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Lankan
athletes dominate Sri Lankan athletes, with a rich medal tally of 19 golds, 16 silvers and 19 bronze medals clinched the Caltex SAF Athletic Championships at the Sugathadasa Stadium yesterday. India, which took 12 golds, 15 silvers and 9 bronze medals, finished second while Pakistan was placed third with two golds, 2 silvers, and 4 bronze medals, Maldives left empty handed. Sugath Tilakaratne, who established two Sri Lankan records, was adjudged the best male athlete of the championships while Damayanthi Dharsha who shouldered the 100m and 400m Relay Records, was nominated the 'Best female Athlete' of the meet. These two awards were presented on a suggestion made by 'The Island' and each received USD 250. The Lankan athletes kept up their impressive performance on the second day as well by stamping three more records and equaling one, bringing the total number of new marks to 7. Sugath ran a blistering 45.67 second dash to re-write his own 400m mark from 45.83 seconds. The second record came from putt shotter L. R. Siribaddana who threw 12.81 metres, to equal her own mark established in 1995. Damayanthi Dharsha, who ran the anchor lap in the 400 relay, repeated her performance in the 100m relay by finishing in 45.65 seconds. Anoma Suriyarachchi, who represents Sri Lanka for the first time along with Shashikala N. Soyza and Swarnamali Edirisinghe. The men's 400 metre relay quartet despite the absence of Sugath Tilakaratne set up a new Sri Lankan record in 3:09.66 seconds. Suminda Mendis, Rohana Pradeep Ratnakumara and S. K, Wijetunge formed the winning relay quartet. Several new SAAF meet records were also set up yesterday. Meanwhile, long distance runner, Sujeeva Nilmini is likely to miss out on the Games on medical grounds. Keshani Samarakoon who fared well at the SAAF championships is likely to be included in the 22-member Sri Lanka contingent. Sports Minister, S. B. Dissanayake and Ratnasiri Wickramanayake, Minister of Plantations, Public Administration and Home Affairs were the Chief Guests and gave away the awards. Caltex Best Performances. Men: Women: Best Performances — Country Vice: 100m (Men): 100m (Women): 400m (men): 400m (women): 1500m (men): 1500m women: 110m Hurdles (men): 100m Hurdles (women): 10,000m (Men) — Final: 10,000m (Women) — Final: Shot Putt (Men): High Jump (Men): Javelin (Men): 3000m Steeplechase: 4x400 Relay (Men): 4x100m Relay (Women): The President, Sri Lanka Rugby Football Union, Dr. Maiya Gunasekera writes, "The article which appeared in the Sunday Island of 08/11/1998. I would like to state that I have been misquoted. What I meant was that we should have planned for the whole tour because on this occasion our players seem to have got exhausted after the Chinese & Malaysian games which were very high scoring games and convincing wins for Sri Lanka. At the outcome of the finals against Singapore the coaches game plan could not be implemented properly since the key players were injured & the others were exhausted after the two previous games. We should have realized that Singapore was in the finals only after their very easy game against India & that they were very much fresher & had no injuries. At no stage did I mention that the coach did not have a game plan for the Singapore match. What I meant was that we should have planned out a strategy for the whole tournament in such a way as not to exhaust our players before the finals. On this occasion it was obvious that the coach's game plan for the final could not be implemented properly because of the injuries & the players being exhausted after the first two games. Your newspaper article which states that the coach did not have a game plan is totally false & I have been misquoted." Note by reporter: The semi finals of the Women's Inter Club Open Basketball Tournament will be work out today from 5.30 p.m. at the Kings Court organised by Otters Aquatic Club and conducted by Colombo District Basketball Association. The first semi final between Ramblers and P. D. Sirisena playground will be work out at 5.30 p.m. and followed by Otters versus Air Force at 7.00 p.m. Ramblers and Otters maintain the unbeaten record in the preliminary round held during last week. The teams will be selected from:— Ramblers BC:— Jacqueline Ramlan, Aasha Siriwardena, Gayathri Kariyawasam, Dharshini Munasinghe, Sanjeewani Perera, Dinusha Perera, Riophilla Ramlan, Soraya Usuf, Puthri Karunatilleke, Leela Navaratnam, Felicity de Silva, Sharvonne Perera. P. D. Sirisena: Felicia Fernando, Anoma Shiromi, Sarojini Fernando, Nirosha Niranjala, Chathurika Hevavitharana, E. G. Premanie Maduwanthi, Sandya Kumari Dodangoda, Sherin, K. Anusha Sudarshani, D. Kanchana. Otters: A.C.: Monica Fernando, Priyangani Jayawardena, Arunika Karavita, Subashini Perera, Shenika Herman, Nadeera, Asokamala Tennakoon, Rukshi Nethikumara, Lakshi Nethikumara, Cherene Ekanayake, Aruni Senadeera, Sharmika Tennekoon, Indika Herman, Roshini Fernando. Sri Lanka Air Force: M. W. Lakmali, Nilanthi, Mayuri, Anusha, Saralla, Suranki, Nishari, Kumari, Renuka, Dilrukshi, Wijayasiriwardena, Thanthrige, Chithrangani. Bangkok to host