SL Team off to Hong Kong for the Asian Youth Athletics Championship
Middle distance runner Shanika Lakshani hailing from Holy Cross College, Gampaha will lead the team of 13 Sri Lankan athletes that departs tonight (12th) to participate in the 3rd Asian Youth Athletics Championship to be held in Hong Kong from March 15 to 17.
Selections were based on a one day trial held on the 19th at the Sugathadasa Stadium. Owing to the scheduling of all events within a single day and the lack of rest between events, many didn’t expect the athletes to perform at the level they did. But the young athletes put up an impressive performance and AASL made a fair selection by including all the deserving athletes in the team.
The team includes six girls and seven boys, with Sri Lanka competing in both boys’ and girls’ medley relay events (400m, 300m, 200m, and 100m), apart from the individual events.
Sri Lanka won one Gold and three Silver Medals in the 2015 edition of the Asian Youth Championship, while winning a Silver and Bronze Medal in the 2017 edition. Standards of the young athletes have improved immensely since then, especially after the Sri Lanka Junior Team’s record breaking performance at the Asian Junior Championship last year, where Sri Lanka finished with nine medals, including three Gold Medals, in Japan.
Judging by the standards of the last edition of the Asian Youth Athletics Championship Sri Lanka are well within medal range in several events, especially with skipper Shanika Lakshani having clocked 2 minutes 12.23 seconds in the 800m, a time which is better than the present championship record of 2 minutes 14.15 seconds. Yet this year’s performances by youth athletes from other nations in the Asian region have shown immense improvement as well, with Indian youth trials having three female athletes who clocked under 2 minutes 12 seconds in 800m, where Sri Lanka will have a tough time battling for medals.
Gateway College’s star sprinter Sadeepa Henderson, sister of former SL Junior sprinter turned sports movie actress Nadeeshani Henderson will compete in three events: being in action in the 100m, 200m and medley relay events looking for glory. Milinda Perera, the sprinter hailing from St. Mary’s College, Chilaw will also compete in the Boys’ version of the same three events, these two being the only athletes of the team who will compete in three events.
Apart from that, the St. Peter’s College thrower Rumesh Tharanga will be one of Sri Lanka’s prime medal prospects, competing in both the Javelin and Discus events.
Amesha Hettiarachchi, the 400m hurdler from Viharamahadevi BC, Kandy will be aiming to replicate the performance of Yamani Dulanjali in the first edition of the Asian Youth Athletics championship in 2015 where Dulanjali won a Gold Medal in the same event.
