Sprinter Vinoj Suranjaya broke the 20-year-old national record in the Men’s 200m, which was previously held by Sugath Thilakarathne, clocking 20.65secs at the Senior National Trials held at the Sugathadasa Stadium, targeting the upcoming Asian Games.
Vinoj, who has been the front runner in the Men’s 200m event in the recent past, put on a superb display in the second heat earlier in the day where he managed to run a personal best time of 20.84secs. National record holder in the 100m sprint Himasha Eshan, who made a return to the 200m, was placed second in the first heat of the day, clocking 21.64secs behind Dilip Ruwan who ran a time of 21.50secs.
In the final of the Men’s 200m Vinoj got on to a blistering start, running in Lane 4, and speeding up the bend to build a commanding lead as he sprinted to the finish line in record time to claim the Men’s 200m title. This is the first national sprint record to be broken at the refurbished Sugathadasa track and it is an encouraging sight to see the assistance the athletes are receiving from the newly laid synthetic surface. Himasha Eshan was a distant second clocking 21.24secs In Lane 3 with Dilip Ruwan close behind him, clocking 21.37secs in Lane 5.
The previous record of 20.69secs by Sugath Thilakarathne was established at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games which won him the Bronze in the 200m. Since then Sri Lanka has failed to win any medals in the Men’s 200m at the Games. Vinoj’s record-breaking run comes in great time for the athlete, with the 2018 Asian Games scheduled to be held from the 12th August to 2nd September in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The speedsters Vinoj and Himasha will battle out again in the Men’s 100m tomorrow (28th) with the heats of the event scheduled to begin at 9.15am and the final set to take place at 3.40pm.
Stay logged on to www.ThePapare.com/athletics to receive from-the-venue updates as the pair go head to head in a bid to better Himasha’s record time of 10.26secs in the 100m sprint.
