      |
|||
|
|||
Gold,gold
all the way Dec: 14, Bangkok. Sugath Tilakaratne and Damayanthi Dharsha ended the countries 24-year-old gold medal drought, when both of them won the 400m men and women's finals at the 13th edition of the Asian Games here last evening. Dharsha had one more thing to crow about since she becomes Sri Lanka's only woman gold medallist, in the Asian Games history. She is the second woman after Nirmala Dissanayake (1962 Jakarta-200m Bronze), and Susanthika Jayasinghe (1998 200m Silver) to win ASIAD medals. She also won a bronze at the last Asian Games in the 200m event and becomes the nation's only woman to win medals in successive ASIAD's. From the outset of the Games it looked almost certain that these two sprinters were going to be Lanka's golden boy and girl. Susanthika Jayasinghe, sighting a pulled leg muscle, withdrew. Dharsha, coached by Sunil Gunawardene, a sprint specialist, ran a breath-taking dash of 51.57 seconds in what has to be put down as a professional run. She got off the blocks with ease and during the last 30 metres, had the honour of leading till the finish. The Stadium winds that blew against her deprived her of accelerating to her personal best Commonwealth Games fourth place performance of 51.06. However her timing betters her own Sri Lankan record. All efforts by the Chinese athlete, Yuxiang Chen, to come to terms with Dharsha were foiled by this rural lass, who has now proved her capabilities beyond all reasonable doubts. Chen clocked 52.60 seconds while Kazakasthan's S. Bodritskaya reaching home in 53.00 seconds. India's K. Rosa was fourth while her Colleague P. T. Usha found the competition too hot to handle finishing sixth (54.37 sec.) Speaking to ÔThe Island' after record breaking triumph, Dharsha said that she feared a tough competition from Chen and the Kazakhstan athlete. "But when I got a smooth start I knew that the gold was meant for me," She said emotionally. Asked what her next aim would be, she said that it is the 2000 Sydney Olympics. "It is too early to predict about the medals but Sydney 2000 would be my best performance." The 24-year old also thanked the AAA, Sports Minister and her sponsor, for all the encouragement extended to her, "Without them the gold would have been not possible", She said. Hailing from Ampara District, she was first spotted by her coach nearly a decade ago and was then brought to Pandora for advanced training. She was then introduced to the newly formed Track Master Sports Club and her oozing talent specially in the Schools circuit, earned her a scholarship at the Ladies College. She first came to the Asian limelight when she won golds in 100m 200m and 4x100m relay events at the 1991 Colombo SAF games. A marketing execute at Yashodha Enterprises, Dharsha then went on to grab both the 100m and 200m national records from Inoka Cooray and later surrendered it to Susanthika Jayasinghe. She has represented the country in two Olympics, (1992 and 1996) and three Asian Championships and the 1996 Athens World Championships. Competition with Susanthika put her some what on the defensive forcing her to take to the 400m sprint and in no time went for the national record 52.35 seconds. "I am not looking for personal glory, and this is why I decided to skip the 100m and 200m and take to the 400m, " she said. She went on to explain that her coach too agreed that it was better to compete for another gold, for the country from another event. "If we both compete each other we end up as gold and silver medallists. But if I compete in the 400m Sri Lanka can go for three gold's," she explained. It is also quite interesting to note the fact that it was the Sri Lankan 400m runner, W. Wimaladasa and their 4x400 relay team that won a gold medal each at the 1974 Teheran Asian Games 24 years ago. Dharsha's coach Gunawardane too was a member of that team. Sugath's Gold The Norton Bridge Sprinter, who took to the starting blocks inspired by Damayanthi's gold, was determined to make a repeat of the women's event. Getting off to a very smooth start, despite against the wind situation, he