SLA to send 12 Athletes to India
Upon an invitation extended by the Athletics Federation of India (AFI), Sri Lanka Athletics (SLA) hopes to send a 12-member athletic team to India later this month to compete at the 60th National Interstate Senior Championship to be held in Patiala from 25 to 29 June, said SLA President Maj. Gen (Rtd) Palitha Fernando.
Prior to this competition, a five-member athletic team is set to tour Kazakhstan to compete at the XXXI Qosanov Memorial Championship on 19 and 20, which is classified as a World Athletics bronze level competition. The team includes 800m runner Nimali Liyanarachchi, High Jumper Ushan Thiwanka, Javelin Thrower Sumedha Ranasinghe, 400m runner Nadeesha Ramanayaka – all of whom are few points away from making the Olympic cut through world ranking position – and 400m runner Kalinga Kumarage, who can break into this list with two good performances. The injured Dilshi Kumarasinghe withdrew from the team.
These five athletes will be joined by seven others who have been selected to compete in India, including 3000m steeplechase runner Nilani Rathnayaka, who is within Olympic ranking at the moment.
“We are awaiting confirmation of the Kazakhstan visa first, which we should get by today. All five athletes have been given the first dose of COVID vaccine, including US based Ushan,” said Fernando.
“Once we get visas, we have to figure out our travel plans, as there are airports in which Sri Lankans are banned, and a lack of flights. Since there are no flights to India from Sri Lanka at the moment, we will have to go through some other country and it will be costly, but we have given them the opportunity to try and achieve qualification,” added Fernando.
Lack of competition was a major blow for the athletes, as a number of them were just few points away from world ranking positions for Olympic qualification, but did not have the opportunity to compete in higher ranked competitions due to COVID-19. They are in a do-or-die situation now, but almost at the eleventh-hour SLA has arranged for them to get a maximum of two chances before the Olympic qualification deadline of 29 June.
Apart from Sri Lanka, AFI has invited athletes from Bangladesh, Chinese Taipei, Malaysia and Kazakhstan for the competition.