Asia's biggest event The Asia's biggest sporting event, the 13th Asian Games gets under way in Bangkok. This grand event which commences on December 6, promises a feast of action from Asian continents display their skills, in diffrent sports. The main stadium Rajamangala International Stadium which took almost 10 years to complete will hold the grand opening and the closing ceremony of the Asian Games. The stadium holds a seating capacity of 60,000 spectators. The two other Stadiums which hold several other sports events are Thammasat University Sports Complex which caters for 20,000 spectators and the Indoor Sports Complex in 'Bangkok Land'. The 13th Asian Games at Bangkok is ready to host 8,678 competitors from 42 countries along with 2,370 officials. The participating countries are: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, Hong Kong, China, India, Iran, Japan, Jordan, Korea, Kuwait, Kyragyzstan, Laos, Lebanon, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Palestine, Philippines, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Syria, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen. As total number 85 competitors from Sri Lanka is expected along with 20 officials, while the highest number of participants would be from the hosting country Thailand with 845 sports personals. The team events in which Sri Lanka will participate are: Hockey men: Group A: South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Singapore. Group B: India, Pakistan, Bangaladesh, Hong Kong, China and Thailand. HOCKEY: WOMEN Group A: South Korea, India, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan. Group B: Japan, China, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. KABADDI: India, Nepal, Japan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Pakistan and Thailand. Rugby Seven-a-side Group A: Japan, Singapore, Kazakhstan, Chinese Taipei. Group B: South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand. The main stadium which is situated only 10km away from the Bangkok International Airport is gearing up for the event with new express highways, gigantic billboards and colourful illuminations. One of the top consultants for the 13th Asian Games revealed that Bangkok promises an astonishing array of both traditional Olympics sports and those sports which have come to be identified with both the region and specific countries within Asia. The event will be formally opened by His Majesty the king of Thailand. The Games will comprise of 36 officials sports and two demonstration sports. There will be a total of 377 events with 377 golds, 377 silver and 460 bronze medals. Cosbees
win by 56 runs Cosbees S.C. beat Central Hills S.C. by 56 runs in the Kandy District inter club Division III Cricket tournament match played at the Sri Rahula College grounds. Cosbees SC taking the first turn of the wicket went on to score 310 runs in 49 overs. M. Wijetileke top scored with 69 in which he had seven hits to the ropes and three over it. He was well supported by Gemanu Wijesinghe who made 57 with seven fours, D. Mangala made 41 with four boundaries and one six, Mahinda Dissanayake made 38 with three sixers. Udaya Kumara and M. Arafat took three wickets each. Central Hills Club in their turn went on to score 254 runs in 50.5 overs, M. Arafat who did well with the ball made 75 with nine fours, M. Akram made 45 with six fours, and L. Tharanga 26, Gemanu Wijesinghe bowled well to claim 3 for 38. Cosbees S.C. 310 in 49 overs (M. Wijetilake 69, Gemanu Wijesinghe 57, D. Mangala 41, Mahinda Dissanayake 38, Udaya Kumara 3/31, M. Arafat 3/64). Central Hills S.C. 254 in 40.5 overs (M. Arafat 75, M. Akram 45, L. Tharanga 26, Gemanu Wijesinghe 3/38, F. Bogahalanda 2/39, Z. Felix 1/31). Marions take Gamini Dissanayake Memorial Trophy Chilaw Marions and Xavierties SC had to fight it hard for the prestigious Gamini Dissanayake Memorial Trophy as finalists in the District Tournament conducted by the Puttalam DCA annually in the 50 over limited match at Harendra Corea Stadium, Chilaw over the weekend. Xavierties who opted to bat first were dismissed for 164 in the presence of a large gathering of cricket fans. However, Marions were in for a surprise when they had to sweat it as pressure was mounted by the brilliant fielding of Xavierites. Both sides were equally balanced and quality cricket was seen in Chilaw after a spell. The fancied Wennappuwa SC could not make it to the finals this year. Nuwan de Silva of Marions who captured 4 wickets in 8 overs after conceding 40 runs, provided the thrills while D. Rasanga had three sixes and boundary in his personal score of 24. However, the day belonged to A. Nishantha of Xaviertits who was not out with his dashing 37. President, Puttalam DCA Gwen Herat was present. The awards ceremony will be held later. Xavierties 164 all out in 45 overs. N. Nishantha 37 (n.o.), H. Priyanakara 17, Nuwan de Silva (4 for 40), D. Rasanga ( 2 for 26), Saman Tittagalla ( 2 for 25). Chilaw Marions 165 for 8 in 43.4 overs. C. Lowe 39, D. Rasanga 24, S. Perera 20, L. Udeni (2 for 26), A. de Silva (2 for 32), S. Fernando (2 for 26). |
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