accelerated in to top gear after the 120 meter mark and breast the finish in style. He returned a time of 44.99 seconds and over ran his own national mark of 45.67 seconds. Sugath after his triumph commented that it was very difficult to sprint in the last 15-20 meters since they are exhausted. "Soon after the take off we are all running against the wind and we have to waste a lot of energy there." he explained. "But all these things did not force me to slow down and turn a Gold Medal away from Sri Lanka," he added. Qatar's Ibrahim Faraj who was tipped to give Sugath a close run did just that in the first 50 metres, but faded away after realizing that he was no match for Sugath. India's Paramjith Singh impressed taking the Silver with a timing of 45.93 seconds. Sugath too showed a slow and steady, but yet a very long progress to yesterday's Gold medals. Coached by Anura Bandara who was left back in Sri Lanka for reasons best known for the sports administrators, he was nominated absent schools athlete in many occasions. He became the cynosure of all eyes when he ran a heart stopping 400m run at the 1993 Dacca SAF Games to seal Gold for his country. This medal put confidence to Sugath, who went from strength to strength from there. Employed at Sri Lanka Telecom, Sugath attracted the attention of the World Media at the Atlanta Olympics when he beat pre race favourite, Michael Johnson in the 400m heats. It was rumored that Johnson, furious by his surprised defeat even refused to pose for a photograph with Sugath. Sugath having secured a haul of Asian medals, entered the World arena by winning the 1998 Commonwealth Games 400m Bronze medal with a time of 44.64 seconds. Having made his mark in the international arena, he tried his power in the 200m event and was richly rewarded with the Sri Lanka record in 1998. (21.09 seconds). Yesterday's timing of 44.99 seconds also betters his own national mark of 45.67 seconds. This is only the third occasion that he has completed the 400m run under the 45 second barrier. Both Sugath and Dharsha who did their country proud will be competing for the 4x100 meter relay heats today. Chinthaka fifth Sprinter Chinthaka Soyza could not crash on the Gold medal harvest and was pushed down to the fifth place with a time of 10.39 seconds in the sprint final which returned an overall slow timing. Even the Gold medallist Koji Ito who was strongly tipped to run under the 10 second barrier could only manage 10.05 seconds. The Silver medallist Secharwong of Thailand reported a 10.31 run while Japan's Y. Otsuki timed 10.31 seconds for the Bronze. In the women's short sprint the much looked forward to battle between Susanthika and China's Li Xuemei, was not to be as the Sri Lankan pulled out. Li went on to win the Gold with a time of 11.05 seconds which too is slower than her qualifying timing of 10.99 seconds which is a new Games record. The Silver was snatched up by Li Yali also of China with a time of 11.36 seconds while India's Rachitha Mistry despite a foul start finished with the Bronze (11.41 seconds). The 1500m women's final pushed Sri Lankan Keshani Samarakoon to the fifth slot with time of 4:35.00 seconds. It was disappointing to note that the Air Woman could not reach her personal best of 4:32.19 (Sri Lanka record) in this event. The Indians underlined their supremacy in this event strongly taking the Gold (J. Sikdhar. - 4:12.82 sec.) and the Bronze (Zenith Rani - 4:13.66 seconds). This Silver medal went to Q. Wang of China who returned a time of 4:13.19 seconds. Ruwan Pradeep Perera will be the first competitor to be out for the Lankans in the Pole Vault event today at 9 a.m. Hurdler Harijan Ratnayake will compete in the 400m Hurdles heats in the evening. In addition the Lankan men and women 4x100m heats and the final will be held today and Sri Lanka is expected to win two medals today as well. Kabbadi rides high While the athletes are taking the center spread at the ASIAD, the Lankan Kabbadi team maintained their fine unblemished record for yet another day. This time it was the Japanese team who were at the receiving end of the