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Andrew's golden feat

COLOMBO: He came, he captivated and he conquered. That in essence symbolises the success of Andrew Abeysinghe - Sri Lanka's double gold medallist at the 10th South Asian Games swimming meet at the Sugathadasa Stadium pool.

The 15- year-old sensation yesterday in a surprise visit to Lake House acclaimed the Daily News for its courageous and brave reporting which did justice to him and Sri Lankan sport in general.

Abeysinghe who set the Sugathadasa Stadium pool ablaze a couple of days ago, paid tribute to the Daily News and thanked President Mahinda Rajapaksa for intervening in this matter following an injustice originally meted out to him in a raw selection deal.

Abeysinghe was at the receiving end before the start of the South Asian Games and it was the Daily News that displayed the true side in the best interest of Sri Lanka sport.

The US based student Abeysinghe finally justified his inclusion in the Sri Lanka team with two gold medals in the men's 100 metres and 200 metres backstroke events and that too with new South Asian Games records.

His art of swimming was a blend of talent and technique he has mastered in the United States. Competing in the men's 200 metres backstroke, the 15-year-old student displayed all the techniques that he has mastered in Dayton, Ohio as one of the brightest medal prospects at international level.

He returned a timing of two minutes and 11.17 seconds to take the gold medal in grand style, establishing a new South Asian Games record.

Abeysinghe easily erased the previous Games record of 2:12.81 held by India's Banu Sachdeva for the last 15 years.

Abeysinghe who was Sri Lanka's eleventh hour inclusion to the swimming team, silenced his critics and followed up with his second gold medal in less than 24 hours by winning the men's 100 metres backstroke final while setting up another South Asian Games record.

Abeysinghe's performance was a fine answer to all those who criticised his inclusion in the team. The national selectors originally overlooked Abeysinghe, stating that he has not taken part at local trials. But his timings and progress reports as a swimmer in the US were not considered.

"I am happy that I was able to give my country a gold medal. But I had to beat all odds in going for that goal. I should thank all those who supported me and kept confidence in me," said Abeysinghe.

He also said that he had made a lot of sacrifice to achieve these results and is happy that he could prove himself and make his presence felt in the Sri Lanka team.

Had the national selectors included him in a couple of more events, in which he requested to compete, he would have certainly come closer to overcoming Julian Bolling's record gold haul in 1991.

In fact Abeysinghe's father Manoj stressed the fact that Sri Lanka missed out at least two more gold medals by not giving his son the opportunity of competing in five more events.

Despite all obstacles and barriers, Abeysinghe vowed that he would represent Sri Lanka at all major international meets and that his next target is to win a medal at the Asian Games in Doha, Qatar in December.

Before that he will participate in the US Open meet, an event second only to the World championships where some of the top international swimmers will be vying for honours. Church of Ceylon and the Bill on National Kidney Foundation Sri Lanka were considered.

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