaya Jayasinghe was the go to Triple Jumper last year with a leap of 16.34 which stood as the best by a Sri Lankan last year. He also won the National Championship with 16.08m. But, towards the end of the year he largely faded off, as if age was catching up on him. He finished third at the National Sports Festival beaten by both Safreen Ahamed and Eranda Dinesh (Bird). At the Army Championship a few days later he was again beaten into third place as Greshan Dhananjaya won it with 15.72m while Ahmed was placed second. Will, Jayasinghe be able to regain his position at the age of 32? It will be seen this weekend.
Triple Jump top list 2018
| 16.34 | +1.0 | I.D.S.S. Jayasinghe | Colombo | 28.04 |
| 16.22 | ? | M.N.S. Ahamed | Colombo | 15.09 |
| 16.06 | +1.7 | U.P.A.N. Karunasinghe | Colombo | 12.05 |
| 15.98 | -0.5 | D.M.E.D.K. Fernando | Colombo | 12.05 |
| 15.80 | -1.4 | C.G.S.T. Senaviratne | Colombo | 12.05 |
| 15.72 | -1,6 | L. Sreshan Dananjaya | Colombo | 29.10 |
| 15.30 | TG Vinod Sandaruwan | Colombo | 21.09 | |
| 15.28 | +0.8 | T.A.D.N. Thilakaratne | Colombo | 4.08 |
| 15.18 | -1.9 | A.G.G.M. Ariyarathna | Colombo | 29.10 |
| 15.06 | -1.3 | WAP Kumara | Colombo | 29.10 |
Top List compiled by :- Sameera Lakruwan Perera (B.Sc(Hons) in Sports Science, USJP and former Committee member AASL ) under guidance of Saman Kumara Gunawardana )Director Physical Education- University of Kelaniya and Hon. Recorder AASL)
