Aniththa & Tharika star as two National records stumble; 42nd National Games Day 01 midday report

The first day of the national games festival was given a perfect start by the brilliant young pole vaulting star Aniththa Jagatheswaram from Jaffna when she reclaimed the pole vault national record to with a performance of 3.41m.  Earlier this year Aniththa made history when she established a national record at the Sir John Tarbet meet earlier this year clearing a height of 3.35m. It was a perfect showing from this young prospect ta her home turf.

Air women Tharika Fernando made history becoming the first Sri Lankan female Shot putt athlete to clear the distance of 15m and clinched a new Sri Lanka record with a throw of 15.25. An old girl of Panadura Good Shepard convent, Fernando managed a distance of 15.38m in the provincial meet but was unfortunate not be granted the national record for her effort. However at the 42nd National Athletic festival she made sure the eight year old national record of 14.48m by M.N.D Muthunayake shattered by her ambitious performance.

Earlier in the day Lionel Samarajeewa clinched his sixth tittle winning the 10000m Men’s final with a performance of 31:44.5sec. Nilani Ratnayake clinched gold in women’s 5000m final with a timing of 17:07.6sec. In a closely contested hammer throw event Rohan Sisira Kumara clinched gold with a throw of 46.49m.

The second part of the day commenced with the Women’s Triple jump, Men’s Discus throw finals commencing at the same time. In the women’s Triple jump final Dilrukshi Mohottala  of Western province won Gold with a leap of 12.56m. Z.T.M Aasik of Eastern Province surprised many when he won Gold in the final of the Men’s Discus throw. Having  qualified to the final eight with an average performance Aasik came out with a throw of 42.34m in his second attempt In the final to mark the best throw of the day earning him Gold in the event.

A thrilling race ensued in the Men’s 400m hurdles event when I. Rathnasena of Sabaragamuwa province went  neck to neck with A Chathuranga of Uva province and the  two athletes were just a fraction of  a second apart with Rathnasena finishing first with a time of 51.2 secs.  In the Women’s 400m Hurdle final E.P.K Madushani clinched top honours with a timing of 60.9 secs.

Men’s and Women’s 200m finals was concluded next with K.S.L wickramasinghe of Southern province winning the Men’s title while Shamila Jayathilaka of Western province winning the Women’s Gold respectively.

In the final event of the first day of 42nd National Games, Sri Lankan High Jumping sensation Manjula Kumara clinched the Gold medal clearing a height of 2.16m. Kumara who was representing the Southern province was a pleasant surprise at the venue with reports emerging that he would not be available for the games.  Ace high jumper attempted to clear a height of 2.20m but was not successful in his three attempts.

Stay tuned to www.thepapare.com as we bring you all latest updates from the 42nd National Games held at the Jaffna  Durayappah stadium.