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| Friday, 23 May 2003 |
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180 foreign athletes here for Grand Prix by Dinesh Weerawansa All 180 foreign athletes taking part at the forthcoming Asian Grand Prix 2003 series meeting in Sri Lanka will arrive in Colombo in one batch on same flight next Friday (May 30) at 11.30 a.m. local time. ] The cream of Asian athletes arriving at the BIA on the same flight includes five Sri Lankan athletes - Susanthika Jayasinghe, Damayanthi Darsha, Sugath Tillakaratne, Rohan Pradeep Kumara and Sriyani Kulawansa-Fonseka, who have qualified to compete in all four legs of the 2003 Asian Grand Prix Series. The 180-member team of top Asian athletes will be arriving in Colombo from Hyderabad, India in which they will compete in the first meet of the 2003 Asian Grand Prix Series on May 29. After competing in the second meet of the series in Colombo on June 1, all 180 athletes will leave for Thailand on June 2 to compete in the third meet in Bangkok on June 5. From the Thai capital, all 180 athletes will once again travel in one batch to the Philippines, where they will compete in the fourth and last meet of the Asian Grand Prix series in Manila on June 9. The four host countries will have the bonus of fielding two athletes each for all men and women's events as well as two teams each for 100m relays, irrespective of the qualified athletes from their country in the original team of 180, who will compete in all four meets of the series. Each of the four host nations - India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the Philippines could field additional 44 athletes only at their respective home meetings. Sri Lanka has picked a strong 63-member team for the Colombo Asian Grand Prix Series meeting to be worked off at the Sugathadasa Stadium from 5 pm to 8 pm on June 1, the first ever international Grand Prix meet to be hosted by Sri Lanka. The Lankan host team comprise 38 men, 18 women and seven coaches. National coach Dervin Perera, along with Sunil Gunawardena, Sarath Galagoda, Y.K.Kularatne, Lakshman de Alwis, Major Dissanayake and S.Fernando will form the Lankan team of coaches training the local competitors for the big event. On the performance of the recent Asian Games, Asian Championship and last year's inaugural Asian Grand Prix Series, five Lankans have automatically qualified to compete in all four meets of the 2003 Series. They are Susanthika Jayasinghe (women's 100m), Damayanthi Darsha (women's 400m), Sugath Tillakaratne (men's 400m), Rohan Pradeep Kumara (men's 400m), Sriyani Kulawansa-Fonseka (women's 100m hurdles). The balance 51 Lankans for the Colombo leg have been picked on the recent SAF Games trial meet and last national championships. Though there were only three meets for last year's first ever Asian Grand Prix Series, the Asian track and field governing body has decided to have a four-leg meeting this year with the inclusion of Colombo as the newest Grand Prix destination in the world. Sri Lanka will host its first-ever Athletic Grand Prix meet when Sugathadasa Stadium hosts the second leg of the 2003 Asian Series on June 1. It will be worked off under lights from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The gold medallists in each meet will get USD 1,500, silver medallist USD 1,000 and a bronze USD 750. The overall winners of each event would get even greater prizes as the Asian athletes are in lucks way. |
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