Wednesday Dec 11, 2024
Wednesday Dec 11, 2024
Friday, 6 December 2019 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}
By Naushad Amit in Nepal
Sri Lanka’s track and field athletes added four gold medals to the country’s overall medal tally, with two more coming in wushu and weightlifting, raising hopes of the country regaining supremacy on the fifth day of the 13th South Asian Games held at the Darashath Stadium in Kathmandu, Nepal yesterday.
Sri Lanka’s medals hopes were further strengthened through five golds, two silvers and three bronze medals, in addition to five silver and three bronze medals claimed in shooting, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and karate.
Sprinters Aruna Darshana and Dilshi Maheesha, hurdler Lakshika Sugandi and triple jumper Hashini Prabodha won gold medals, to put Sri Lanka back on the saddle in track and field events among South Asian nations. Sri Lanka started off Day 5 with a gold medal from Lakshika Sugandi, who edged out India’s Aparna Roy to win the Women’s 100 m Hurdles event. Sugandi won the gold medal in a time of 0.13.68 seconds, with a quick run in the final few metres to push back Roy, who clocked 0.14.37 seconds, to claim second place. Sri Lanka had the possibility of securing a top two finish but Ireshani Rajasinghe failed to beat the Indian silver medallist, and claimed the bronze medal, clocking 0.14.18 seconds. Rajasinghe, could have easily converted her bronze into a silver or gold if it had not been for her brief stoppage at the start. She later stated that it was due to confusion over whether there was a false start, but after realising it was not, she continued her run to claim the bronze.
Sri Lanka won three consecutive gold medals in the Men’s 400 m, Women’s 400 m and Women’s Triple Jump, stealing the limelight before noon. Aruna Darshana, a leading medal prospect for Sri Lanka, made a perfect run to claim gold in the Men’s 400 m final after clocking 0.46.69 seconds, while Lakmal Priyantha followed in close to claim the silver in a time of 0.46.79 seconds, sealing Sri Lanka’s dominance. India’s K. Jeevan won the bronze medal after finishing the run in 0.47.42 seconds.
Sri Lanka claimed another gold in the Women’s 400 m final, with Dilshi Maheesha dominating the rest of the runners to finish the race in 0.53.40 seconds. India’s Priya Habbanath won the silver medal, finishing behind Dilshi in 0.54.31 seconds, while Sahib Asra claimed the bronze medal in a time of 0.54.38 seconds.
Sri Lanka enjoyed another one-two finish in the Women’s Triple Jump event, as the favourite in the event and gold medal hopeful Vidusha Lakshani was bettered by her compatriot Hashini Prabodha. She achieved 13.21 m in her third attempt, after failing twice, and the leap was sufficient to earn her the gold medal over Lakshani, who jumped 13.14 m. From the six jumpers, besides the two Lankan jumpers, others failed to hit the 13 m mark. India’s Bharabi Roy, who claimed the bronze medal, jumped 12.77 metres.
Hurdler Roshan Dhammika and triple jumper Safreen Ahmed added the remaining two bronze medals for Sri Lanka, taking the entire count to nine from the fifth day of athletics. Dhammika clocked 0.14.42 seconds in the Men’s 110 m Hurdles to win the bronze medal, finishing behind gold medal-winner Muhammad Naeem of Pakistan (0.14.30 s) and India’s Surendhar Jayak (0.14.37 s) in a close finish. Safreen Ahmed gave Sri Lanka a bronze medal in the Men’s Triple Jump, with a clearance of 15.95 m, which he achieved in his fifth attempt. He was bettered by India’s Karthik Unnikri, who won the gold medal after clearing 16.47 m and Mohammed Salahudin, also of India, who claimed the silver with a jump of 16.36 m.
Wushu
Sri Lanka’s Thilini Gunasekara won the Women’s Taijijian All-round gold medal with 18.66 points above Nepal’s Mina Glan, who claimed the silver medal with 18.44 points. Dipti Das of Bangladesh won the bronze medal with 16.65 points.
Sanju Kumari claimed the bronze medal in the Women’s Nandao All-round event, after accumulating 14.74 points. Nepal’s Nima Gharti Magar won the gold medal with 18.91 points while the silver medal went to Bangladesh’s Morzina Akther, who earned 16.30 points.
Weightlifting
Y.D.I Kumara claimed a gold medal in the Men’s 55 kg weight category, while the Sri Lankan lifters managed to add three more silver medals yesterday in Pokhara. The three silver medals were won by Thilanka Palangasinghe in the Men’s 61 kg division, B.G.D. Hansani in the Women’s 49 kg division and D.M.S. Samarakoon in the Men’s 45 kg category.
Table Tennis
The Table Tennis men’s and women teams who won a bronze and silver respectively yesterday added three more bronzes today. The first bronze came for the Men’s Doubles through Chameera Ginge and Krishan Wickremaratne. The second was for the Mix Doubles, with the players involved being Udaya Ranasinghe and Ishara Madurangi. Madurangi and Hansani Piyumila were awarded the bronze medal in the Women’s Doubles.
Tennis
Despite losing all their matches, the Sri Lankan women ended up with silver at the Satabadado Stadum. Anika Seneviratne and Anjelica Kurera lost their individual matches. In the Women’s Doubles, Alana Seneviratne and Ruchika Wijesuriya also lost their matches but their previous performances were sufficient to propel them to second place in the women’s segment.
Golf
The Sri Lanka women’s team improved on their team lead by two strokes. Grace Yatawara had a gross score of 76, Thuhashini Selvaratman had a gross score of 80 and Tania Minel had a gross score of 81. The men’s team improved on their first day’s score when they were tied with Bangladesh to take a two-stroke lead and be clear silver contenders. With two more days of golf, Sri Lanka will look to catch up to and beat leaders Nepal in the men’s division and maintain their lead in the women’s bracket.
Karate
Karate brought Sri Lanka two silver medals through T.K.H. Lakmal (Individual) and the Male Kumite team. Akila Harhini Bandara (individual) and the Women’s Kumite team won the bronze.
Pistol Shooting
The 25-metre pistol shooting women’s team comprising Ruwini Abeymanne, Gimhani Kendawela and Amali Kulatunga won the silver medal behind India. Sri Lanka won the bronze medal in the 50-metre Rifle Three-Position Men’s Team event behind Pakistan and Bangladesh. The men’s shooters were Mangala Samarakoon, P.K. Danushka and Y.K. Kodikara.
Pix by Sameera Peiris