Sri Lankans. In the first half which is the most low scoring affair in the games so far the Lankan had a slender 3-1 lead. In the second half the Lankans had all their guns firing and scored at a hectic pace to win the match 31-16. The Lankan defense improved and the Japanese team knowing this factor concentrated on defense which ultimately cost there down-fall. National Coach D. Prathapasinghe said that their moral is very high and would go all out to tame the defending champions India today. "Whatever the outcome is tell Sri Lankans that we will bring home a medal," he said. Sri Lanka after taking on the might of India in the morning, encounter Pakistan in the evening. In the other games played yesterday Japan beat Thailand 28/14, India beat Nepal 57/40, Pakistan beat Nepal 58/14 and India beat debutante's Thailand 50/22. The Kabaddi game goes back 4,000 years. It is a team sport played in two courts and is a mixer of Rugger and Wrestling. Originally developed to defense and reflexes of counter attack by individuals Indians have the honor of introducing the sport to the world. The simple rule in the sport is the "Radar" invading rival court chanting Kabbadi Kabaddi, non stop holding his breath and trying to touch an opponent and get back without getting caught. The Sri Lankan's first medal came their way last Sunday quite unnoticed to the Media as well as the senior Sri Lankan official. The Medal was a Bronze and it came up from the Yachting competition. The Lankan Enterprise pair of Lalin Jeerasinghe and Sailor P. Janaka who won the first Enterprise class race out of the ten in offer were always in line for a medal. The pair once again came off in flying colors by winning the tenth and deciding race. This put the Lankan's pair on 21 points and put them in the third place under Korea (15.) and Pakistan (18). The organizers in yet another flaw did not calculate these points or the medals to the overall medals tally until the following day. Chandrika Hettiarachchi lost in straight sets (2-0) to China's Z. Ye while Thushara Edirisinghe too lost in similar fashion. Susanthika Jayasinghe decided that the Games pressure was too hot for her to handle and decided to return home last night. She did not participate in the 100 meter finals sighting a pulled muscle.. Lankan swimming coach dies of heart attack Sri Lanka's euphoria in striking gold was somewhat overshadowed by the death of swimming coach Rizwie Zain who suffered a heart attack at the athletic village yesterday. Efforts at reviving him by first aid following the seizure were to no avail His body was to be flown to Sri Lanka Tuesday. 9th
Power lifting C'ships The Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp and Peradeniya Ultra Physical Centre carried away the major awards at the 9th National Power Lifting Championships for Men and Women held at the Soysapura Community Centre, Moratuwa conducted by the Sri Lanka Power Lifting Federation. In the Men's events eight new Sri Lankan records were established by the lifters. B. M. P. Bandara (52 Kg Category) recorded a Dead-lift in the 180 kg J. M. B. Abeykoon (100 Kg category) recorded a Bench Press in the 145 Kg category; D. U. M. Jayatillake (125 Kg category) recorded Squat of 240 Kg, a Bench Press of 150 kg and a Dead-lift of 260 kg, all of them from the Ultra Physical Centre. Peradeniya University's I. M. Somaratne (60 kg category) recorded a Squat of 180 kg and Power World Nugegoda entrant T. A. T. Kumar (90 kg category) recorded a Squat of 225 kg and a Dead Lift of 210.5 kg. Of the ten new Sri Lanka records established in the Women's event the Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp dominated over their opponents to setup seven records. J. R. de Silva (44 kg category) recorded a Squat of 72.5 kg and a Bench Press of 32.5 kg.; M. N. M. Samarasinghe (48kg category) recorded a Deadlift of 115 kg.; J. M. M. S. Jayasundara (67.5kg caategory) recorded a Squat of 91kg and a Bench Press of 40.5 kg; Lt. E. M. I. K. Ekanayake (75 kg category) recorded a Dead lift of 115 kg and a 100 kg. squat, all were from army Women's Corp. H. M. Udeni