Ambepitiya to miss pet events

Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from China

Sri Lanka’s ace sprinter Shehan Ambepitiya will be forced to skip men’s 100m and 200m events of the 16th Asian Games due to a leg injury.

Ambepitiya, who arrived here on Thursday afternoon, has been nursing a leg injury sustained during last month’s Commonwealth Games in New Delhi where he withdrew from men’s 100m semi finals.

Chef-de-Mission of the Sri Lanka contingent Prema Pinnawala said that Ambepitiya will miss his pet events but expressed confidence of obtaining his services for the men’s 4 x 100m relay. “Since there is sufficient time for him to recover, we may be able to include him in the 4x100m relay team, Pinnawala told the Daily News last evening.

With Sri Lanka’s big guns being silent after their retirements – Sugath Tillakaratne, Damayanthi Darsha, Sriyani Kulawansa, Rohan Pradeep Kumara and Olympic silver medallist Susanthika Jayasinghe, they are not in a position to maintain their track supremacy anymore.

Saudi Arabia will be banking on its strong athletic squad to bring home a clutch of medals in the absence of Sri Lanka. At the last Games in Doha 2006, it was in track and field that the Saudi squad continued its Busan 2002 form, snagging five gold and two bronze medals.

The golds came from Yahya Habeeb (100m), Hamdan al-Bishi (400m), Sultan al-Hebshi (shot put), Hussain al-Sabee (long jump) and the men’s 4×400m relay, with bronzes going to Sultan al-Dawoodi (discus) and Ahmed Faiz bin Marzouq (long jump). Sabee, Asia’s No.1 long jumper with a personal best of 8.35m, is hunting an unprecedented hat-trick of golds in his event, but has jumped a best of only 7.94m this season.

“The pressure will be on me to live up to my No.1 tag in Guangzhou,” the 30-year-old said, “However, I hope to become the first athlete to win the long jump gold medal at three consecutive games.”

Meanwhile, the latest edition of the Asian version of the Olympics got underway with a spectacular opening ceremony, which most rated as the best ever in the 51-year-old Games’ history.

With the vast experience the Chinese had in organizing the ‘Olympics of the century’ in the capital Beijing two years ago, they staged another exciting opening ceremony which had all the ingredients to become the best. It was a true blend of Chinese culture, Asian harmony and modern techniques.

Jin Ziwei, a member of China’s winning team of Women’s Quadruple Sculls at the 2008 Olympic Games, proudly carried the national flag of the host nation at the mega opening ceremony graced by the Prime Minister of China Wen Jiabao, President of the Olympic Council of Asia, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah of Kuwait and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge.

After a month-long journey, the Asian Games flame finally arrived at its ultimate destination today - on the Pearl River isle of Haixinsha, which was the venue for the grand opening.

The Guangzhou Asian Games will give a golden opportunity to China to underline their sporting supremacy, following their huge success at the Beijing Olympics two years ago. With a massive delegation of 1,454 - including 977 athletes, a new record in its Asian Games history, the hosts expects to head the final medal tally once again as the undisputed leader.

However, what China really cares is how to use the Guangzhou showcase as a springboard for launching its sports power to even greater heights. “Gold medals are not the only standard,” said Cai Zhenhua, Deputy Chef de Mission. “The Asian Games is a big parade of the overall power of Chinese sports and reflects the nation’s position in the world. It is always very significant.”

China will be hosting the Asian Games after a lapse of 20 years, having last staged the mega event way back in 1990 in Beijing, finishing with 183 gold medals.

Incidentally, Sri Lanka’s Sriyantha Dissanayake signaled his country’s athletic revival at the Beijing Asian Games, winning a silver and a bronze medal in men’s 100m and 200m events.

Beijing’s success in 1990 marked a milestone in China’s sports history because the nation subsequently became a major contender on the world’s sporting stage. At the last Asian Games in Doha 2006, China won 165 gold medals and showed its readiness to challenge the US for overall supremacy at the Beijing Olympics two years later.

China hopes to refine its golden harvest here in this Southern city, striving for improvements in such team events such as basketball, football and volleyball.

GUANGZHOU, Friday.