Senuri shatters SL Junior record as Juniors excelled at Nationals

The National Championship saw some amazing performance by Junior Athletes. High hurdler Senuri Anuththara shattered the SL Junior Record, while middle distance runner Shanika Lakshani just missed qualification for the next year’s World Junior Championship.

18-year-old Senuri hailing from Dharmapala Vidyalaya Pannipitiya clocked 14.60 seconds in the 100m hurdles event to win the Bronze medal shattering the SL junior record set by Harshani Wijesinghe of 14.62 seconds in 2009.

Meanwhile, 18-year-old Shanika Lakshani hailing from Holy Cross College Gampaha, clocked 2 minutes 08.90 seconds to finished fourth in the 800m. She missed the World Junior Qualification standard of 02.08.70 sec by just 0.20 seconds.

19-year-old Hurdler Anurudda Srimal clocked 14.44 seconds to win the Silver medal in the Men’s 110m hurdles, while 18-year-old Chalith Piyumal of Lumbini College finished fifth in the 200m on day one clocking 21.69 seconds.

Heptathlon women’s event was won by 17-year-old Lakshini Dissanayaka with 3526 points. She is now targeting to win a medal at the Asian Junior Championship in 2022.