Sennahalatha of Sri Jayananda MMV (60 kg category) recorded a Bench Press of 37.5 kg and a Dead Lift of 110 kg. H. M. Chandralatha (60 kg category) recording a 40 kg Bench Press. D. U. M. Jayatillake of Ultra Physical Centre Peradeniya was adjudged the most Scientific Power lifter while I. M. Somaratne Peradeniya University was awarded the Best-Lifter title. Women's best lifter title went to M. N. M. Samarasinghe Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp. The chief organiser of the Championships, the General Secretary of the Federation Desha Liyanage thanked participants especially those who had come from the outstations. Kapila Perera Perdeniya University who was the chief guest distributed the awards and certificates along with the Guest of Honour G. D. Samarasena Senior Vice President of the Federation. Results: WOMEN 44.0 kg category 1. J. R. de Silva - Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp, 2. R. M. Wasantha - Sri Jayananda MMV. 48.0 kg. category 1. M. N. M. Samarasinghe - Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp, 2. Sachini Sooriyaarachchi - Sri Lanka Army W/Corp, 3. Sriyani Padma Thilakaratna - Galigamuwa SC. 52.0 kg category 1. H. M. Udeni Senehalatha - Sri Jayananda MMV, 2. W. M. I. Wijeratne - Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp. 56.0 kg category 1. N. A. N. Elagoda Galigamuwa SC. 60.0 kg category 1 H. M. Chandralatha - Sri Jayananda MMV, S. A. W. Dilrukshi - Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp. 67.5 kg category 1. J. M. M. S. Jayasundara - Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp. 75.0 kg category 1. Lt. E. M. I. K. Ekanayaka - Sri Lanka Army Women's Corp. MEN: 52.0 kg category 1. B. M. Priyanka Bandara - Ultra Physical Centre, 2. R. M. Seneviratne -ÊPeradeniya University. 56.0 kg category 1. H. G. U. P. Jayaratna - Peradeniya University. 60.0 kg category 1. I. M. Somaratna - Peradeniya University, 2. Chaminda Pushpakumara - Super Eagle SC, 3. S. P. S. Senadeera - Peradeniya University. 67.5 kg category 1. M. P. K. Herath - Ultra Physical Centre, C. B. F. Silva -ÊAir Port & Aviation. 75.0 kg category 1. W. M. V. B. Papugoda - Ultra Physical Centre, 2. R. W. M. P. S. W. Bandara -ÊPeradeniya University. 82.5 kg category 1. S. A. K. Karunaratna - Ultra Physical Centre, 2. H. M. D. A. Herath - Ultra Physical Centre. 90.0 kg category 1. T. A. T. Kumara - Power World Nugegoda, 2. U. B. Rajapaksa - Ultra Physical Centre. 100 kg category 1. J. M. Abeykoon - Ultra Physical Centre, 2. D. K. Weerasinghe - Power World, Wellawatta. 125 kg category 1. D. U. M. Jayatillake - Ultra Physical Centre. Kalutara MV clinch Pepsi Trophy Kalutara Maha Vidyalaya won the Pepsi Trophy in the Western Province Novices Junior Rugby Football Tournament for their overall performance at the Royal College grounds on December 13. The tournament co-ordinator Basil Perera said that the championships had been well contested. The Chief Guest was Norman Ranasinghe, Deputy Principal, Dharmapala College, Pannipitiya. Results Under - 13 Cup Champions Royal College Panadura (20) Runner-up Christking - Hekitta (15) Plate Champions Kalutara MV - Kalutara (15) Runner-up Champions Gurukula College - Kelaniya (10) Bowl Champions Dharmapala - Pannipitiya (10) Runner-up Champions Vidyawardena - Narahenpita (05) Under - 12 Cup Champions St. Joseph's College - Col - 14 (05) Runner-up Champions Tissa MMV Kalutara (0) Plate Champions Kalutara MV (10) Runner-up Champions Maligakanda (05) Bowl Champions Gurukula MV (20) Runner-up Champions Dharmaloka MV (05) Under 11 Cup Champions Vidyawardena (20) Runner-up Champions Royal - Panadura (10) Plate Champions Homagama Central (10) Runner-up Champions Christking - Hekitta (05) Under 11 Bowl Champions Dharmaloka College (15) Runner-up Champions Gurukula College (10) Under 10 Cup Champions Kalutara MV (15) Runner-up Champions Christking - Hekitta Plate Champions Dharmaloka - Kelaniya (20) Runner-up Champions St. Joseph's, Col - 14 (15) Bowl Champions Dharmapala - Pannipitya (15) Runner-up Champions Homagama Central Pepsi Trophy awarded to Kalutara MV |
|||
 |
|||
