Second day of the 43rd National Sports Festival (NSF) track and field competition dived straight into the business end with 10 finals being worked off in the morning session and 04 in the evening session.
Held in Matara Kotavila Stadium, today was the penultimate day of the competition with tomorrow (23rd) scheduled to be the final day which will also feature the awards ceremony of the NSF where his Excellency President Maithreepala Sirisena will be the chief guest.
Gayatnthika Abeyrathne and Indunil Herath who starred at the recently concluded Asian Indoor Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan caught an early flight to make sure that they participate in the National Sports Festival to represent their respective provinces. The duo showcased why they were the best in business cinching Gold effortlessly despite having landed in the country yesterday and travelling down to Matara the same day. Gayanthika clocked a time of 2:07.47 secs representing the Southern Province while Nadeesha Ramanayake also from Southern Province was placed second while Champika Dilrukshi from North Western was placed third.
Indunil Herath broke the national indoor record in the 800m thrice at the Asian Indoor games and produced a superb time of 1.49 secs and is expected to run sub 1.47secs in an outdoor track. Herath ran a very controlled race to win gold in the men’s 800m final at the NSF clocking a time of 1.52.42 secs. A D Kumara of Western Province managed to get the better of Kupun Kushantha of Uva on the home stretch to secure the silver.
400m Hurdles was the first track event to be completed today with both Men’s and Women’s finals being worked off in the morning. In the Men’s 400m hurdles Asanka Rathnasena of Sabaragamuwa won gold while Aravinda Chathuranga of Uva ended up with a silver. Asitha Rathnasena of Sabaragamuwa was placed third, In the women’s event it was Kaushalya Madushani of North Western who sprinted to gold with two athletes from Southern Province Shayama Dulani winning silver and N Lakmali winning the bronze.
The 200m finals which was worked out next did not have many of the household names participating in the event and did lack the usual energy. In the Women’s 200m which did not feature the leading sprinter of the Island Rumeshika Rathnayake , Shahika Vidurange of Uva clinched the top spot with a time of 25.16secs while O.Udayangani also from Uva was placed second with a time of 25.12secs while Iwanthi Imeshika from Sothern Province was placed third with a time of 25.51secs. In the Men’s final it was D Wijerathne of Sabaragamuwa who walked away with top honours crossing the finish line clocking 22.08 secs while Mohammed Udayar won the silver for Eastern Province with a time of 22.16secs. K.H.A Chamod of Western Province was placed third close behind Udayar clocking 22.20secs.
Ishara disappointed but still wins Gold
The Island’s leading pole vaulter Ishara Sandaruwan defended his pole vaulting gold he won in Jaffna. Ishara is the holder of the current national record at 5.11m and had a rather disappointing outing only managing to clear a distance of 4.60m which was his starting height. The windy conditions at the venue did not help the vaulter who similar to his female counterpart Anitha Jegathiswaran has his eyes fixed on Asian Games qualifications. Windy conditions were not the only nemesis for Ishara. After reporting to the call room at 8.00am it was past 11.00am when he attempted his first jump. AD Kumara of Western Province and R S Kumara of Sabaragamuwa who won silver and bronze respectively had already bowed out from the competition. This has been the case during the past few competitions and the lack of competition is a huge setback for the promising athlete to achieve a better height.
In the Women’s Discus Throw final National Hammer Throw record holder Ayesha Maduwanthi of Uva Province walked away with the gold with a throw of 41.05m while VV Lakmali of North Central won silver with a performance of 38.19m. I M Perera of Western Province won Bronze with a throw of 36.13m.
In the Women’s Javelin throw Asian Championship medalist Dilhani Lekamge representing Uva was the only athlete to surpass the 50m mark with a best throw of 56.19m with the second placed Anne Maheshi of Uva with a performance of 46.47m. D H Maduawanthi also from Uva clicnshed the last spot of the podium.
Eastern Province wins their first relay gold
The final event of the day sparked a great deal of interest amongst all that had gathered at the Kotavila Stadium. Teams representing their respective provinces lined up for the 4X100m relays which was enthusiastically followed by all the spectators. In the Women’s event Central Province were the big victors clinching gold with a time of 47.91 secs. Sothern Province was placed second with a time of 41.51secs with North Western Province grabbing silver with a time of 42.53 secs
There was high drama in the 4X100m Men’s finals. Eastern Province was in the lead from the start till the final lap. However in the home stretch, ace sprinter Himasha Eshan of Western Province managed to beat W.Ilham of Eastern Province and sprinted his way to the finish line. However, the celebrations of the Western Province team was short lived as they were found guilty of transferring the baton outside the baton change zone and were disqualified. Eastern were then adjudged the champions and were delighted to have won the first relay gold at the National Sports Festival. Southern won the silver medal followed by North Western Province who won Bronze. Western Province protested the disqualification but the decision was upheld by the jury.
