Australia continue to dominate

Commonwealth Games in New Delhi:

Chinthana WASALA reporting from New Delhi

In a not-so-busy day for the Sri Lankan athletes, Australia extended their lead in the medals table with 46 gold medals, 23 silver and 25 bronze medals, which made a total of 94 medals to be at the helm at the end of the fifth day of the 19th edition of the Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

India remained in the second slot with a total of 45 seconds.

Prasanna Amarasekera came in sixth in the men’s 400m first semi-final, clocking his seasonal best of 46.89 seconds. Prasanna who was out of the arena for almost two years but failed to break the 47 second barrier in several outings. Yesterday’s performance may be a hint that he is back in business.

A morale booster for Prasanna

“I am really happy with the performance and this is definitely a morale booster before the Asian Games. I could not practice for a long time due to the unfortunate events that I had to face throughout the past two years. But if I had the chance to practice, I would have done a better job. But I will hope for the best I can do at the Asian Games,” said Amarasekera after the sprint.

Nadeeka Lakmali’s yesterday’s qualification round for the women’s javelin throw was rescheduled for today and will start at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at 6.45 in the evening.

Lankan paddlers excel

Sri Lanka Table Tennis team did a brilliant job on their behalf at the Delhi Games. The Lankan women paddlers were placed 11th out of 16 and men were placed 12th out of 26 teams. This is the best achievement at an international event of this nature for the Sri Lankan paddlers.

Kamal Sameera loses

Kamal Sameera who fought against the English Boxer Thomas Stalker, did not find a slot in the next round. Kamal found it hard to reach Stalker, who was taller than him but defended well, offering only four points. He lost 4-0.

Manjula in action today

Sri Lanka’s Manjula Kumara will be seen in action at the men’s high jump finals today at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

R M Rakshitha Samarasekera had to be satisfied with the ninth position after lifting 275 kilograms (120 kg in the Snatch event, 155 kg in Clean and Jerk event). Australia’s S Ribouem lifted 333 kgs (150 kg Snatch and 183 kg clean and jerk) won the gold medal.

Bandara will be OK

Meanwhile, the team doctor Lal Kithsiri Ekanayake confirmed that the injured lifter Kamal Bandara will be OK soon and he has suffered a minor injury. “Kamal will be in action again in just two weeks,” Dr Ekanayake said.