Lankan athletes do country proud by winning three medals

Chinthana WASALA in Singapore

Sri Lankan athletes did their country proud, winning three medals, one Silver and two Bronze, to be placed 16th in rankings so far on the last day of athletics of the first Asian Youth Games in Singapore yesterday.

The Silver medal came in Sri Lanka’s way when the boys ran the 4x200m relay in 1min. 32.57 seconds behind Thailand who clocked 1min. 33.80 seconds.

The team consisted of Madushanka Athauda, Heshan Amarasinghe, Dhanushka Ashen and Dulaj Lahiru showed some inconvenience in the first and second baton changes but managed to secure the silver. Saudi Arabia finished second but were disqualified for an error in baton change handing over the second position to Sri Lanka.

The girls’ team too followed their colleagues’ footsteps to win a medal in the 4x200m girls’ event and accounted for an excellent show when they finished third with 1min. 45.14 seconds.

The team consisted of Pabasara Senanayake, Nadeeshani Henderson, Akshana Maralanda and Nimesha Madhubhashini. Earlier Keshani Perera and Nayomika Gimhani were in the four member team, waiting for their race but were rested due to doctor’s orders.

The third medal for Sri Lanka was also produced at Bishan Stadium when Indunil Madushan Herath clocked 1 min. 56.33 seconds to reach the podium to bag the bronze medal in the boys’ 800m. He had the best timing at the semi-finals but failed to achieve the same in yesterday’s final.

Lankan beach volleyballers cruised into the quarter finals to meet Kazakhstan. The Ashen Fernando, Sandun Fernando duo easily managed to beat Qatar in yesterday’s game when the final score stood at 21-5, 21-8 in their favour at the breathtaking Siloso Beach, Sentosa Island.

The Lankan cagers made a sad exit at the Anglican High School yesterday when they were beaten by the strong Chinese by 34-9 in the fourth quarter final.

Koreans who are ranked high in the Asian region also managed to defeat Lankans 33-14 earlier.

The girls were also beaten yesterday when Japan scored a 33-2 win and earlier, they came close to winning the game versus Philippine but the latter won 28-22.

Heshan Unamboowe too failed to make it to the podium as he finished sixth with 1 min. 00.21 seconds in the boys’ 100m backstroke final.

Madhushka Dilan Dissanayake came very close to win a medal in the boys’ high jump but finished fifth, clearing 1.97m which is not his personal best.